Forum - View topicTexts that have directly influenced Miyazaki's work?
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AshVanguard
 Posts: 15 |
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Greetings
i am doing some research on texts that have directly influenced the god that is Miyazaki, i know only of two at the moment the most obvious being that Howl's Flying Castle was loosly based on the British novel of the same name. Secondly that the scene from Porco Rosso with the dead men flying the plane was based on Roald Dahl's short story They Shall Not Grow Old do any of you know of any others? peace 
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ailblentyn
 Posts: 1688 Location: body in Ohio, heart in Sydney |
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This may not be direct enough for your purposes, but the "troll" motif in Totoro is traced by the film itself (via the bedtime-story image of the credit sequence) to the folktale "The Three Billygoats Gruff".
I'm fairly certain "The Three Billygoats Gruff" was first collected in the 19th-century Norwegian work of folklorists Asbjørnsen and Moe (an excellent book by the way!). (That's right. Asbjørnsen and Moe. Amusing that Miyazaki, an avowed foe of moe, was himself influenced by Moe.  )
Also, Kiki is a straightforward book adaptation, I understand. And Laputa not only refers explicitly to Gulliver's Travels, but also, as Helen McCarthy pointed out (and maybe others), borrows motifs from Treasure Island. I've also always read that Conan Future Boy is a sort of adaptation of a contemporary American children's book by Alexander Keys, whose name is familiar to me for some other reason I can't put my finger on. Was there some other book by him adapted into something else? (And I personally think that Mimiko from Panda Kopanda looks kind of like Pippi Longstocking, but don't quote me!) |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18572 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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You should probably delineate carefully between "influences" and "adapted from." Howl's Moving Castle was adapted from the work of a British author, but to say that it influenced Miyazaki would be a stretch.
If you want to know more about what influenced Miyazaki, I strongly recommend checking out a book titled Starting Point (reviewed here), which is a collection of speeches, essays, interviews, and concept art from Miyazaki covering the late '70s up until the time he started work on Princess Mononoke in the mid '90s. It probably says more about what influence Miyazaki than anything else you're likely to find in print. |
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AshVanguard
Posts: 15 |
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very good point Key, but at what point does an influence become an adaptation? howls moving castle is very loosely based on the British text. Obviously the subject of adaptation is a very in depth one and i don't pertain to have an elementary knowledge of it only what i have learned from a module last year i did at university.
the subject of why someone has either adapted or been influenced by something is always interesting. ailblentyn those are very good research strands for me to look at more in depth, many thanks both of you |
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TatsuGero23
 Posts: 1277 Location: Sniper Island, USA (It's in your heart!) |
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Well in that sense then, you can say that "influence" is a more of a lingering thing. Something he carries from film to film or within a collection of films. "Adaptation" would be more direct and obvious in terms of overall story. Like Key points out, for things like Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, and Karigurashi no Arrietty; those would be adaptations where he applies his ideals, style, creative lisence to an existing story. "Influences" would be what makes him want to do these family films or what is the reason why he has primarily strong female leads. Things that determined why he does what he does or why tells a particular story.
I guess your saying something along the lines that "those stories 'influenced' him to make those films" which makes sense but it's probably more accurate to say "they inspired him to make those films or adaptations". Instead it would be whatever "inspired" him to do these adaptations would be what "influenced" him to make the films. Like the idea of making a Japanese or Anime version of existing classic stories is what "influenced' him to make the films. Then he goes out and looks into stories that interest him and how he can adapt them. Right now it's hard to really say if any of these past and current projects have any influence on Miyazaki since all he is doing are "adaptations" right now. When he does another original piece, then we can better determine what influences, if any, that he may have picked up for them. |
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Spastic Minnow
 Bargain HunterExempt from Grammar Rules  Posts: 4640 Location: Gainesville, FL |
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A direct influence on Nausicaa was Moebius' Arzach and they apparently share a continued appreciation of and take influence from each others works, without any adapting of stories.
Here's a translated portion of a shared interview from an article published in France in 2004. I'd love to read more myself. http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/miyazaki_moebious.html I remember the first time I saw a picture of Arzach on his Pterodactyl and thinking how familiar it looked. Last edited by Spastic Minnow on Mon Oct 11, 2010 8:38 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Paploo
Posts: 1875 |
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For the curious, the Kiki novel was translated into english a few years ago, http://www.amazon.ca/Kikis-Delivery-Service-Eiko-Kadono/dp/1550377884/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1286846266&sr=8-3 Key might sound familiar since some of his books were adapted into the Witch Mountain series of films from Disney [I like the 2 70's versions the best- haven't seen the most recent remake, though the more comedic 90's TV movie remake wasn't as good]. Future Boy Conan was based on his novel The Incredible Tide. http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/nonmiyazaki/#pippi Pippi was to be a television project by Miyazaki, but they couldn't convince her to try an animated adaption at the time. This was slightly before the development of Panda Go Panda. Lindgren would later authorize Nelvana to do an animated theatrical film and a TV series some 20 years later. |
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ailblentyn
Posts: 1688 Location: body in Ohio, heart in Sydney |
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(Return to Witch Mountain. Of course! The original movie was rather good, wasn't it?)
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