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Miyazaki’s Little Mermaid: A Goldfish Out of Water

Miyazaki’s Little Mermaid: A Goldfish Out of Water deborah ross Two Animators and the Problem of Animation when hayao miyazaki's spirited away reached American theaters in 2002, children by and large were enthralled, but some of us adults were confused. This English-language version of the original Japanese film bore the Disney logo, but it was clearly not Disney. It was longer, for one thing, with odd pauses during which the characters seemed to be pondering,1 and the line between good and evil seemed blurred and shifting. On the other hand, it also did not fit the American stereotype of Japanese animation--too detailed, too expensive, and with a surprising absence of exploding robots. One thing about this movie did strike a familiar note: like many Disney features, it presented imagination as a sometimes dark and dangerous thing. That imagination is both a gift and a curse is hardly a new idea; its double-edged presence in children's literature has long attracted scholarly attention. But for an animated film to warn viewers of the hazards of something without which it could not begin to exist seems downright hypocritical. When the most creative, surrealistic animated images are made to serve deborah ross is a professor of English at Hawai`i Pacific http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Film and Video University of Illinois Press

Miyazaki’s Little Mermaid: A Goldfish Out of Water

Ross, Deborah L.
Journal of Film and Video , Volume 66 (3) – Aug 29, 2014
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Publisher
University of Illinois Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.
ISSN
1934-6018
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Abstract

deborah ross Two Animators and the Problem of Animation when hayao miyazaki's spirited away reached American theaters in 2002, children by and large were enthralled, but some of us adults were confused. This English-language version of the original Japanese film bore the Disney logo, but it was clearly not Disney. It was longer, for one thing, with odd pauses during which the characters seemed to be pondering,1 and the line between good and evil seemed blurred and shifting. On the other hand, it also did not fit the American stereotype of Japanese animation--too detailed, too expensive, and with a surprising absence of exploding robots. One thing about this movie did strike a familiar note: like many Disney features, it presented imagination as a sometimes dark and dangerous thing. That imagination is both a gift and a curse is hardly a new idea; its double-edged presence in children's literature has long attracted scholarly attention. But for an animated film to warn viewers of the hazards of something without which it could not begin to exist seems downright hypocritical. When the most creative, surrealistic animated images are made to serve deborah ross is a professor of English at Hawai`i Pacific

Journal

Journal of Film and Video – University of Illinois Press

Published: Aug 29, 2014

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