Artist Profile: Totoro and No-Face by Sarah O'Donald

Artist and illustrator Sarah O'Donald has crafted this vibrant illustration of Totoro and No-Face sharing a tea time. I really enjoy this piece, the colors and details are superb and demonstrate the artist's skills at composition.

You can visit Sarah O'Donald's Instagram page, which features dozens of illustrations that are absolutely brilliant. She has also made numerous appearances at art shows where her works are available for sale, featuring fantasy themes and characters from animation, comics and videogames. Her output is quite remarkable and I'm amazed at how much she has created. She must be spending every waking moment drawing and painting, which is, of course, the true goal of any artist. I'm very impressed and more than a little jealous. My artistic skills are nowhere near as refined and inspiring as these.

Great work! Here's wishing for your success!

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Happy 30th Birthday to My Neighbor Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies

Today marks the 30th anniversary of two of Studio Ghibli's most acclaimed movies, My Neighbor Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies. The two were offered as a double bill in Japanese theaters, which has always bemused and befuddled fans around the world.

My understanding of the whole saga is that Hayao Miyazaki wanted to create his movie but couldn't convince Tokuma Shoten (the owners of Studio Ghibli in those days) to finance the project. So he convinced Isao Takahata to create a film adaptation of the famous novel Grave of the Fireflies and then piggyback Totoro onto that.

It must have been an enormous strain on both the filmmakers and the studio's finances to create two feature animated films at the same time, but they successfully managed to release them on time (more or less). Unfortunately, the Japanese moviegoing public wasn't very interested that summer, or perhaps they just couldn't handle the emotional whiplash. I'd also like to think that Akira-mania also played a role, as the two Ghibli movies were radically different and didn't fit in with the times.

The Totoro/Fireflies double bill was a financial flop for the studio, their biggest until My Neighbors the Yamadas in 1999. Thankfully, Tokuma Shoten continued to support Miyazaki and Takahata and believed in them unconditionally, and Ghibli rebounded the following year with Kiki's Delivery Service, which became their first box-office hit.

Meanwhile, both Fireflies and Totoro would become widely respected classics over time, thanks to home video and a little thing called merchandising. Once the kids had Totoro toys and plushies to play with, and enough time to watch the videos over and over a million times, they came around. And the rest, as they say, is history.

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GKIDS Ghibli Fest 2018 Schedule

US animation movie distributor GKIDS returns once again with Ghibli Fest 2018, a year-long retrospective of Studio Ghibli movies in theaters. Films will be shown in both English (dub) and Japanese (subtitled) soundtracks and will be screened at theaters nationwide, courtesy of Fathom Events.

To purchase tickets online, visit the Fathom Events website.

Here is the official schedule for Ghibli Fest 2018. Be sure to bookmark this post for future references:

Ponyo
March 25, 26 and 28

The Cat Returns
April 22, 23 and 25

Porco Rosso
May 20, 21 and 23

Pom Poko
June 17, 18 and 20

Princess Mononoke
July 22, 23 and 25

Grave of the Fireflies
August 12, 13 and 15

My Neighbor Totoro
September 30, October 1 and 3

Spirited Away
October 28, 29 and 30

Castle in the Sky
November 18, 19 and 20

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays From Ghibli Blog

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all our friends and followers from Ghibli Blog. Here's hoping that you're having a great time, that you got all the presents you wanted, and that the weather outside isn't unbearably cold.

Here's Totoro hanging out at the bus stop again. He doesn't have to go anywhere, he just likes hanging out for fun. Even he is a bit surprised at the arctic air that's blasting through North America right now. He's getting a full plate of a traditional "Minnesota Winter". That's okay, things will warm up soon. At least he has some snow to play around in.

Don't forget to also visit our indie publishing site, DT MEDIA, and consider purchasing or downloading one of my books. I'm already working on the next two manuscripts, including the mammoth "Conversations on Ghibli" book project that is seemingly never finished. Oh, well, whatever.

