My niece had her 6th birthday last month. She wanted a bunch of Disney Channel related stuff(Hannah Montana, High School Musical, etc.) No Way. I decided to get her “Spirited Away.” It is one of my favorite movies, period. I had a hard time locating a copy and when I did it was $30, which I felt was too expensive. So, I got her “Howl’s Moving Castle,” which I found cheaper at my local Target store.
My sister had never heard of Miyazaki before and was wary. They finally watched it last night. My niece called me up to tell me about it. She said it was scary, but not too much. She liked it. Now my sister is interested in checking out “Spirited Away” from the local library. Maybe after that they can watch “Totoro,” “Kiki,” “Nausicaa,” etc.
I think I made another Miyazaki fan. I think I did my job as uncle.
I usually start the under-twelves with Totoro and Kiki; Spirited Away and Howl’s have some pretty strong images in them. Mononoke, my favorite, is pretty PG13, IMHO.
I thought about it possibly being too scary for young kids, but I remembered when she was over at my house and she caught the end of “The Empire Strikes Back” and seemed interested and not too spooked. I thought that if she could handle Han Solo getting frozen she could handle this. Her 3 year old brother, OTOH, I wouldn’t want watching it and in fact, he wasn’t too interested in it.
I saw “The Flying Island Of Laputa” (or whatever it is called nowadays, “Island In The Sky” maybe?) when I was about 6 and it remains one of my favourite animations. I prefer it to most of the later Miyasaki anime.
The english title for Laputa is “Castle in the Sky”.
My daughter tried to watch Spirited Away when she was 3 but the scene where the parents turned into pigs was way to intense. When she turned 4 and a half she watched it about 100 times.
You can get Spirited Away for $22.13 at Deep Discount DVD. It’s the only animated movie I’ve ever bought on DVD…though I think I like Princess Mononoke just as well. I think a six-year-old could probably handle Spirited Away, especially if you warn her first that there are a few parts that are “a little scary” so she won’t be surprised. Kiki’s Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro struck 20-something me as much more childish, so she might like those better right now, though.
I don’t think it’s out yet outside of Japan, but Miyazaki’s latest movie, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (a rough remake of the Little Mermaid!) is pretty good, in the same vein as Totoro. It’s getting rave reviews from both kids and adults alike. And, it’s physically impossible to get the theme song out of your head.
Miyazaki just came out with a new movie in Japan called “Gake no Ue no Ponyo,” or “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.” It’s not one of my favorites of his, but I think it’s perfect for children. If you are interested in showing this to your kids, PM me.
I haven’t seen it myself, yet, but I’ve heard one online reviewer describe it as being like “injecting Hello Kitty-brand cocaine directly into your retinas.” Pretty much weapons-grade cuteness.
How 'bout Porco Rosso? I would’ve loved that when I was 6—but I grew up watching Return to Oz and the Rankin-Bass Tolkien movies*, so I might be made of stronger (or just weirder) stuff than your niece.
*And the Unico movies. God, the Disney Channel really had some freaky programming lineups in the past, didn’t they?
