BLU-RAY REVIEW: Disney's Studio Ghibli Trio Hits Home Video

[JessHorsley]

Porco Rosso, Pom Poko and Tales from Earthsea Available Now...

In early February, Disney brought fans of Japanese animation three feature films from the critically-acclaimed Studio Ghibli, including Tales of Earthsea, Porco Rosso and Pom Poko. These three films bring fans of the award-winning animation studio that much closer to owning the studio's complete repertoire, made between 1985 and 2014.

Here we have three films on high-def blu-ray: 1992's Porco Rosso, Hayao Miyazaki's fun and funny tale of flight; 1994's Pom Poko, Takahata's awkward, oddly attractive and weirdly entertaining tale of shape-shifting raccoons-like creatures doing battle with humans; and 2006's Tales of Earthsea, Gorō Miyazaki's flawed animated adaptation of Ursula K. Le Guin's exciting fantasy book series. While each is unique and brings with it a different story and director, each film also retains the resounding quality, beauty, and design aspects the studio is best known to include. Be sure to check out our review of each below...

Porco Rosso

A odd story that's both beautifully simple and simply beautiful, Porco Rosso follows the titular character - a former fighter pilot turned bounty hunter whose face has been magically transformed into that of a pig - as he defies air pirates only to face down another ace pilot for love, fame and fortune. Featuring energetic characters and engaging relationships, the film likewise includes a star-studded cast of English voice talent (including Michael Keaton as Porco, Cary Elwes as Curtis and Susan Egan as Gina among others).

Overall, the film has an engaging story that's easy to understand and enjoy; it's really no wonder Hayao Miyazaki adopted this wonderful story from his own 1989 manga.As far as video and audio go, Disney delivers the goods with a gorgeous digital copy adapted from the original source. Likewise, the audio comes via an impressive English and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo track (adapted from the original - no 5.1 back then!). Dialogue is clear and the mix - to include sound effects and background noise - are present and audible.

As far as special features, the blu-ray includes a few of note; the Original Japanese Storyboards, which allow viewers to watch the entire film in storyboard mode; a short, 3-minute interview with Producer Toshio Suzuki; a short 7-minute featurette, "Behind the Microphone," which focuses on Disney's English dub cast; and the four original Japanese trailers for the film.While Porco Rosso is neither one of Studio Ghibli's best or most popular, it is one of the most enjoyable. It's not only energetic and fun, but easy to understand, follow and share with those who might not be familiar with Japanese animation.

Pom Poko

If there's one word to describe Pom Poko, it's "odd," or maybe "awkward," or maybe just "downright strange." The film itself is steeped in Japanese folklore, in which tanuki - or fun-loving, mischievous racoon dogs with the ability to shape-shift - wage a war against a group of humans set to industrialize their habitat and transform - permanently - the world for the worse. While a good portion of Studio Ghibli films feature pro-environmental messages, Pom Poko is arguably the most preachy of these, going so far as to have characters break the fourth wall and speak directly to viewers, warning them of their harmful ways. Likewise, as the film remains true to Japanese folklore (or so I've been told), the story includes the racoon dogs using their genitals (specifically, their scrotum - called "pouches" in the translation) in their transformations.

Crazy? Yes; but completely culturally accurate (or so I've been told). So yes, Pom Poko is unlike any film you've probably ever seen - especially animated film. It's got a funny, quirky way about it that's both imaginative and surprising as well as sometimes shocking. The film is never offensive in any way though if you're not in the mood to be told humanity is destroying the environment, you'll want to look somewhere else. Overall, this oddly amusing and fun film brings to life a necessary tale of humanity's destructive nature and what we're losing by living the way we do today.

Again, video and audio are both impressive with a gorgeous 1080p picture which retains both the color and texture of the original while removing any blemishes. Bold, beautiful colors and hues grace the screen and bring to life the film's brilliantly animated designs and scenery. Likewise, the audio English and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo tracks deliver. The dialogue is clear while background sounds and effects are audible underneath. Something to note: Disney's English dub makes slight changes to the original script; specifically in regards to the tanuki (called "racoons") as well as references to their genitalia.

As far as bonus material, the disc includes the film's original Japanese storyboards, which allows viewers to watch the film in it's entirety in storyboard mode; likewise the blu-ray includes four trailers and previews for the film.Overall, Pom Poko is one of the quirkiest, preachiest and outright strangest of all of Studio Ghibli's animated features...but that doesn't mean it's not enjoyable and fun. If you can get over the fact the "racoons" are using their "pouches" to do battle and simply recognize a quality story, you'll no doubt enjoy this beautifully animated, yet strange movie.

Tales from Earthsea

The animated adaptation of Ursula K. Le Guin's classic fantasy, originally published in the 1960s, is one of the few Studio Ghibli films that fails to hit its mark. While Hayao Miyazaki originally sought to bring the film to life decades earlier, it wasn't until Le Guin fell in love with Miyazaki's work that she granted Studio Ghibli the rights to bring her book series to life. However, due to prior commitments, Hayao Miyazaki was unable to direct the film and, not wanting to wait, the project was passed to first-time director Goro Miyazaki, Hayao's son. Unfortunately, the film, which attempted to adapt the third and fourth books in the series, failed to live up to the expectations, disappointing both fans and even author Le Guin.

The film's plot is somewhat simple yet confusing: the wizard Ged is on a mission to discover what's causing chaos throughout the land. With him is his apprentice, Arren, a troubled prince, who becomes a major player in the story as the duo encounter the evil wizard Cob, responsible for the trouble throughout the land. Cob of course plans to use Arren to cause even more trouble and thus the film finds its conflict. For fans of Studio Ghibli and fantasy, the film isn't totally terrible, though it does assume viewers have read the books (I haven't); thus, it might seem confusing at times.

As far as video and audio are concerned, the film is gorgeous, a beautiful digital remastered version of the 2011 release. Likewise, the blu-ray offers three audio options: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, and Japanese 6.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. The blu-ray Japanese track also retains the English subtitles from the DVD, ensuring an accurate translation.

For this Blu-ray release, Disney has included a plethora of bonus material, including Original Japanese Storyboards (the complete film in widescreen with Japanese audio and English subtitles), Original Japanese TV spots and trailers (six in total), the 1-hour featurette "The Birth Story of the Film Sountrack," which explores how Tamiya Terashima was selected to write the score and his inspiration for the music (which is outstanding). Other special features include the short 4-minute "Behind the Studio: Origins of Earthsea," which has Toshio Suzuki and animation historian Charles Solomon talking about the film's creation. The DVD includes two interactive features which will interest fans as well, including "Enter the Lands," a menu map that allows viewers to access different lands (films) and explore other Studio Ghibli films and "Studio Ghibli Trivia Challenge." Overall, for die-hard fans of Studio Ghibili and fantasy, Tales of Earthsea is worth a look; however, for the majority of anime and film fans, it should be avoided. While the animation is gorgeous and the soundtrack beautiful to the ear, the story is confusing and lacks any real attractiveness.

Be sure to check your local brick and mortar or online stores to pick up these enjoyable new Disney films on Blu-ray now!

- Jess C. Horsley

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