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Director Pantheon: Isao Takahata▲▼
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Rating▲▼
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| Anne of Green Gables (TV) |
Very good |
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| Anne of Green Gables: The Movie |
Masterpiece |
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| Gauche the Cellist (movie) |
Excellent |
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Charming and attractive hand-painted film directed by a pre-Ghibli Isao Takahata that captures all the idyllic appeal of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony from which the story derives its inspiration. |
| Grave of the Fireflies (movie) |
Good |
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Grave of the Fireflies is an odd mixture of sophistication and sentimentality. The fate of Seita and Setsuko as an allegory of Japan’s wartime arrogance is both subtle and original, however the emotional manipulation becomes, at times, a distraction, neither advancing the message or the plot. Sure, the ghost of Setsuko playing will get people crying but it is really just emotional fan service. The animation style is simple, often very still, but always effective, and affective. This austere film stands with Barefoot Gen as anime's pre-eminent depiction of World War 2. |
| Heidi - A Girl of the Alps (TV) |
Very good |
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| Horus - Prince of the Sun (movie) |
Good |
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Sometimes engaging anime from 1968, often described as the first feature film with a recognisable anime style. The plot is episodic and the characters are one-dimensional but the hand of Isao Takahata is present nonetheless. One of its oddities is the way the characters and scenes are often drawn with widely varying styles. Some facial features - the male and female protagonists, Hols and Hilda, in particular - point the way forward to the later Ghibli style but others were left behind as Takahata and Miyazaki refined their craft. Interestingly, the wolves that attack Arren early in Tales of Earthsea bear a likeness to the wolves that attack Hols in the opening scene of Little Norse Prince. Homage, perhaps? |
| Jarinko Chie (movie) |
Very good |
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| Lupin the 3rd (TV) |
Good |
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| Marco - From the Apennines to the Andes (TV) |
Decent |
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| My Neighbors the Yamadas (movie) |
Good |
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| Only Yesterday (movie) |
Very good |
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"The child is father of the man" wrote William Wordsworth and such a sentiment pervades Isao Takahata's film of a 27 year old woman, Taeko Okajima, whose annual holiday is haunted by memories of her 10 year old self. Takahata skilfully and sympathetically lets us learn how the child's disappointments have influenced the woman. Taeko is presented with a new opportunity and perhaps she can finally follow the dreams of the child. All is resolved in one of the most satisfying and joyful finales in an anime as her childhood self and friends encourage and help her to make the right decision. The watercolour artwork is breathtaking at times and the numerous gentle and subtle observations make this film a pleasure. |
| Panda! Go, Panda! (movie) |
Decent |
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A pre-Ghibli Isao Takahata effort aimed squarely at children but with enough wit and charm to appeal to older viewers as well. Mimiko, a small girl who lives alone in a bamboo grove, meets two escapees from a zoo, Papa Panda - who must surely have been a model for Totoro - and his son, Panny. The three set up house and try to lead normal lives. The humour, relying on the old saw of incongruous characters trying to get along, is done with an infectious and good-natured optimism. |
| Panda! Go, Panda!: Rainy Day Circus (movie) |
Good |
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In this sequel to Panda! Go, Panda! the arrival of a circus in the local town coincides with a flood, with ensuing high jinks. Mimiko, Papa Panda and Panny must make their way across the flooded landscape to rescue the circus animals. The concept is re-used in Ponyo, complete with vistas of underwater roads and countryside. You can add to that the resemblance between Papa Panda and Totoro. I suppose you can’t blame Miyazaki and Takahata from plundering their own great ideas. Where this film stands out on its own is the marvellous out-of-control train ride by the circus animals across the flooded countryside, making this sequel even more amusing than its predecessor. |
| Pom Poko (movie) |
Decent |
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Often hilarious but lightweight movie about the conflict between urban expansion and the natural environment. The schemes of the tanuki to discourage humans are ingenious and spectacular. It is a mark of the success of the movie that I found myself barracking for the tanuki. Isao Takahata's resolution, where many of the tanuki use their shapeshifting powers to live as humans is, for the tanuki, opportune and sensible but it does mean the movie ends on a flat note. The creatures themselves are cute and the animation is Ghibli superb but the individual characters remain stubbornly one-dimensional. |
| (The) Tale of the Princess Kaguya (movie) |
Masterpiece |
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