Date: Fri, 24 May 1996 20:52:09 -0700 From: "Eric J. Henwood-Greer" Reply-To: Hayao Miyazaki Discussion Group To: Multiple recipients of list NAUSICAA Subject: At long last: PUSS review Well it's finally here... I know most of you didn't even know I was contemplating one, so have no idea what I'm tlaking about but some of you have been patiently waiting for over a week now... My review of PUSS IN BOOTS!! (YEAH:) ) Umm, like my other "reviews" this will most likely be quite disjointed, and hard to follow, with random thoughts throughout. Sorry about that^^;; A week last Tuesday I finally got a chance to watch the anime of PUSS IN BOOTS. This anime fits this lists' criteria as Miyazaki was a lead animator on it. It was done at Toei-Doga, in the late 60's I believe. Incidentally it must of done well as Toei's trademark image now is a little picture of Puss from this film.:) I'm not sure how many others on this list have seen this film. Is it regarded as a classic in Japan? It's much more aimed at kids then Horus Prince of the Sun was, or any Ghibli films IMHO, tho' it's cute enough with good directing to interest many adults too I think. It's very *cute*. Like Horus the actual animation is almost incredibly smooth, more so then many Ghibli films it seems, whereas the character designs are quite a bit more simplistic and less detailed. Often North American animation is more like this, with anime usually having more detailed character designs it seems with less emphasis in general on as smooth and detailed movement. The backgrounds too were /lovely/, all basically traditional fairy tale ones, but suiting the feel of course greatly. Some of the good Castle especially were great. The story is basically a comedy, with lots of slapstick antics too, which wouldn't seem out of place in many older Disney films amongst some of the animal sidekicks. Tho some of it has a darker feel then many North American films would, for instance mainly the opening part where the cats who chase Puss are threatened with being hung if they don't catch him. Many of the film's highlights are the antics of the mice army, who when Puss's master saves one of them, they are indepted to him. Best especially were how they persuaded the workers int he field to tell the King when he rode past that this was the Duke of Carabas' field, and the mice supplyign the appropriate music on an old phonograph, which has to be cranked to play, so as they run along it goes slow, then fast, then right, etc^^;;; Very cute:) And all their antics in the last 20 minutes or so of the film among the evil ogre and with his magic skull pendant. I hear Miyazaki was in charge of them, and it shows! I'm not really much of a fan of light slapstick humour, but it's hard to resist these mice! The leads (Puss' master, and the Princess Puss helps him woo), as again in the DIsney tradition, are the dullest and most 1 dimensional characters in the film. They're merely cyphers it seems, albeit they do their role well enough:) And in the final scenes you were worried what would happen to them. Other comic characters were the evil nasty, greedy brothers of Puss's masters who spend much of the time, what ever unapropriate place or time it may be, counting and divinding bettwen only them out their dead father's inheritance. WOw early gag has them begin feeling so guilty about it that the portrait of their father ont he wall begins glaring at them so they hid under the table to continue... It had a few nice enough songs, maybe 3 or so. I can sing aloud from memory (willt he music anyway) the theme song sung by Puss, complete with "Meows":) But it wasn't really a musical like most of Disney's films were. I keep on making the Disney comparison but it doesn't seem as out of place as you may think, as Ryoko has said Toei Doga in the 60's (Toei now is responsible for such popular shows as Sailor Moon, Dragonball, Slam Dunk, Marmalade Boy, and many other animes), was really a Japanese equivalent to Disney producing the same style of films, if not in fact quite imitating them. Still what really makes you remember this film at least I did were it's last 20 minutes. They really seem liek they must of been Miyazaki's inspiration for the climatic finale of CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO in the clock tower. The Princess has been captured by the ogre, who loves her but she refuses to marry him (she's in love with Puss' master, the "Marquis de Carabas" of course). He kidnaps her to his castle. The Marquis of course goes to rescue her, with the help of Puss, and the mice army and the not so much help of the three cats who are still followign Puss trying to get him. The ogre has a skull on a chain aroudn his neck which he can use to transform. Like in the story, Puss tricks him into transforming to various sizes, finally into a mous but just as their about to capture him, unliek in the story, the Ogre gets wise and turns back to his giant self, locking the Princess outside on a balcony. He tho' drops his skull, and what follows is a long extended, but NEVER dull:) chase type scene. Alternating between the Ogre chasing all around his labyrinth castle, including outside among all the towers and odd tricks he's built into them (liek a drawbridge walkway between too, and a spinning towerette), and the mice tryign to help the Marquis, the Marquis trying to save the princess, trying to save his own life, the Ogre trying to kill him, etc, etc... Sometimes VERY comic (the skull drops on the dumbest of the three cats who are chasing Puss, and covers his head like a mask for a long time), sometimes quite intense action. Anyway very hard to descirbe but whoever directed it all did a brilliant job, and the whole part is what really makes the film memorable, IMHO. The finale is well done too, IMHO, and beautiful, tho short. But it ends with the three cats chasing Puss again and over the end credits we see them chasing him around a globe...^^;; Much of the incidental score was quite nice I remember. Also, if you knwo a hint of the not all that closely followed oriignal fairy tale, then it's quite easy to follow, even tho it is only in Japanese. I'm sure more will come to me as I remember it, but as some are quite anxious to see this review I'll finally send it out now:) Hope it was up to expectation ^_- Eric