I’m on a bit of an animation kick at the moment but if you want to see some amazing animation and storytelling then Film 4 is doing a Studio Ghibli series right now which is well worth a look. Studio Ghibli is the Japanese animation studio headed by director Hayao Miyazaki responsible for films such as Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke. Now, I know a lot of people aren’t into Japanese animation, I have to admit a lot of it leaves me cold, but this is no Pokomon. Miyazaki films are full of high adventure, mythical creatures, strange lands and interesting characters all wrapped up in breath-taking animation. What I love about his films are that the characters aren’t black and white, the bad guys aren’t all bad and the good guys often have quite dark sides to them, plus anyone can change.
They’re airing at about 5pm every day on the now free Film4. Yay!