'Imaginary and Fantastic': Hayao Miyazaki Studies

Image from Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫, Mononoke-hime: Japan, 1997, 
directed by Hayao Miyazaki)

As Film Studies For Free's merry band of followers on Twitter already know, this morning brought the wonderful discovery of an openly-accessible special issue on the work of Hayao Miyazaki from the Journal of the Imaginary and Fantastic (Vol.1 No.2). As usual, direct links to all items are given below. Click here to check out all of FSFF's earlier posts on animation studies.

Vol. 1.  No. 2.  :  The Films of Hayao Miyazaki

Lucy Wright. Forest Spirits, Giant Insects and World Trees: The Nature Vision of Hayao Miyazaki. Rieko Okuhara. Walking Along With Nature: A Psychological Interpretation of 'My Neighbor Totoro'. Kozo Mayumia, Barry Solomon, Jason Chang. The Ecological and Consumption Themes of the Films of Hayao Miyazaki. James W. Boyd, Tetsuya Nishimura Shinto Perspectives in Miyazaki's Anime Film 'Spirited Away'. Aaron Sherwood Characterization, Narrative Structure and Mythopoeia in the Films of Hayao Miyazaki. John Gunston The Inverted Quest of Ashitaka: A Jungian Analysis of 'Princess Mononoke'. Christine Hoff Kraemer Between the Worlds: Liminality and Self-Sacrifice in 'Princess Mononoke'. Michie A. Suparman An Investigation into Audience Perception of 'Mononoke Hime'.

Jerry Chen. From Ashes to Stone: Development of Chihiro in 'Spirited Away'. Noriko T. Reider 'Spirited Away': Film of the Fantastic and Evolving Japanese Folk Symbols. Mohri. A Note on Family Size and Domestic Work in 'Spirited Away'. Interview: Midnight Eye interviews Hayao Miyazaki. Technical article: Jerome Chia-Horng Lin. Surprise As a Facial Expression in Animation: examples from Ghibli Studio animated films. Background article: Mio Bryce. 'School' in Japanese Children's Lives, as Depicted in Manga. Student work: Erlijne Runia @ Copenhagen University. Miyazaki's 'Mononoke Hime': The Analysis of a Myth. Student work: Petty Ho @ University of California, Berkeley. Depiction of Women & Girls in Miyazaki's Films - a visual survey.

Mickey Mouse and Animation Links

Mickey Mouse in Steamboat Willie (1928)

GreenCine Daily reminds Film Studies For Free that it's Mickey Mouse's birthday today - eighty years to the day since his first film appearance in Steamboat Willie. GC Daily points us in the direction of a nice annotated photo gallery with informative text by Neal Gabler, author of Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination, at the Guardian Online. And once there you can find a tribute video with some wonderful clips (you just have to endure a short advert to watch them). The BBC also offers some infotaining fun with the old mouse, too. If Disney World's anthropomorphism or cultural imperialism are not your cup of tea, then check out another cultural text that 'age cannot wither ..., nor custom stale': Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart's enduringly essential How to Read Donald Duck.

Anyhow, on the occasion of this mousepicious anniversary, the ever event-driven Film Studies For Free decided to gather together in one place (below) all its current animation online-resource links (to archives, online films, weblogs, e-journals and noteworthy articles, e-zines, discussion and research groups, and podcasts):

• the Hollywood Animation Archive
• the Animation & Cartoons section at the Internet Archive Moving Images site
• the new website for the British Cartoon Archive
• Paul Ward's Introduction to the great Animation Studies issue of online journal Enter Text (no. 4.1)

  Here are direct links to the other articles in the issue: Giannalberto Bendazzi: African cinema Animation; Joanna Bouldin: Criminal Realism: Virtual Child Pornography, Photorealism and the Legislation of the Virtual Animated Body; David Surman: Animated Caricature: Notes on Superman, 1941-1943; Suzanne Buchan: Animation Spectatorship: The Quay Brothers' Animated "Worlds"; Michael Nottingham: Downing the Folk-festive: Menacing Meals in the Films of Jan Svankmajer; Thomas Lamarre: An Introduction to Otaku Movement; George Griffin: Willful Ignorance: Making Flying Fur; Sarah Bowen: Mindscapes and Landscapes: Pixillation and Live-Action in the Making of Daze; Penn Stevens: Making Tied Down; Richard O'Connor: Three Ways of Avoiding Animation.

• Frames Per Second Animation E-Zine
• Two further, noteworthy, Open Access articles on international animation: Gigi Hu Tze-yue, 'Understanding Japanese animation: from Miyazaki and Takahataanime'; and Paula Callus's article on African animation (commissioned by Africa in Motion)
• Aardman Animations website (see some 'breaking news' HERE)
• Aardman Animations on YouTube
• Animation weblogs of note: Anime Princess; Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation; Michael Barrier on Animation
• The Anime and manga research circle
• Animation Journal Discussion Group
• Tate Modern 02-03-2007 Pervasive Animation conference podcasts
• Many thanks to Adrian Martin who suggested that FSFF should check out Philip Brophy's great site. There are plenty of good resources on offer here; animation fans should definitely visit the animation publications page for some wonderful items from Brophy.
• There's a lot on Hayao Miyazake and Studio Ghibli at the preceding site, but FSFF also recommends the following: The Hayao Miyazaki Web // Nausicaa.net; Online Ghibli; and this great post at The Valve by Bill Benzon.
• Finally, and also on Miyazake's oeuvre, please check out the following great Open Access publication by Rayna Denison for the online journal Scope: 'Disembodied Stars and the Cultural Meanings of Princess Mononoke's Soundscape'.