Dvd reviews
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is a Japanese animation directed by Isao Takahata. The screenplay was co-written by Takahata and Riko Sakaguchi. It was originally released in 2013. The story is based on the folktale of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Princess Kaguya received critical acclaim and was nominated for an Academy award... Read More »
Howl’s Moving Castle is a Japanese animation directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki also wrote the screenplay. It was released in 2004. The film was adapted from the novel by Diana Wyn Jones. The film follows Sophie, an eighteen year old hatter. She encounters a mysterious wizard called Howl whilst visiting her sister. On her return... Read More »
Tales From Earthsea is a Japanese animation directed by Goro Miyazaki. It was released in 2006. It is based on the Earthsea series of books by Ursula K Leguin. The characters and plot come from the first four books, “A Wizard of Earthsea”, “The Tombs of Atuan”, “The Furthest Shore” and “Tehanu”. Hayao Miyazaki had... Read More »
The Incredibles is a 3D animation directed by Brad Bird for Pixar in 2004. This is the story of a family of superheroes forced into hiding their identity. These are superheros as you really want to see them. Not the usual hackneyed hollywood job. Great visuals, great characterisation and great fun. As always with Pixar... Read More »
Pom Poko is a Japanese animation directed and written by Isao Takahata. It was released in 1994. It is a quirky story about a group of Tanuki (Raccoons) whose habitat becomes threatened. It deals with environmental and conservation issues but does it with a lot of humour. These are no ordinay tanuki. They have the... Read More »
This BBC Series is filled with adventures, perils, dinosaurs, laughter and Native American traditions that will keep an entire family entertained for many hours. Four teenagers work as Summer Counsellors at a Dinosaur Explorer camp situated in woodland. The main character is a teenager girl named Laureen, she is the daughter of the Paleontologist that... Read More »
Porco Rosso is a 1992 animated film by Studio Ghibli. It was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki from his manga series called ” Hikōtei Jidai”. It reflects Miyazaki’s love of aviation, which he returned to in his last film “The Wind Rises”. It tells the story of an Italian WWI ex fighter ace, now... Read More »
The Little Norse Prince ia a Japanese animation directed by Isao Takahata whilst Hayao Miyazaki worked on set design and key animation. It was released in 1968 by Toei Doga. Anyone familiar with Studio Ghibli will recognise those two names in a pre Ghibli collaboration (this is the first time they worked together). Although it... Read More »
Song of the Sea is a 2014 Irish animated film. It is a beautifully crafted traditional animation. This is the same team that created The Secret of Kells in 2009. In 2015 it was nominated for the Academy award for Best Animated Feature. It tells the story of a young Irish boy called Ben and... Read More »
Princess Mononoke is a Japanese animation written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was one of the first anime I bought and I was amazed how visually rich this animation was. It still holds true today. The forest is a truly magical place full of spirits and the spirit of the forest itself captures the... Read More »
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