“Howl’s Moving Castle,” the movie version, is an anime from Japan. In it, a giant flying castle shows up. The movie is so, so beautiful.
The allure of animation is that the things you couldn’t possibly choose as a creator (if you were to work with real humans) can be chosen, can be fine-tuned in the animated world.
I’m talking about the world and what it looks like, quite literally. Not just the laws of physics, such as “Oh, in this world, people fly.” It’s more than that.
For example, if you decide that in your animated world, people’s eyes will take up half their faces, then that’s the world they live in. None of the characters will suddenly shout out, “But this isn’t what real people look like!”
The concept of “the real,” that fragile definition, will be what the creators make it to be. The creators are the gods.
And at the same time, these hand-animated creations still have that touch of humanness—the human error.
The word “error” carries some negative connotations, but here, it doesn’t have a negative effect. Ironically, errors are what make these animated movies feel more correct than any precisely calculated mechanical result.
You know that comfort you feel around people who are imperfect? That. That’s what I mean.
Imperfection can be beautiful, in this world full of calculations. Animations are sheer, pure, joyful manifestations of opinions, and I love that.
Anyway. Studio Ghibli. They make beautiful stuff. And another thing that always strikes me as GENIUS with Studio Ghibli is the music in their movies.
“Merry-Go-Round of Life.” What a beautiful title. There are various versions of the song. I like this one best.
And if you like this song, go listen to all of Hisaishi Joe’s music. I love his music.
Image source:
https://unsplash.com/photos/8DTIQ_Klxho
