FilmFour have finally shown the two missing animes from Ghibli and keeping up their pathetic record, they managed to show both of them in dubbed versions. By the way for anyone who cares about these things, FilmFour will cease to be a subscription channel in June and will go on to Freeview. What this means in practice is that they will start to show their films with ad breaks and probably a horrid logo as well. So much for their saying that they project movies as the director intended! It wouldn't surprise me if their scheduling becomes even more mainstream than it is at present (they've even showed "Police Academy"), so I guess I'll be less reliant on them for my viewing pleasures come the summer.
Anyhow, back to the two films shown. "My Neighbour Totoro" from 1988 is one of Miyazaki's classics which I have seen before, and while it may appear pitched to the youngest denominator, there is still much for the adult eye to appreciate with his painterly style. The story concerns two sisters whose mother is in hospital and how they are befriended by woodland spirits (that only children can see) and a 10-legged cat-bus (really). The other was "Whisper of the Heart" from 1995 and like most of the Ghibli films concerned a teenaged girl. She is absorbed by books, finds magic in an imagined world, and reluctantly finds love with a young man who wants to create violins in Italy. There is also a mysterious cat which weaves in and out of the tale which seems to be another Ghibli obsession. Not your typical Hollywood animation then.
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