Ponyo, a movie by Miyazaki (the godfather of Japanese animation)
“Miyazaki reminds us that nothing in the world is asleep,” said Duncan Williams, chair of the Center for Japanese Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, during the Berkeley-Japan Awards ceremony. “Everything has its own life, its own history, its own animating force. [His films] are a gentle recognition of the animating force in each of our imaginations.”
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In response to a comment made by Kelts on the filmmaker's tendency to feature strong female protagonists in his movies, Miyazaki pointed to his animation studio, Studio Ghibli. “We have 22 new employees that we’ve hired as animators.” He said. “Only four are men. Now we are hiring 10 more animators from a pool of 22 candidates. But out of that pool, only one man is remaining. Because there are so many strong women out there now, I may have to start making movies about men.”
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Ponyo, which is about the friendship between a little boy and a goldfish, is currently Japan’s highest grossing film. The movie opens in the U.S. on August 14th in over 800 theaters around the country, a far wider release than Miyazaki’s previous films.
excerpts from Publishers Weekly, 8/4/2009 / Kai-ming Cha
