Animator Miyazaki's new film hits screens in Japan
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 11:43:00 07/19/2008
Filed Under: Animation, Entertainment (general)
TOKYO -- Hayao Miyazaki's first full-length film in four years hit screens across Japan on Saturday, putting aside speculation that the Oscar-winning Japanese animator had made his last picture.
A 650-seat movie theatre at Tokyo's shopping and business district of Hibiya was filled with his fans, mostly children and their parents, to watch "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea," which the reclusive 67-year-old wrote and directed.
Inspired by the 19th-century fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, the story centers around a tiny fish-girl, Ponyo, who rides a jellyfish to escape her home in the sea.
She meets a five-year-old boy, Sosuke, who vows to protect her, but Ponyo is taken back to the sea. Desperate to be a human and live with Sosuke, Ponyo heads to land again with help from her sisters.
Miyazaki is one of Japan's biggest cultural exports. His last film, "Howl's Moving Castle," broke opening box office records at home in 2004 before winning a cult following in Western and Asian nations.
Miyazaki has said repeatedly in the past that he wants to retire.
The 2004 release of "Howl's Moving Castle" was met by speculation that it would be his last film, raising concerns in Japan for the future of the lucrative animation industry.
But "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" has dampened such concern.
Miyazaki, who had used computer graphics since "Princess Mononoke" in 1997, decided to shun hi-tech effects in his latest picture.
Miyazaki's second to last film, "Spirited Away," won the Academy Award in 2003 for best animated feature, Japan's first Oscar for a full-length work in nearly half a century.
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