Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke)

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207). January Magazine

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
http://www.januarymagazine.com/artcult/anime.html

January 2000

An Animated Hayao Miyazaki

by Emru Townsend

[...]

In particular, Princess Mononoke's arrival in Western cinemas has prompted the release of two books on Miyazaki's work. [...]

Like most "Art of" books, The Art and Making of... mostly features stills and background paintings from the movie, supplemented by storyboards, model sheets, layouts, and production information, all on heavy, glossy paper. The reproductions are beautiful, detailing every line on every character, every leaf on every tree; the care and precision that Miyazaki exacts from his staff isn't short-changed in the least. However, when I first read through the book, I felt something was lacking. [...]

There's also a section on the use of computer graphics in Princess Mononoke which is most welcome, since it discusses not only the tools used but the reasons for using them in a particular scene. This kind of frank discussion is exactly the sort of thing which should be studied by the many people who feel that computer-assisted animation is somehow cheating or simply lazy [...]

In contrast, Helen McCarthy's Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation deals with Princess Mononoke as just part of the big picture. As the book's subtitle implies, this is more of a look at Miyazaki's life and career, largely concentrating on the seven feature films that can be said to be his own

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224). ActionZine

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
http://www.actionzine.com/toytanic/featurez/current/The+Future+According+to+Todd.htm

January 7, 2000

The Future According to Todd:

Todd McFarlane reveals his plans for 2000-the exclusive Zine interview!

by Bald Ben

[...]

BB: I've heard rumors about you doing the toys for Princess Mononoke. Are you really involved?

TM: The answer is sort of yes and no right now. We got the deal, but we were trying to get approval. The approval process isn't going quite as smoothly as we want, so we're trying to figure out how we can get that working so it doesn't take five years to get these toys out, because otherwise I'll let somebody else figure it out.

[...]

225). About.com

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
http://screenwriting.about.com/arts/screenwriting/library/weekly/aa010900.htm

January 9, 2000

Screenwriting 1999 - The Year in Review

by Allen White

[...]

The big surprise this year was that animation was a huge winner. Indeed, we are in the midst of an animation renaissance, and talented writers as much as brilliant animators are certainly central to this creative success. [...]

For the purposes of this column, I mostly stick to American film, as I cannot fairly judge works written in another language when I miss out on much of the inherent poetry in the words. [...] These are all powerful, stirring works in their own right, and I want everyone to know about them.

Princess Mononoke
Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki
One the most breathtaking works of animation I've ever seen, the film is a visual and auditory masterpiece. Writer-director Hayao Miyazaki is a master of the animated feature form, and carefully crafts dense and meaningful fairy tales steeped in myth, symbol, conscience, and humanism. Mononoke is also a work with such a powerful and complex environmental message, that it makes even the most thoughtful green propaganda look like children's taunting in comparison. This film is not only representative of the heights which Japanese animation can reach, but all animation.

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226). Furyu the Budo Journal

The following are relevant quotes only

January 9, 2000

"Well, It's About Time!. . ."

by Wayne Muromoto

[...]

I'm not a great fan of Japanese anime, but if you were to ask me what I thought was the best "Japanese martial art" movie in recent times, I'd have to say it's the cartoon animation "Princess Mononoke." No kidding. I just saw it because a judo instructor, who is a real old-timer, told me it was a fantastic movie for Japanese culture. Yeah, yeah, I thought. He must be getting a bit soft in the head.

I was wrong. I loved it. Even film critic Roger Ebert felt it was among the five best films of 1999. It takes place in a mythical past; different Japanese time periods are mixed up. [...]

What is "furyu," what is the spirit of koryu budo? Maybe, as we enter the 21st Century, it's contained in an anime movie about an ancient, mythical past.

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227). Variety

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
http://www.variety.com/search/article.asp?articleID=1117760688

January 10, 2000

Despite banner year, toons still ghettoized

by Ramin Zahed

[...]

In a year when titles such as "Tarzan," "The Iron Giant," "Princess Mononoke" and "Toy Story 2" have received critical acclaim for the kind of sophisticated storytelling usually associated with adult fare, as well as their visual panache, toons still get little respect from traditionalist Oscar voters.

Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan, who put all four animated films on his top-10 of 1999 list, says the fact that there were so many strong entries this past year might ruin the chances of any one of them getting a best picture nomination. [...]

Hayao Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke," a sprawling adventure that runs for more than two hours, tells the very grown-up story of a wild-child raised by wolves and her battle to preserve a pristine forest. [...] "From a pure filmmaking standpoint, (Miyazaki's) staging, his cutting, his action scenes are some of the best ever put on film, whether animated or not," Lasseter recently told the New York Times.

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228). The Washington Post

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/feed/a49427-2000feb14.htm

January 14, 2000

What Would Godzilla Say?

by Hank Stuever

[...]

you realize how out of it you've suddenly become, standing here in the middle of something called Katsucon, the area's sixth annual Japanese animation festival, which drew 4,000 or so young and old Japanophiles to the Crystal City Hyatt Regency on Saturday afternoon. [...]

Watch as a shapely teenage girl--in a skimpy, nautical-inspired miniskirt and furry rabbit ears worn on her head of long pink hair--goes absolutely bonkers for a shyish, acne-dotted young man of perhaps 21, who draws science fiction comic books in the Japanese style.

She pushes others aside, reaching into her bright blue, plastic, teeny-weeny Princess Mononoke knapsack for a teeny-weeny digital camera and takes his picture.

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229). The Economist

The following are representative quotes only.

February 26, 2000

Japanese animation - Toy stories for grown-ups

by The Economist

[...]

Until recently, anime (a Japanese abbreviation of the borrowed English word) had little more than a cult following outside Japan. However, animation epics such as Hayao Miyazaki's "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds" (1984), Gisaburo Sugii's "Night on the Galactic Railroad" (1985), and Katsuhiro Otomo's "Akira" (1988) have been an inspiration for a younger generation of film makers in the West. [...]

Much of the credit goes to Disney's art-film unit, Miramax, for translating Mr Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke" and releasing it in a selected number of theatres in America last November. The film-which pits a medieval people with their greed and thoughtlessness against the forces of nature in an epic confrontation that leaves both sides in ruin-is the biggest domestic box-office success of all time in Japan.

In America, "Princess Mononoke" opened to rave reviews but less-than-spectacular receipts. Families, expecting typical Disney fare, may well have been shocked by the film's mature themes. Of all Mr Miyazaki's work, this is his darkest and most disturbing film, with a generous share of violence, death and even sexuality, as well as a conclusion that seemingly resolves nothing.

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230). Computer Graphics World

The following are representative quotes only.

March 2000

International studios rely on digital innovation to deliver films rich in cultural tradition

by Karen Moltenbrey

[...]

princess mononoke
While the 135-minute film still contains more than 144,000 hand-drawn cels-every one of which was reviewed and in some cases retouched by Miyazaki himself-about one-tenth of the production includes computer-generated imagery. Most of that was created with digital ink and paint only. The remaining portion of the CG work made use of texture mapping, 3D modeling and rendering, morphing, particle creation, and digital compositing.

[...]

An example of this attention to detail is found in the scene where the princess breaks into a fortress and runs across the roof as Ashitaka scampers behind her. In a split second, a tile on which he steps cracks and crumbles. "It's so much work to do that because the tile is part of the roof, which is part of the background, and moving such an intricate piece of art is a big deal-especially for such a small detail," says Alpert. "Most directors wouldn't go to all the trouble, but that is Miyazaki's style. He feels it is important because it gives the impression that Ashitaka is bigger and stronger."

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231). ActionZone

The following are relevant quotes only;

March 03, 2000

Princess Mononoke Returns to Japan:
But this time she'll be speaking English

by Zurui Neko

[...]

beginning in late April during the "Golden Week" holiday period the American version of Princess Mononoke, featuring the voices of Billy Crudup, Minnie Driver, and Claire Danes among others, will be released in Japanese theaters. For the bargain price of 1000 yen (movies normally cost 1800 yen) viewers will get to see the American version of the film complete with Japanese subtitles.

