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(Archive) Animated short film of the day: Duck Amuck (1953)

There's something decidedly self indulgent but nevertheless interesting about using entertainment to discuss entertainment itself: Deconstructions, parodies, and in this case, getting meta; one of the most cerebral and fascinating… if done right. When used poorly it becomes a hand wave or a cynical tool to divert attention away of a work's flaws or be patronising to the audience. When used properly though? It can give us an insight on why we love a medium so much. Which is why this short is a landmark for commercial western animation.

While not the first to make use of the concept of an animator directly interacting with the cartoon character, as Disney's Saludos Amigos (1942) already had some of this, it pushed everything about this gag to the limit. The story(loosely using the term) is pretty much just Daffy getting messed with by whoever is animating(take a guess who that turns out to be) to such an extreme at various different points nothing that is identifiable about Daffy stays: The voice? The character design? Both get played with to nigh unrecognizable points to see how much you can take away while still keeping the audience engaged. And engaged it should be, as not only is the work hilarious but also a small but delicious insight of how animation is made.

Well…was.

It's a short made in the 50's, so some of the gags that may have been a little more obvious then would require some clarification for modern viewers. The core of it, though, remains as appealing as it ever was. Looney Toons shorts can be hit and miss in some areas(some having aged horrendously for a plethora of reasons) but when they hit the mark, they're absolute guaranteed classics and this is one of the best for being so bold on it's approach.

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Animated movie of the day: Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, 2001)

Originally posted: January 18th, 2022 Have you ever reminisced about a place that you're not sure was a dream? Do you recall a friend that you're not sure you've ever met? Even if the answer is "no" from the top of your head, the sensation is certainly a familiar one.

Often regarded as one of the best, if not the singular best animated feature ever, this Hayao Miyazaki classic is the perfect encapsulation of that moment where childhood goes away. A coming of age story in a fantasy world of Japanese folklore that eventually fades from sight, the melancholic beauty of what we leave behind and the appreciation of what we can learn from it beautifully intertwine in a journey that is as imaginative as it is moving.

One delicate ballet between the explosive whimsical and vulnerable tenderness, the blooming bond between a human girl and a dragon boy manages to transcend the boundaries of the spirit world through the simplest acts of kindness. In a very Miyazaki fashion, even among the fantastic there's beauty in the mundane. It's not just the sweeping gestures that form these bonds but the simple things, like sharing a rice ball or helping them get clean.

It's rhythm is enthralling, not afraid of being filled to the brim with all sorts of fascinating sights at one moment and intimately silent the next. Not be the first animated film to do so, but many western studios could learn a thing or two here: allowing the silence to not just be a resting spot, but an exercise of contemplation and genuine emotion it's no coincidence one of the most iconic moments to be found here is one of the calmest ones.

I contend it's position as the absolute best(because I don't think such a film exists), and it may not be my favorite film from Ghibli. But it's hard to deny it has earned it's recognition as a masterpiece. Like a summer day lost in one's childhood memories, beautiful and ethereal.

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Animated movie of the day: Shrek (2001)

Originally posted: January 17th, 2023

Despite my admiration for many of their films, it's no secret I have some quite critical views on Disney, among them their attempt to hegemonize both entertainment as a whole and the popular understanding of classical fairy tales. Which is why a film like this is such a significant moment in animation history: it utterly humiliated them at their own game in the most embarrassing way possible which in turn opened a gamut of possibilities for western animation.

You can rest assured this was born out of spite, mind you: despite being part of the Disney Reinassance of the 90's, Jeffrey Katzenberg's run at the House of the Mouse was quite a mess and ended in decidedly unfriendly terms, so one of the productions lead at his newfounded company Dreamworks was based on the 1990 children's book by William Steig that shared said said views. The hero is anything but handsome, the fairy tale creatures and characters are portrayed in incredibly unflattering ways, and the common tropes associated with the more saccharine interpretations of these tales are lampooned in a decidedly mean spirited way. And it's hilarious. But more importantly… it was kind of needed.

