Monmon the Water Spider
Monmon the Water Spider (水グモもんもん Mizugumo Monmon?) was the fifth in a series of short films produced to screen exclusively at the Studio Ghibli Museum in Japan. There has been no commercial release for this film, which premiered at the museum on 3 January 2006. The film has also had one screening outside of the museum as part of the JapanNYC Festival at Carnegie Hall in New York City on 26 March 2011.
From DBBourroughs' blog Unseen Films: The plot of the film follows Monmon, a water spider, as he builds his underwater nest, collects oxygen, eats, and tries not to be eaten by bigger animals. One day he spies a female water strider gliding across the surface of the water. He is smitten and begins to think about her. She really wants nothing to do with him...but one day circumstance puts her in danger and Monmon has to go to her rescue.
Click on the thumbnails below for some sample pages from the film's program pamphlet:
- Original story, screenplay and direction: Hayao Miyazaki
- Vocal: Akiko Yano
- Music: Rio Yamase, soundtrack CD
- Animation Direction: Atsuko Tanaka
- Art Direction: Youichi Watanabe
- Color Design: Michiyo Yasuda
- Digital Animation Direction: Mitsunori Kataama
- Length: 15 minutes