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Riffs: When Marnie Was There, My Neighbor Totoro, Omohide Poro Poro

Hiromasa Yonebayashi pays tribute to the Studio Ghibli movies in all of his work, and When Marnie Was There is chock full of them. Here is one easy riff for fans: Anna is wearing the same hat as Mei in My Neighbor Totoro. However, I was also reminded of Taeko's hat in Omohide Poro Poro. Maybe that's just me, or maybe it's intentional. You be the judge.

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Riffs: Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro

Here is a Ghibli Riff that I hadn't noticed at first, but now it seems obvious. The scene with the giant radish spirit in the elevator mimics shots and poses from My Neighbor Totoro's classic scene at the bus stop.

I think one of the things I enjoy about Miyazaki's movies is how he fills his canvas with so all these little details, and populates his worlds with minor characters who come and go, yet leave an indelible impression upon our imaginations. This radish character is a throwaway, barely on the screen for a moment and then gone forever. And I'm left wanting more. I'd like to see a whole movie about this character. Wouldn't you? Eh, maybe, maybe not. Whatever.

Every Studio Ghibli movie features at least a handful of riffs that aim back to earlier works. Many have well over a dozen. Spirited Away has shots that wink back to Future Boy Conan, Castle of Cagliostro, My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke (the original 1980 storyboard book), among others. If you can find them all, kudos to you. You should make a contest among your Ghibli loving friends. Let's see just how well you know your Miyazaki.

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Artist Spotlight: Totoro and Friends

You can never have enough Totoro fan art, it seems. I'm always amazed at the level of creativity and inspiration this humble little movie has spawned. Sometimes I have to pinch myself and remember that My Neighbor Totoro was an extremely obscure movie in the West as recently as a decade ago. Yes, it had a measure of success on home video (read: VHS), but the wider public never really discovered Miyazaki. Today, there is a thriving and growing fan community.

I really like this painting, which incorporates several Hayao Miyazaki characters into a Classical Japanese watercolor art style. We even see a cameo by the director himself in the background. Totoro shares the spotlight with No-Face, the Soot Sprites, a Kodama and Catbus, who appears as a kite. The composition is nicely balanced, which is a challenge when there's so many characters in view.

The artist who created this piece did an excellent job. Unfortunately, I was not able to discover the artist's name, so if you know who is responsible for this painting, please pass it along so that we can give proper credit.

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Artist Spotlight: Totoro Gothic by Katie Wu

This is just too funny: Mei and Totoro recreate the famous painting American Gothic. It's one of the most parodied paintings of the modern era, and artist Katie Wu gives it a Studio Ghibli spin. Mei looks a little bit like a Peanuts character, which would have been even funnier.

You can find Katie's artwork and many others at the Fans of Studio Ghibli page on Facebook. There are countless drawings and illustrations by Ghibli Freaks of all ages and skill levels, and it's quite impressive. Good work, everyone!

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Riffs: Lupin the 3rd, Future Boy Conan, My Neighbor Totoro

Some years ago, I posted on this riff from My Neighbor Totoro, where Mei looks through a bucket, giving us this fascinating little camera shot. This bit was quoting an early episode of Future Boy Conan. To my surprise, I only recently realized that this shot originated in the 1971-72 Lupin the 3rd TV series, from one of the episodes directed by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata.

Hayao Miyazaki always likes to recycle certain gags and shots. It's what makes exploring his films and TV series so much fun. There are Easter eggs scattered everywhere. Why is this still such a mystery? Hardly anybody in the Ghibli fan community every talks about this. Perhaps we still need to spread the word of the pre-Ghibli era. Once you've seen Horus, Lupin, Heidi and Conan, your eyes will pop out of your heads.

Lupin the 3rd: Series One is currently available on DVD in the States, courtesy of Discotek. When is somebody going to license Future Boy Conan, already? What exactly are we waiting for?

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Artist Spotlight: Hipster Totoro

Today's Artist Spotlight is a charming little illustration I found online. It's none other than "Hipster Totoro," or maybe "Indie Publisher Totoro." He looks just like me, except for that coffee (I had to give up coffee a year or so ago).