Even beyond the surface level(and some admittedly rather disingenuous) criticisms of Disney, it's disdain for traditional beauty is frankly admirable. It dared to challenge a lot of the harmful superficiality and expectations of normalcy of those films, and as such, of the ideals attached to them. Sure, some of the comedy falls flat on it's crassness and a few of it's parodies are INCREDIBLY dated. But there's a reason why it resonated so strongly with it's generation and survived to be a series of films that still keeps going to this day, with memes that seem to never end. It wasn't just early 2000's edge, it truly had a heart behind the snark.

In the words of William Steig, few years before his death at 95: "It's vulgar, it's disgusting — and I love it!"

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Animated movie of the day: Chicken Run (2000)

Originally posted: January 17th, 2022 I can't believe we haven't even mentioned Aardman Animations when we have talked about stop motion. Compared to studios like Laika, which specialize in using puppets with rubber skin, Aardman's silly charm comes from their masterful use of plasticine and clay, which give the characters a higher level of maleability that shines the most in the facial expressions. Add to that a healthy dose of sardonic humor with a tint of black comedy and you get a very distinctively british flavor.

Given that the project started as a spoof of "The Great Escape", the premise is already on the tongue and cheek side. The execution, however, is arguably darker than one would expect. For a film that is still marketed for children the narrative is a lot more serious than it would look like at first glance, dealing with topics like suppression of free will, ||suicide||, complacency(which would be deadly in this case), transparency, along with many others, on top of having imagery that alludes directly to one of the most horrifying atrocities in human history(yes, I'm talking about ||the Holocaust||). And this is not even talking about Mrs. Tweedy. Who would've thought a farm owner could be so intimidating?

So yeah, the backbone of this movie is surprisingly grim, and many readings could be made of it. But you know? Despite having some serious themes and dark undertones, the movie is still hysterical. I mean, it's a group of chickens trying to escape a farm through increasingly ludicrous means. The movie will take every chance to make obvious, not so obvious and fairly esoteric jokes with this idea. And EVERYONE in the cast will be the butt of the joke at some point or another, including the surprisingly dignified lead Ginger. And his dumbass american cowboy parody of an eventual boyfriend(did I mention this film is british?).

For such a silly premise gone serious then silly again, it's pleasingly a VERY full experience.

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Honorable mention: Rain town(2010)

Originally posted: January 16th, 2023 Plenty of reasons exist for someone to move out of one's life. Some good, others terrible, and of course there are those who make said newfound absence a blessing. But in those cases where the person is a cherished one, and they have to leave, the absence is felt.

A graduation project for Kyoto Seika University, this short tells a simple story: a girl returns to the rainy town where her grandmother used to live, and meets the same robot said old woman met when she was young… now in disarray. And for this end, the piece is quite emotionally quiet. It hits hard where it counts for sure, but it's impressive how little flourish it gives to it's movement, instead letting the small actions of the characters and the atmosphere of the environment carry the story through.

That isn't to say the piece looks simplistic visually(on the contrary, the art-style is stunning), but it's so devoid of noise it's absence is loud. For a tale of abandonment, loneliness and treasured memories, the decay of a place previously full of life tells the most when it sounds like nothing. Bittersweet and heartwarming, it's a delicacy wrapped in a lot of raindrops. Those treasured memories may be behind us, but to keep carrying them is the biggest testament of why they're worth it.

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Animated short film of the day: La Maison en Petits Cubes (Tsumiki no Ie, 2008)

Originally posted: January 16th, 2023 One of the most notorious tendencies we humans have is to modify and leave an imprint in the spaces we inhabit. Consciously or otherwise, those spaces can shape our experiences and memories in return. Beyond the obvious decor and accommodations, a random corner, step or window in your house may have a special meaning to you, a significance only you can gather tied to some point in time and what it happened then. So, if you were to return to a house you've been a long time ago, and see it's every crevasse, how many memories would come to your mind?

The second anime production to win an Academy Award, it tells the story of a sunken world, where to keep above the surface an old man has to build new stories over the old ones, leaving the rest behind. So, once he goes down the prior levels scuba diving to retrieve his pipe, all those experiences come back to him.

