Ponyo Vs. My Neighbour Totoro Vs. Monopoly?!

The Setup – Watching more Hayao Miyazaki movies whilst playing Monopoly and not falling asleep

The Problem – Playing Monopoly while watching Miyazaki movies whilst playing Monopoly and not falling asleep

The Disadvantage – Having ran close to 8 miles very early in the morning, repeating the run with lover and eating a very scrumptious Burrito

The Result –

Since I first wrote about Miyazaki’s “Laputa : Castle In the Sky“, I have been dying to watch more of his work and so lover obliged and scheduled a back to back viewing of My Neighbour Totoro and Ponyo On the Cliff by the Sea (Japanese version) and let me tell you his work has this lulling effect with the visuals, music, story that if you arent fully alert, you could fall into nap mode. Although, in my case really I tend to nap if I am watching tv at home and am super comfortable. But thats neither here nor there, right?

My Neighbour Totoro is one of the sweetest animated movies you will see perhaps ever. The heroine is a little girl named Mei – Mei’s family moves to a new neighbourhood while their mother recuperates from an illness in the hospital. With her father and older sister in tow, Mei plays around in her new home and ventures in the great outdoors. This is when she comes across two creatures which are like nothing else. Following them in hot pursuit, she eventually runs behind them into a burrow, where she meets a bigger creature. Infused with her spirit of fun and mischief, she plays with the slumbering creature and comes to name him ‘Totoro’. In the movie, Totoro stands for a lot of themes that are close to Miyazaki’s heart of the environment, childhood innocence and whimsy. One of my favourite things in Miyazaki’s work is his recall of the influences he has from authors and creators. Borrowing from Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice In Wonderland’, a cheshire cat shaped bus and a magical burrow that brings you into an alternate world, Miyazaki blends them beautifully into an amazing tale of that time in everyone’s life when anything is possible.

Ponyo On the Cliff by the Sea is a newer release from Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli and going into wide international English release this month. I watched the original Japanese version and while I missed Cate Blanchett’s voice saying “Ponyo” (dont ask me why, I have been obsessed with it since I heard it in the trailer – POHHHHNYOOO!). Ponyo centers around a fish girl (think little mermaid) who wants to be a real girl. Amidst, a heavy storm (due to the imbalance of a sea living being becoming human), Ponyo makes her escape onto land through sheer will power and the bolstering from her sisters, and straight into the company of a little boy Sosuke who lives with his mother and father (usually at sea) at a cliff. Not to give anything away, the story focusses on whether Sosuke can truly love Ponyo just as much as he does when she is just a normal girl without any special powers. A story punctuated by longing and love, the truth is sometimes in front of us if we choose to see it.  A must watch in English or Japanese and much like most of Miyazaki’s work its always short and sweet – if only I didnt fall asleep here and there for 5 minutes because of how peaceful it makes the viewer feel.

Oh monopoly, how you suffered through me being a gentler, sweeter player as opposed to ripping my opposing players’ guts out. Never mind though, next time there will be no Miyazaki in sight when I roll the dice. At least on the bright side, I dont have that ‘cant move my thighs anymore, wont someone get mama a glass of water or advil or blanket’ feeling anymore.