h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Ultimate Studio Ghibli Film Guide: 2000 - 2004 - A87956095
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

Awaiting Peer Review availability. Which may well take a while...

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Diana Wynne Jones was English, not Welsh. She had spent some time in Wales as a child and liked the place so the book of Howl's Moving Castle was partly set in Wales and Howl himself was Welsh.

It's interesting that the moving castle in the book floated above the ground and therefore was a type of airship, but Miyazaki changed it to a ground vehicle.

Thanks for your comment there, I've tweaked that accordingly.

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I have seen 'Spirited Away' so I will read this Entry first

Very strong opening paragraph - captures the ethos indeed

That is interesting that 'Spirited Away' was a pivotal film in the series.

Does 'Haku' have particular meaning, like 'Sen'?

Interesting about the top 100 films - Spirited Away was sinister, the same as Pinocchio, so they both must have been considered to have pushed the boundaries of what was expected from animation...

Ah - good to see Howl's Moving Castle is in this era, too I haven't watched my new DVD yet, because I'm still working my way through the BBC America Dirk Gently, but I definitely look forward to it I did read the novel some years ago, so that is interesting about the differences

A touch of darkness makes the brightness shine brighter.
Both 'Pinocchio' and 'Spirited Away' involve the naughty and greedy being turned into animals and the lead character accepting responsibility to save their parents - though 'Spirited Away' is easier to spell...

Gnomon should be pleased to know I tweaked the incomplete introductory sentence about Europhiles.

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Entry A87956095 - The Ultimate Studio Ghibli Film Guide: 2000 - 2004

Studio Ghibli had long been virtually unknown outside Japan, yet in 1999 this changed with the release of Princess Mononoke (1997) in Europe and the United States

-- "yet" isn't the right connector word here. "But" would be better, but even better would be to split it into two sentences:

Studio Ghibli had long been virtually unknown outside Japan. This changed in 1999 with the release of Princess Mononoke (1997) in Europe and the United States

In 1996 Disney signed a 15-year agreement to release Ghibli's films on home media worldwide, though it took a surprising amount of time for Disney to release these Studio Ghibli films on the home video market in English.
-- same comment as in the previous entry

Spirited Away

Terrified, she is helped by Haku -- who is Haku? Is he/she the boy mentioned earlier?

Haku who says that to survive in the spirit world, which is where she is, she needs to find a job
-- this is rather clumsy. You could say:

Haku who says that she is in the spirit world. To survive, she needs to find a job

that had turned into a stink demon by pollution -->
that had been turned into a stink demon by pollution

Zeniba, Yubaba's opposite twin sister
-- opposite twin sister doesn't really mean anything. I think you mean:

Zeniba, Yubaba's twin sister and opposite

greedy bathouse employee -- add an extra "h"

hard work, thinking of others and purity not only saves Chihiro but allows her to save them all
-- you have three things, hard work, thinking of others and purity, so you need to use plural verbs:

hard work, thinking of others and purity not only save Chihiro but allow her to save them all

The Cat Returns

should be rewarded with catnip, mice and be brought to the Cat Kingdom, turned into a cat and marry the prince
-- the grammar of this list is all over the place. I think it would be best as follows:

should be rewarded with catnip and mice and that she should be brought to the Cat Kingdom, turned into a cat and should marry the prince

anything that people have put their spirit into creating can gain a spirit and life of their own -->
anything that people have put their spirit into creating can gain a spirit and life of its own

Howl's Moving Castle

charismatic, but heartless wizard -- remove the comma

You have both Sulliman and Suliman. Which is it?

being two young men's – a prince and a wizard - true love.

-- this is clumsy. Try this:

being the true love of two young men, a prince and a wizard.

As he had initially retired (again) following Spirited Away, initially another director
-- remove the first "initially" to avoid repetition. You don't need it.

In the Plot section, you say a scarecrow directs Sophie to the castle, but later you say a ring directs her.

A huge success, becoming Japan's second-most successful film at the box office behind only Spirited Away.
-- there's no main verb in this sentence. You could get away with it, but I'd reword it thus:

A huge success, it became Japan's second-most successful film at the box office behind only Spirited Away.

You could add a link to the Diana Wynne Jones entry A533963

Looking Ahead

Yet by the end of 2004
-- remove the word "Yet"

It also was able to regain a period
-- in the previous sentence you talk about Studio Ghibli in the plural form, so it's confusing when you now use a singular "It". Change this to:

The studio was also able to regain a period

enjoyed great success with directing --> enjoyed great success directing

G

Changes have been made in accordance with your suggestions

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I watched Howl's Moving Castle last weekend, and was very impressed. I noticed the artistic touches - eg there was no background music in much of the film, so that intensified the scenes, and added focus on the sound effects, such as footsteps... The film does use a bit of the 'disabled villain' trope, but I did like Madame Suliman's wheelchair

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