It's pretty interesting how you can't tell at first glance this is a Japanese production, and that's not a bad thing. It's subdued, texture rich style combined with soft, slow movements helps the lethargic sense of a life already lived, a library worth of experiences and memories…submerged by someone who feels OK in leaving them behind. But alas, no matter how much we don't mind to forget some things, they're still part of us and sooner or later they may come back. And this includes pleasant memories too. It's not just a matter of repressing bad experiences, but rather how much we do see in a lifetime that some things may get buried for a while.

It's delightful in it's simplicity, elegant on it's presentation and melancholic in the best way possible. Small because that's all it needs to be. Simple concept, pretty masterful execution

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Animated short film of the day: La Maison en Petits Cubes (Tsumiki no Ie, 2008)

Originally posted: January 16th, 2023 One of the most notorious tendencies we humans have is to modify and leave an imprint in the spaces we inhabit. Consciously or otherwise, those spaces can shape our experiences and memories in return. Beyond the obvious decor and accommodations, a random corner, step or window in your house may have a special meaning to you, a significance only you can gather tied to some point in time and what it happened then. So, if you were to return to a house you've been a long time ago, and see it's every crevasse, how many memories would come to your mind?

The second anime production to win an Academy Award, it tells the story of a sunken world, where to keep above the surface an old man has to build new stories over the old ones, leaving the rest behind. So, once he goes down the prior levels scuba diving to retrieve his pipe, all those experiences come back to him.

It's pretty interesting how you can't tell at first glance this is a Japanese production, and that's not a bad thing. It's subdued, texture rich style combined with soft, slow movements helps the lethargic sense of a life already lived, a library worth of experiences and memories…submerged by someone who feels OK in leaving them behind. But alas, no matter how much we don't mind to forget some things, they're still part of us and sooner or later they may come back. And this includes pleasant memories too. It's not just a matter of repressing bad experiences, but rather how much we do see in a lifetime that some things may get buried for a while.

It's delightful in it's simplicity, elegant on it's presentation and melancholic in the best way possible. Small because that's all it needs to be. Simple concept, pretty masterful execution

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Animated movie of the day: Watership Down (1978)

Originally posted: Januarty 16th, 2022 Bunnies are one of the most popular pets. They're not large, they're fluffy and they look positively adorable. Except when you actually see them on the wild, running for their life or fighting for a mate, and you remember they're like any other animal trying to survive a hostile existence. Something you often don't see in animation, where they're frequently depicted in comical or friendly fashion… except for a production like this. Which is how I could pretty much summarise this movie like that, but I'd be selling it short.

A contender for one of the most misunderstood animation movies for a lot of 80's/90's kids, this bunny laden epic introduces us to a world where rabbits have their own culture, mythology, prophecies and power struggles. A world where humans are almost alien like in presence, where a house dog is your worst nightmare, where a big enough tree far away from what you used to call home is the promised land, and the grim reaper a black rabbit. The characters it presents are fairly nuanced and varied, and the conflict is a LOT more interesting than it's fame would lead one to believe: a struggle to look forward and accept change, where the stubbornness of leaders can be the group's doom, the will to look for greener pastures can be one's salvation, and even death is looked as something you can embrace with dignity.

Too bad it's unrelenting depiction of violence is what this movie is remembered for. Many characters meet their end on screen in a very gruesome fashion, the fairly realistic depiction of the visuals just making it worse. Yeah, it probably traumatized a kid or two, but it's not the end it all or the point of the movie. Not unlike a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale there's value in an animal story that doesn't present the world with Rose tinted glasses.

It's such a dignified story for an animal that is often reduced to just cuddly material, rich and nuanced beyond what's usually expected

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Animated movie of the day: Fantastic Planet (La Planète Sauvage, 1973)

Originally posted: January 15th, 2022 If you have watched Planet of the Apes you probably aren't new to the thought exercise of imagining another species as the dominant one instead of humans. What you probably aren't used to is this exercise coming with the implication of humanity being barely above ants to said dominant species, in this case an alien one. And so we're here. Based on the 1958 novel "Oms en série", this experimental French/Czechoslovakian co-production has two major qualities: it gets philosophical and it looks quite psychedelic.

