Nathan Bartlebaugh | Feb 09, 2010 | Movie News
Last year it was announced that Studio Ghibli, the animation studio headed up by Japanese maestro Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke, Ponyo) was in the process of adapting Mary Norton’s classic The Borrowers .
At the time we were left with only vague sketches and a few designs and our own childhood memories of the book.What kind of film would Ghibli create from them?
Based on what I’ve seen here, the team headed up by director Hiromasa Yonebayashi are working in a very similar vein to many of Miyazaki’s own films, capturing the beauty of a hidden world existing at the edge of our own.
This also won’t be the first time Ghibli has adapted an ostensibly Western story into the Japanese anime form. Miyazaki’s 2005 feature ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ was based off a young adult fantasy novel by Dianne Wynn Jones and one of its strengths was the way in which it blended an Asian aesthetic with a more European sensibility. The next year Ghibli also released ‘Tales from Earthsea’ based on the fantasy/science-fiction worlds of author Ursula K. Leguin.
Part of that cultural melding and collaboration is present in the teaser, which also takes a peek into the creation of the movie’s theme song, performed by celtic harpist and singer, Cecile Corbel. The sound achieved is a perfect blend of J-pop energy and a richer, more haunting tone that suits the imagery well.
To say I’m looking forward to this one is an understatement. Bring on The Borrowers!
