Traditonally animated films are a rare sight these days, with the majority of such flicks being produced in the now more popular CGI technique. But seeing a 2D film with high production standards? Now that’s even rarer. Still, Japan happens to love that medium dearly, with Studio Ghibli being the current king of that genre.
That’s the studio that’s responsible for various animated fantasy films over the years, from flying pigs through to magical moving castles. But the next film from Hayao Miyazaki’s studio is going to take a more grounded approach. Ironic really, considering that this is a film all about flying.
A look at the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed Japanese fighter planes during World War II.
It’ll be interesting to see how American audiences take to this film. Usually, Studio Ghibli movies always have a cult following that side, but considering that The Wind Rises is about Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed the Zero fighter jet that was used in the bombing of Pearl Harbour in World War 2, this might be a harder sell.
The Wind Rises features the voices of Hideaki Anno, Miori Takimoto, Steven Alpert, Morio Kazama, Keiko Takeshita, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Mirai Shida, Mansai Nomura and Masahiko Nishimura. It opened on July 20 in Japan, but has no international release date yet.
Last Updated: July 24, 2013
James Francis
July 25, 2013 at 07:04
I’m not completely surprised – Miyazaki is a huge airplane nut. His dad was a pilot or something. Also, it may be 2D, but it’s probably still digital. Ponyo was the first Ghibli film in ten years to use only traditional animation techniques (so Howl, Mononoke and Spirited Away were digital at some level).