With surreal visuals courtesy of Roland Topor and music from jazz pianist Alain Goraguer, the alien landscape of this movie is appropriately otherwordly. Fauna, flora, and even the color of the sky, all very at odds with what we're used to in nature. It probably would be somewhat pleasant to look at in a dreamlike fashion if all these things didn't tower over the human characters as an existential threat.

No, this is one hostile world, where humans are at best pet material and at worst a pest the Draag are determined to eradicate. The potential allegories around this film are multiple(ranging from animal rights to racism and xenophobia), and all come with some harrowing imagery that is indeed in the film. Not for nothing there's a sequence of genocide, not subtly using gassing as the method. It's not the only one instance of it in the film either, not to mention other instances of violence and nudity. It isn't shown in an exploitative fashion but it's still there.

So yeah, this couldn't be farther from a Disney film. And that is probably what makes this such a standout movie. It is bold, daring, and tries some really interesting stuff both visually and narratively, almost in defiance of the mainstream for the medium(even if the ending doesn't seem completely justified in the story). Animation has diversified over the decades, but we've yet to see another film as unique as this one.

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Honorable mention: Black Gold (2014)

Originally posted: January 14th, 2023 Now, here's a heavy question: can death be beautiful? Artful? Can the representation of mortality in and on itself bring an aesthetic experience? While the answer might sound obvious with an entire pictoric genre in classical art dedicated to the fleeting nature of life(namely, the vanitas), the uneasy and for most unwelcoming nature of the topic makes most people reject even contemplating an answer. All which makes the more remarkable when artists are still willing to try, often with results that are worthy of discussion.

Yes, this commission piece for fashion jewelry designer Delfina Delettrez is one of those shorts. Though still distinctively PES, it is less playful and more contemplative which in all honesty isn't a bad change of pace. Not to detract from the ludic, but when an artist has such a knack for representing our known reality through the abstraction of objects we take for granted, to see them explore other themes with said sensibilites is equally fascinating.

And mesmerizing as well, the imagery in display managing to be delicate, ornate and simply beautiful despite veering into the rather grotesque territory of decomposition. Painterly on it's framing, it's dark subject is fittingly presented in chiaroscuro, with the gold being used as the fleeting flesh, in a juxtaposition to it's usual meaning in the aforementioned vanitas. Ironic, but surprisingly effective choice.

It has to be noted though, if you're entomophobic or tripophobic proceed with caution(and necrophobic, but that goes without saying).

Frankly, I do not mind an artist playing around with his range like this. Sure, the end result may be considered "artsy" or "confusing"(let alone disturbing) by many, but finding ways to present the known or even undesirable in a fashion that demands contemplation will never not be worth talking about.

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Animated short film of the day: Fresh Guacamole (2012)

Originally posted: January 14th, 2023 One very important but often underappreciated aspect of stop motion that gets taken for granted is that, more than a single animation "style" in the traditional sense, stop motion is actually an umbrella of different techniques that can be combined to various effects. You can build puppets either in paper or resin with a metal skeleton to represent cartoon characters, sure. But you can also make people move in impossible ways, allowing them to do impossible things and immersing them in the realm of fantasy. Or, both mundanely and wonderfully, make everyday objects come to life.

Enter PES (Adam Pesapane), whose career has been thoroughly dedicated to make people see all sorts of scrap and trinkets as completely different things.

Made with the technique known as pixilation(the stop motion variant focusing on a human subject taken frame by frame), this isn't the first short of his that plays around with representing food through decidedly non edible objects, but it's undeniably the most popular with an Oscar nomination. And there's a good reason for that too… it's shockingly convincing.

Sure, on the rational level nobody expects being able to cut a military hand grenade in half to put it's contents in the carne asada, but the way it's animated, in conjunction with the superb sound design just make feel right. It's less about looking realistic and more about nailing those sensations you get when preparing a meal. Indeed, soon enough all these plastic toys, clay and wood look incredibly appetizing.

Which honestly is all this short needs to be engrossing. A mastery of observation, an eye for abstraction and an interest for the ludic can allow us to see the fantastic in the mundane. Some animators are so caught in perfecting the art of replicating reality that they forget the beauty of letting lose and just…imagining, unbound by we expect things to behave like. Quite a delicious exercise if I must say.

