STACK #122 Dec 2015

EXTRAS

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ANIME ROUND-UP

Howl’s Moving Castle

DVD, hardcover art book, collectable coin and a look behind-the-scenes at Ghibli in The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness on DVD. These films are also available individually on both Blu-ray and DVD, except for The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness , which will be DVD only. The tearjerking Grave of the Fireflies , and the not-Ghibli-but-still-Miyazaki Castle of Cagliostro are also both being released in stunning High-Def on Blu-ray.

Kiki’s Delivery Service

O ver the last few years, Madman have treated us to all of Studio Ghibli’s feature films, and more recently, we’ve seen a slew of beautiful Blu-ray releases. This month sees Madman kick it up a notch with not only a handful of glorious HD titles, but also some extremely collectable Limited Edition packs which are sure to hold pride of place in the collection of any Ghibli devotee. Kiki’s Delivery Service celebrates its 25th

anniversary with a limited edition set including the film on DVD and Blu-ray, a hardcover art book, art cards and a commemorative coin. Howl’s Moving Castle celebrates its 10th anniversary also with a limited edition set including the film on DVD and Blu-ray, a hardcover art book, art cards, commemorative coin and a figurine. TheWind Rises , however, gets a limited edition release including the film on Blu-ray and

TheWind Rises

What is it about Studio Ghibli that has drawn such a devoted following? For the answer to this question I spoke to JeffWexler, Studio Ghibli International Division Chief and producer of TheWind Rises .

What is it about Studio Ghibli which has proven to be so enduring? Our films engage viewers with a distinctive combination of beautiful hand-drawn animation and background art, and daring, surprising and honest stories. Even our most fanciful stories are expressed with genuine, believable characters in thrilling situations. Viewers are always treated to a visually stunning experience and compelling stories, time after time. Our films are never dated or marked by the language or look of current trends and fashion; they remain timeless and thus are ultimately re- watchable. The films are intelligent and treat our viewers – old and young alike – as intelligent and worthy of the challenge of stories that do not always have easy explanations, perfect heroes and wholly-evil villains.

Probably for ease of comparison, Studio Ghibli is sometimes referred to as “Disney of the East”. Is this a fair comparison? Thinking about the commitment of both studios to high quality animated film entertainment, yes, I think it is a fair comparison. However, Studio Ghibli is a very small studio with limited film output compared to Disney; we are tiny, actually, in humble surroundings with a single ambition – to create compelling and beautiful films for Japanese viewers. Our founders and younger directors make the films that tell the stories that they want to tell, not the stories that they think will necessarily sell to a particular market or demographic. Our films are not created with sequels, TV spin-offs, merchandising and theme parks in mind – all things that Disney is excellent at doing. Disney designs, creates and

grows tremendously large, broad experiences – very high quality experiences! – with its characters and stories. We create single “one- off” films that are really almost at the whim of our directors, with no regard for market demographics and current trends, or future franchise expansion. Thankfully, there certainly is plenty of room for the films of both studios – indeed, there are many Disney fans at Studio Ghibli, and we have a treasured and warm relationship with Pixar in particular. Is there one particular Ghibli film which best encapsulates the studios spirit? Tough question! It’s like when I am asked “Which is your favourite Studio Ghibli film?” and my honest answer always is, “The one I most recently watched.” But you asked me a specific question so I’ll try to answer it… hmmm. My colleagues

will of course have different answers, and I think Miyazaki-san would disagree with me (especially having heard what he said in The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness ), but how about Porco Rosso ? It has it all – charming and memorable characters forging their own paths (like our founders), a clever story with plenty of unexpected moments and twists (like our history), innovative animation and art (what we aim to make), important messages delivered without bombast (how we aim to speak), sweeping music and breathtaking vistas (beauty we love), and, of course, airplanes and food (soaring high [metaphorically] and eating [actually].

DECEMBER 2014 JB Hi-Fi www.jbhifi.com.au

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