I remember a couple years ago when "Hipster Ariel" became a rolling internet meme. I can't see why Hipster Totoro couldn't work just as well. I'll just post this image here and leave you to create the funny wisecracks.

Unfortunately, I don't know the artist who created this piece. If you find him or her, be sure to send your thanks. Great watercolor design!

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Is This the First Totoro Plushie?

Is this the very first Totoro plushie toy ever made? I found these photos online, claiming to be the original My Neighbor Totoro plushies from 1988. I cannot verify its authenticity, but the tag with Tokuma Shoten's information appears to checks out.

This is a very odd plushie, almost experimental, like it was assembled at a junior high school art class or your grandparents' nursing home. It does have a certain, albeit weird, charm. We must remind ourselves that Studio Ghibli was new to the merchandising game, and it took a while to properly learn the ropes.

It was the toys, after all, that made My Neighbor Totoro a success. Its double billing with Grave of the Fireflies was a major bust at the Japanese box office in 1988. Perhaps its style was just a bit too old-fashioned at the time. Remember that Akira was the hot property that year, as anime was going through its rebellious teenage phase. The simple childhood nostalgia of Totoro did not fit into that scene. It would take the growth of the toys, and the success of home video, to turn this hidden gem into a genuine classic.

And making a slightly less creepy plushie definitely helped. This is like that time Barney Gumble was dressed up to look like Krusty the Clown. "I am so Crunchy the Clown!"

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Studio Ghibli Halloween Costumes For 2017

Halloween is only one week away, which means it's time for everybody to hurry up and finish their costumes. Ghibli Freaks of all ages will be eager to show off their love of their favorite animated movies and help spread the word to their families and neighbors.

These costumes were first shown at DramaFever, and if you follow the link, you will find a dozen more, all equally impressive. It's very clear that everybody invested an enormous amount of work for their costumes. "Cosplay" is a popular staple of anime and sci-fi conventions, and it seems as if that community has exploded in recent years, thanks to the soaring success of ComicCon and similar events. I remember kids dressing up in costumes at Star Trek conventions back in the late 1980s, but today's fans have taken the game to a whole new level.

Each of these makes for a terrific Halloween costume idea for parents and children alike. I especially like the My Neighbor Totoro photo at top, with the two girls pulling a Cat Bus wagon. The pet Ohmu is also pretty inspired...I wonder if it moves? That would be cool.

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Artist Spotlight: Studio Ghibli Pixel Art by Richard J. Evans

Three years ago, artist Richard J. Evans embarked on an interesting project: a series of digital artworks based on the movies of Studio Ghibli, rendered entirely in "pixel art." This is an art style that is deliberately low-fi, low-resolution and quite blocky, inspired, one supposes, by the look of computer graphics from the 1980s. This sub-genre of art has become very popular in recent years and shows no signs of slowing down.

Evans successfully captures the hand-drawn animation style of the Ghibli films quite masterfully, with a very wide color palette at his disposal (much more than what was available on computers and videogamess of the 1980s), and everything is sharply detailed, which maintaining those large blocky pixels. The ones you see here are my personal favorites, but the artist has also paid tribute to nearly every Ghibli movie ever made, and they're all terrific.

Overall, great job. Creating art within very hard limitations can be quite challenging, but the results are equally rewarding.

You can see more of Evans' work on his website. Be sure to send him a thanks for his efforts.

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Hayao Miyazaki Short Films: Mei and the Kittenbus (2003)

Here are some photos from the 2003 Ghibli Museum short film Mei and the Kittenbus. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, this is a sequel of sorts to the beloved children's classic My Neighbor Totoro.

Mei and the Kittenbus is fairly short, roughly ten minutes. In the first sequence, young Mei playing around her family house until she discovers a new friend, the "kittenbus," who is a pint-sized version of Catbus. The two play and frolic around and have a good time.