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Animated movie of the day: One Piece, Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island (Omatsuri danshaku a Himitsu no Shima, 2005)

Originally posted: January 14th, 2022 It may sound strange to recommend a film that is part of a broader franchise with an established continuity, but I do think some movies in long running anime franchises are so fascinating you can enjoy them on their own. This is such a film, so different from the rest of the series to the point it's deconstructive…

…and it doubles as our Horror movie of the day.

Directed by Mamoru Hosoda of Summer Wars fame, this movie starts innocuous enough with the kind of setup you'd expect from a shonen special(in this case a vacation resort in a random island), yet sooner than later things start going south. The animation style already feels off, which serves to complement a plot that is almost the antithesis of One Piece: it's a film about people falling apart.

Seeing manga and anime characters bicker and argue in comical fashion is the norm. And One Piece is no different, with the Strawhat Crew constantly screaming to each other with cartoony expressions yet in the end showing undying loyalty to each other. This film shows what happens when said bickering stops being funny. It starts comical enough but as the story goes on it devolves into genuine anger and disgust, with squabbles that are uncomfortable to watch. Fan of the series or not, the shift will feel jarring.

And this isn't even talking about the underlying threat that causes this to happen. This film can create a powerfully quiet and eerie atmosphere where not even a shonen protagonist seems invulnerable, the ensuing imagery being…well, nightmarish. Even the ending feels oddly empty. Less cathartic and more like a bad dream suddenly stopping.

Rumor says this film was born as a conduit for Hosoda to vent his frustrations about his experiences in Studio Ghibli. It would explain a lot: To take such a loved franchise and spin it so violently on its head, there has to be a statement here. And it's unexpectedly mesmerising.

And sure, if you know One Piece's story you're aware the Straw Hats do have some important internal conflicts that make them have rifts in the crew, but the thing that makes this movie notorious is how this is portrayed. While the conflicts in the manga are major disagreements that lend to significant drama among the crew members, they still feel orchestrated. Masterfully played, sure, but they have this sense of being part of a bigger whole. The rifts in this film? They're just come from circumstances pushing the cast's imperfections against each other in a way that deprives them of the larger than life presence they would otherwise have. They become very organically flawed, and end up rubbing each other the wrong way.

It works like a deconstruction of many shonen tropes: How can you invoke the power of friendship when your comrades are fighting each other? How can determination win the day when your problem is something you can't solve with brute force? What if the bad things that happen to them are your fault in your search for adventure?

It's a fascinating watch, that starts like regular One Piece but turns into something else.

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Animated movie of the day: Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Originally posted: January 13th, 2023 Can a passion project be an artist's great disappointment? What happens when time, effort and a desire to bring something strange to life becomes that unfulfilling work of yours? Well, good ol' Walt found out in his life time how that feels, as after decades of trying to get an adaptation of Lewis Carrol's seminal literary classic made, when the day came… he didn't feel like the end result matched the book's quality, claiming it had "no heart". Which is ironic since visually speaking it became the version that most likely comes to people's mind when the story is discussed.

I've already talked about the woes of adaptation from page to film, and in the case of this film it is no different… mostly because there's a lot here that isn't technically from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but it's sequel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. The result of development hell in lieu of World War II getting in the way of the original (much darker) planned film, this one just mixes characters together from both books and changes the tone of the whole thing. While admittedly oniric, the book was clever and full of humor and satire with a distinctively British edge, something that may get lost in the decidedly American slapstick of the film.

And of course, there's surrealism of the visuals. If there's something that down the line allowed this adaptation to be regarded as the classic it certainly wasn't when it came out, is the eccelctic redesign of it's illustrated counterparts. In contrast with John Tenniel's hatched illustrations, the film favors a modernist aesthetic with bright colors and simplified shapes, which lend themselves to exaggeration in the movement. A bit of a narrative mess otherwise, but that comes with the territory, the novel wasn't built on conventional plotting.

It may not be a powerful three act structure but it's engrossing on it's imagination alone.

