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https://freedium.cfd/https://unseenjapan.medium.com/review-studio-ponocs-new-the-imaginary-is-darkly-fantastical-8f90431200d6>
'In 2014, Japanese animation titan Studio Ghibli shut down its production team.
Within a year, some of the studio's bigger names had regrouped, and a successor
animation team came into being: Studio Ponoc.
Taking the Serbo-Croatian world for "midnight" as their moniker, Ponoc strove
to fill the gap left behind by the shutter of the studio that directors
Miyazaki and Takahata built. In 2017, they released their first feature film,
the Ghibli-reminiscent
Mary and the Witch's Flower. A mild box office and
critical success, it would also be Ponoc's only full-length film for six years.
That is, until today, and the release of Momose Yoshiyuki's
The Imaginary.
It's an ambiguous time to be a Ghibli successor; after all, Ghibli isn't
shuttered anymore. The Studio returned in 2020 with the much-reviled
CG-animated TV film
Earwig and the Witch. (There happens to be a witchy
through-line at both studios, starting with 1989's
Kiki's Delivery Service.)
More importantly, Ghibli just released its first theatrical film in a decade,
and by globally beloved director Miyazaki Hayao, no less. With
The Boy and
Heron having just become the first-ever original anime film to top the US box
office, Ponoc's return isn't getting the attention it might otherwise. But
The
Imaginary is still worth taking notice of.
Based on the British children's novel of the same name by A. F. Harrold,
The
Imaginary boasts the wonderful 2D animation one would expect from a team with
Ponoc's pedigree. It's a fairly strong example of an anime film aimed at
children, but which doesn't talk down to them. In fact, despite its fanciful
nature, this is a surprisingly dark, occasionally eerie movie. Like
The
Neverending Story or
Return to Oz, here, the whimsical and the frightening
live side by side.'
I enjoyed and can recommend Studio Ponoc’s
Mary and the Witch’s Flower and
also their anthology
Modest Heroes, so that bodes well for this film.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
