working mum Archives - Jeremy C. Processing

Director – Brad Bird – 1999 – US – Cert. U – 88m

*****

1957. A giant robot falls out of the sky and is befriended by a young boy in Maine. However, the US government proves less sympathetic – animated feature is out in UK cinemas from Friday, December 17th, 1999

This has all the hallmarks of classic fifties sci-fi outings – giant monster, small American town, paranoid government agent, mobilised militia. For those demanding still more, it has a single working mum and a sympathetic beat sculptor, neither of whom would be out of place in a period Roger Corman cheapie.

But you shouldn’t pigeonhole The Iron Giant by genre because a further two factors mark it out as very different. Freely adapted from Ted Hughes’ marvellous children’s book The Iron Man but given a decidedly American spin by director Brad Bird (cartoon TV series The Simpsons, 2 eps, 1990-91; creator of Family Dog, 1993), this is without doubt the animated film of the year and arguably the film of the year period. We’ve grown so used to the Disney blockbuster model – cute characters (and merchandise), hit songs – that anything else (this employs neither device) comes as a shock.… Read the rest

Ponyo
(Gake no Ue no Ponyo,
崖の上のポニョ,
lit. Ponyo on the Cliff)

Director – Hayao Miyazaki – 2008 – Japan – Cert. U – 103m

*****

A girl fish spirit takes on human form to become a companion to a human boy – reviewed for Third Way, February 2010

Miyazaki’s animated filmography prior to international crossover item Spirited Away (2001) has scarcely graced UK screens, despite colossal success in his native Japan. Tragically, this includes much of his best work – such films as Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), My Neighbour Totoro (1988) and Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) – all released, happily, on posthumous UK DVD – beside which the more recent works pale. Until now: his latest film Ponyo compares favourably to those earlier works, just when one had given up hope he’d ever make another truly great film.

Loosely speaking, it’s Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid as eponymous underwater girl fish spirit Ponyo, rescued after being beached by small boy Sosuke then recaptured by her zealous, over-protective Sorcerer’s Apprentice magician-like father, decides she wants to return to shore and become a human girl companion to the boy. Sosuke lives with his mother Lisa in an isolated, coastal house, while his ship’s captain father Koichi is frequently absent due to work commitments.… Read the rest