Seriously, EVERYTHING about this film is kind of a glorious, hypnotic mess. Some of the sequences came from improvised places, the production was halted and restarted as something else multiple times, and the source material was already a complicated one as it was trying to mimic(at points too effectively) the incoherent nature of a dream.

Which is why it saw success when it was re-released along with Fantasia in 1974, with a new marketing approach to appeal to college students of psychedelic interests.

And then there's the impressively darker take they were going for in the 30's. You can read more about that here: http://lukefarookhi.blogspot.com/2008/08/david-hall-and-alice-in-wonderland.html

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Animated movie of the day: The Road to El Dorado (2000)

Originally posted: January 13th, 2022 I mean, why not. Yesterday we went to the probably inaccurate future, now let's go to the definitely inaccurate past. And believe me, I could spend these 2000 characters and not cover half of the inaccuracies and anachronisms regarding mesoamerican cultures(and the European side of it too, even if costumes are still miles better than the crap you see in shows like Vikings), but here's the thing: this movie is fun enough that I don't really mind.

Honestly, while the animation is beautiful and there's some really impressive set pieces(including some inventive use of effects), the star of the show is the scoundrels that are the protagonist duo (eventually trio) through and through. You almost wish the movie was longer because they bounce from each other very naturally, every new situation being funnier than the last one.

I mean, this movie isn't taking itself seriously. It treats some fairly threatening scenarios with lighthearted silliness, manages to cram some out there adult humor(how did this fly as a family film is beyond me) and even the little drama there is solved by reaffirming the characters' love friendship.

Seriously, this is simply a fun ride that knows it's place and has a good time poking fun at adventure novels of the early XXth century. I wouldn't be surprised if many of it's inaccuracy is completely intentional too. Don't let it cloud your understanding of history but definitely have a laugh.

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Animated short film of the day: Paperman (2012)

Originally posted: January 12nd, 2023 Speaking of boy meets girl. Stories revolving around such a concept are nothing new in animation, plenty of animated films and shorts making use of it's obvious appeal. Discussions on cultural hegemony and heteronormativity aside (since you can switch around the genders and often romantic connotations without compromising the baseline), there's a reason this set up is so popular: it can be used in various different settings to complement a wide variety of themes and messages, since when you boil it down to it's basics, the story mold is simply one of two previously unacquainted characters connecting over something.

And here the complement is an obvious one: communication itself. A salaryman tries his best to communicate to a woman he bumped into when they were on a train station, making up for the chance he missed to do so for not being able to muster up the courage then. All with the help of paper planes. Yes, admittedly romance is the focus here, but the visual motif and gamut of experiences surrounding the two make it overall relatable nevertheless. She's the one character he connects with for connection's sake, in an otherwise square and grey adult life.

But of course, there's the other side here: it's visuals. Short films by big studios are usually case studies to see what can be done with new techniques or technologies, and this is no different. To a bit of a controversial reaction, Paperman started to popularize computer software tools to incorporate hand drawn (or often just hand drawn looking) lines into CG models dynamically, creating a visual flair that evokes the look of 2D animation while reaping the fruits of the advantages 3D offers. And while you can still spot some of the seams in this first experiment, the end result is nevertheless visually charming.

Some people have regarded it as a masterpiece. I don't, but I think it achieved what it set out to do powerfully enough to warrant respect.

[roskirambles]

Some more thoughts I had on the film i wasn't sure to include at first but screw it (edited to ommit some interlocutors) The thing with Castle in the Sky is that...it's just stupidly influential. There is such a thing as the "Laputa Effect" when it comes to talking about the impact it had on Japanese pop culture. Ancient tech, floating cities and steampunk? It essentially codified those tropes in Japanese media. So every time you see floating islands, old technology that is essentially magic, steam machines of anachronistic but fashionable use and so on, you owe it to this film. Funnily enough, it was one of the main influences of Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, a 1990 Studio Gainax production directed by Hideaki Anno of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame, that in turn is believed to have been plagiarized for inspired Atlantis: The Lost Empire(2001).

And I'm pretty sure Miyazaki didn't expect people loving some of the tropes that much. It's cited as an influence from games like Skies of Arcadia and Final Fantasy VII, to even Pixar productions like WALL-E. There's artists that can only DREAM of having this much of a cultural impact. Miyazaki has done it multiple times and he doesn't bat an eye.

