There For One Another

IN A SUMMER overflowing with big-budget adaptations of comic book characters (Thor, Captain America, X-Men, Green Lantern), it would be easy to overlook the Blu-ray debut of a far less heralded film that also has its origins in sequential art.

My Neighbours The Yamadas, originally released in 1999, was the first completely digital film from Studio Ghibli. It was directed by Isao Takahata, who co-founded the Japanese animation studio with Hiyao Miyazaki. Unlike Miyazaki, much of Takahata's work is rooted in reality (anyone who can sit through his 1988 masterpiece Grave Of The Fireflies without shedding a tear is officially a cold-hearted monster), so it was no surprise when he decided to film the adventures of a regular Japanese family in the Tokyo suburbs.

The film was based on a four-panel comic strip by Hisaichi Ishii that was serialised in Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper. Selling nearly 10 million copies a day, Asahi Shimbun has the second-largest circulation in the country, so at the time of the film's release the Yamada family would have been as familiar to the Japanese public as The Simpsons are to Westerners today. The family is made up of father and salaryman Takashi, his wife Matsuko, their student son Noboru, their elementary school daughter Nonoko, Matsuko's stubborn mother Shige Yamano and the grumpy pet dog Pochi.

In the original comic strip, Nonoko's popularity eclipsed that of her other family members to such an extent that the series was renamed Nono-chan and focused more on her perspective on life. However, Takahata's film chooses to look at the Yamadas as a cohesive (and often comically dysfunctional) whole. It's a smart choice, enabling him to explore more of the strands that comprise the tangled web of family life. He's also made the brave decision to retain the manga's episodic nature and feature a series of poignant vignettes, rather than stretch a gossamer-thin idea out to feature length.

The film's unusual structure – particularly for a Studio Ghibli movie – may partly explain why it was a box-office failure on its release. It would also have confounded the expectations of audiences used to the epic nature of Ghibli's two previous releases, Whisper Of The Heart and Princess Mononoke. My Neighbours The Yamadas' pastel watercolour washes are a million miles away from the colour-popping majesty of those films. Perhaps the small screen was always the natural home for this intelligent and touching animation. What's more, the disc's extras – which include extensive storyboards and a 45-minute documentary – offer a valuable insight into Takahata's creative process. (8/10)

Has the mention of colour-popping majesty whetted your appetite for something more typically Ghibli in nature? Then it's your lucky day because Optimum have also released Laputa: Castle In The Sky, the first film to be created and released by the studio in 1986. Directed by Miyazaki, it takes its name from Jonathan Swift's razor-sharp satire Gulliver's Travels and tells the story of two children and their quest to find a legendary castle in the clouds.

Miyazaki is an avowed admirer of the novelist Jules Verne and there are various nods to the writer who was a major influence on steampunk fiction (where futuristic concepts and Victoriana rub anachronistic shoulders). In his proposal for the film, Miyazaki imagined a 'story set in an era when machines are still exciting and enjoyable, and science doesn't necessarily make people unhappy.' He certainly achieved this – and indirectly wrote his own review, because there are few animations more exciting or enjoyable than Laputa: Castle In the Sky.

This is essentially a chase movie, but one where what's being pursued is a dream. And while the visuals have dated slightly (a fact that's highlighted by the increased definition of this cleaned-up Blu-ray disc), the director's ability to render a childlike sense of wonder is timeless. As with My Neighbours The Yamadas, welcome extras like storyboards and behind-the-scene docs give a fuller picture of this landmark anime than has ever been presented before. (8/10)

My Neighbours The Yamadas and Laputa: Castle In The Sky (both Optimum Home Entertainment) are out now on Double Play Blu-ray and DVD.

COLIN HOULSON

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