Producers of the original Japanese version Mononoke Hime expect a large turnout at the re-release of the film in Japan, believing that many of the Mononoke fans who came to see the film the first time will return a second time and "be emotionally moved in a different way by a new version of the same film." Release of the American version will also attract the many foreign residents in Japan, as well as Japanese who are simply interested in improving their English listening skills.

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232). BigStar.com

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
http://www.bigstar.com/kids/carsman/index.cfm/3c6fbc9g2967c28g3?fa=questions&num=1

April 2000

dr. carsman's Q and A - april

by Dr. Carsman

[...]

Question: My 8-year-old son seems really interested in Anime, but I have heard that some of it has some pretty mature themes. Can you suggest any Anime (or Anime-like) titles that would be good for my child without being too violent?

Answer: You've heard right. Apparently, the term "anime" is fairly well accepted in animation circles as applying to all kinds of Japanese works in animated graphics. [...] There is, however, a helpful tool available to you on the Internet: A Parent's Guide to Anime, by Bryon Pfaffenber. His ratings (g, pg (under 13), m (mature) and X) are formulated on sound educational standards for viewing. The "Guide" may be reached through http://www.abcb.com [...]

May I suggest My Neighbor Totoro in which two sisters engage the "good fairy sprite" who inhabits the woodlands in their efforts to gain their hospitalized mother's recovery. Also, "Kiki's Delivery Service," "Whisper of the Heart," in which views of modern Japanese lifestyle, with a nuclear family, and universal childhood concerns are seen. [...] From the 68 PG listings, only "Grave of the Fireflies" and "Mononoke Hime" (Princess Mononoke) have been seen, and are probably more suitable for slightly older youngsters.

[...]

233). Yahoo Business Wire

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
biz.yahoo.com/bw/000405/ca_walt_di_1.html

April 5, 2000

Michael O. Johnson Named President, Walt Disney International

by Business Wire

Michael O. Johnson has been named president of Walt Disney International, it was announced today by Robert A. Iger, president and chief operating officer of The Walt Disney Company.

[...]

Johnson reorganized the U.S. and international video groups into a single business, established a worldwide marketing organization, boosted Disney's video rental markets and established Buena Vista Home Entertainment as the worldwide distributor for Hayao Miyazaki -- Japan's premier animator. Under Johnson's direction, Disney's original 34 home video markets were expanded to more than 80. Johnson also negotiated video and theatrical distribution agreements and certain production agreements with Tokuma Shoten Publishing, Studio Ghibli and Daiei Studios.

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234). The Guardian

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
www.guardian.co.uk/friday_review/story/0,3605,178316,00.html

April 5, 2000

Beauty and the beastly

by Andrew Osmond

In Britain, Japanese animation is seen as either schlocky "manga" that clogs up the shelves in video stores, or the cheap factory animation that ruins children's television.

[...]

Mononoke might change the picture, but we'll never know. The distribution rights for the US were bought two years ago by the Disney-owned Miramax. In the UK, they were passed to Buena Vista, the Disney's distribution arm.

[...]

The decision not to release Mononoke here, in the view of Mark Schilling, author of Contemporary Japanese Film, denies us a chance to see a seminal piece of Japanese pop culture. "For the Japanese film industry, Princess Mononoke is a major, major movie. It demonstrated that film-makers need not appeal to the lowest common denominator to have a box-office hit. It successfully defied the industry conventional wisdom that animated films are only one element in a 'media mix' strategy. Instead of animating safe properties from other media, the director, Hayao Miyazaki, and his company developed their own ideas into a stand-alone film."

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234). The Boston Globe

The following are representative quotes only; the full text is available online at:
www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/168/living/A_new_magic_animates_Disney_Fantasia_2000_+.shtml

June 16, 2000

A new magic animates Disney 'Fantasia/2000'

by Jay Carr

[...]

The kinetic, propulsive sequence set to Stravinsky's 1919 "Firebird" Suite (second - and leanest - of the three he extracted from the full score), depicting a pagan goddess regenerating the earth after a volcanic demon consumes it in flames, seems to owe more to the demon rising up out of Mussorgsky's ''Night on Bald Mountain'' than to, say, the more recent and more innovative take on nature in "Princess Mononoke."

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