Good he doesn't though. No matter how imaginative his imagery gets, there's always a layer of humanism underneath. Seriously though, raise your hand if you know one of these.

And you know? This movie is also a bit of a throwback for the man to his Lupin days. Not only are the guardians of Laputa based on a robot he used in one of his last episodes in Lupin (which means ALL the ancient robots that borrow from them are funnily enough borrowing from a decidedly non ancient robot), but the fact there's also a proper villain is yet a remnant of those times.

Even more fun to me is so track down the line of influences, as THAT robot is already borrowing from the one in the Fleischer produced Superman shorts.

See what I meant when I said there's a lot to talk about when it comes to Castle in the Sky? There's just so much when it comes to discussing it's influence and influences in visual design. Or narrative for the matter. Apparently Makoto Shinkai(director of Your Name) has cited the film as a favorite and the reason he likes thew "boy meets girl" narrative so much.

(Archive) Animated movie of the day: Laputa: Castle in the Sky (Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa, 1986)

Originally posted: January 11st, 2023 Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of several Ships, a pretty misunderstood classic of literature. Usually just called Gulliver's Travels, what once was a scathing satire that mocked English nobility with notorious contempt has been understood as a mere story for children about wondrous lands, two of them standing out in particular. One is Lilliput, inhabited by people twelfth the size of a normal person. The other? Laputa, a floating island of science with an unfortunate but VERY intentional name alluding to a pejorative word in Spanish.

And the last one is, oddly enough, mostly remembered BECAUSE of this one film. Funnily too, as it does completely away with Jonathan Swift's original story(albeit ironically alluding to it's existence) in favor of a tale of both childlike wonder and the dangers of technology and hubris on it's wake. One of the early films of Hayao Miyazaki, you can tell how his directorial style has been perfected since. It is gripping from the start, but it's almost built on a contradiction of tones.

On one hand you have swashbuckling adventures with a pretty charming and humorous cast, where the image of macho men and some of the danger is played for laughs, as a pair of kid heroes pretty much entrust to each other through thick and thin. On the other, there's an underlying power conflict rooted on ambition and conquest, and uncharacteristically for Miyazaki (who has a distaste for black and white morality) a proper villain this time with surprisingly violent and chilling actions.

Regardless, the love for flight, nature, and just life itself shine the brightest amongst the darkness of human hubris. A wonderously fun fairy tale of flying pirate grannies, ancient civilizations of high technology, but above all, of the power of trust and understanding.

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Animated movie of the day: WALL·E (2008)

Originally posted: January 12nd, 2022 Yeah, we had to talk about Pixar at some point. While every movie goes through multiple iterations and changes over development, Pixar takes the concept to the extreme, with pitches that see the light of day pretty much over a decade from their first showing. This often leads to movies that are polished to a T in almost every aspect, which is the case here…sort of.

While I do consider this environmentalist piece a very nice film, with gorgeous visuals, endearing characters and a great sound design, I feel divided about its structure, themes, and just how it ends up as a whole.

Sure, every plot thread is connected, but this film clearly has two very different presentation styles and even in repeated viewings I can't help but feel the abrupt shift from a wordless narrative of a garbage collecting Earth robot bonding over time with a probe unit from space, and the high action/comedy heroics of the second. I like both for different reasons(preferring the first half) but the way they're integrated clashes a bit in my eyes, even if it may be an artistic choice of ironic contrast (the Earth is silent and Space is now noisy).

And then there's the themes. It's environmental discussion(and many other social criticisms it has), while ever relevant, feels undermined by Disney's greed. I can agree with the message(or at least the core ideas) but it's hard to not feel a bit conflicted. It's exploration of nostalgia is striking in it's simplicity though. With just a few images it says so much about this concept.

So, do I love something about the film without caveats? Well, WALL-E itself. This romantic of a robot is such lovable protagonist, and its caring nature is infectious. The relationship it has with EVE is so wholesome too, because it is defined by that attention and care.

I may not think the final blend of it's ingredients is seamless or flawless, but there's definitely a heart to it that makes it an uplifting watch.