In the second sequence, Mei is awakened at night by Kittenbus, who takes her on a journey, where they discover dozens of "cat buses" of all shapes and sizes, and populated by hundreds of large Totoros. Everyone is joining together to meet the elder Catbus, the oldest and largest of them all (and voiced by Miyazaki himself). Here, Mei is reunited with Totoro, who is still carrying his umbrella.

Everyone is happy and cheerful. Mei is returned to her home, and the story ends.

While this film, like all the Ghibli Museum short films, remain exclusively in Japan, Westerners can purchase the official art books, which include large screenshots detailing the stories. These are nice collectibles and very valuable for scholars who wish to discover this little-known aspect of Studio Ghibli.

Will Mei and the Kittenbus ever be shown outside of Japan? Not likely, at least not while Miyazaki is still alive. The museum was created with a decidedly non-commercial approach, deliberately avoiding the mass consumerism of a Disneyland. Because of this, the museum's short films are intended to be seen only there, with no possibility of a home video release.

Even after Miyazaki passes (hopefully not for many more years), Toshio Suzuki will likely still honor his friend's wishes. Whoever ends up controlling Studio Ghibli after the original founders are gone will likely decide the fate of these movies. But that's not a conversation we're ready to have, for obvious reasons. I'll gladly prefer to keep these movies in the vault in exchange for keeping Miyazaki around a little longer.

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My Neighbor Totoro 1993 US Trailer

Here is a very nice find: the original 1993 theatrical trailer for My Neighbor Totoro in the United States, courtesy of original distributor Troma, Inc. This would be the first Studio Ghibli movie to be released in the States, the beginning of a very long and complicated journey towards mainstream acceptance on our shores.

The Troma version of Totoro featured an English-language dub that is beloved by fans to this day. Many still consider it superior to the 2006 Disney version that later appeared on DVD and Blu-Ray. 20th Century Fox would release the movie on VHS, LaserDisc and DVD, although the latter release was merely sourced from the LD, with the traditional "full screen" pan-and-scan picture.

The original 1993 press release was preserved by the Miyazaki Mailing List, and it's a fascinating read. I'd like to find an original copy, if only for posterity. This marked the first serious attempt to bring Hayao Miyazaki to the American mainstream. Troma's strategy would become the standard sales pitch: Miyazaki as Japan's Walt Disney. This has never been entirely true (if I would compare Miyazaki to any American filmmaker, it would be Steven Spielberg), but understandably necessary when the family-friendly cartoon market was dominated by Disney, which was experiencing their great renaissance in the early 1990s, thanks to The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.

Here's the relevant text from the Troma press release:

"Japan's Mickey Mouse" 

Troma's release of the award-winning family film MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO will introduce American audiences to TOTORO, which in Japan is a household name. "In Japan TOTORO is more beloved than Mickey Mouse and the Troma Team is honored to introduce this superb family entertainment to American audiences," says Lloyd Kaufman. Throughout Japan, one can see the furry, fat and lovable creatures, called TOTOROs on a wide variety of licensed products including plush toys, tote bags, pillows, lunch boxes and many others. 

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO also introduces the creative imagination and art of Japan's top animation director, Hayao Miyazaki. "Mr. Miyazaki's animation is magnificent and sublime; funny yet very touching. In my opinion he is a genius" comments Kaufman. He is as revered in Japan as Walt Disney is revered in America and has had enormous box-office success, attracting audiences of adults, as well as children.

The tagline "more popular than Mickey Mouse" was commonly used in those days, and was always aimed more at parents than children. I remember that phrase was previously used to describe Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. For Baby Boomer parents, Mickey was the touchstone for children's entertainment. For Generation X/Y and young Millennials? Not so much.

This illustrates once again the immense difficulty in bringing Japanese animation to the States. "Japanimation" wasn't just a variation on familiar cartoons, it was an entirely different art form.

I am aware that it's unlikely to ever happen, but I would like to see a home video release of My Neighbor Totoro that includes the original 1993 Troma dub and trailer. You could include the 2006 Disney dub as well. There's plenty enough room for everyone. I think the fans would be thrilled.

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