Riffs: Porco Rosso, Finding Nemo

Riffs: Porco Rosso, Finding Nemo

Riffs: Porco Rosso, Finding Nemo

Here is a charming little Easter Egg for Studio Ghibli and Pixar fans. This shot of sailors joining together to form a giant arrow in Porco Rosso was directly riffed in Finding Nemo, where a large school of fish join together in another arrow. It's a funny little gag that works on its own, and if you're a Miyazaki fan, you'll be especially delighted.

Aside from the Totoro cameos in Toy Story 3, can you think of any Ghibli riffs in the Pixar movies? Any takers? Bueller?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Riffs: Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro

Image
Here is a Ghibli Riff that I hadn't noticed at first, but now it seems obvious. The scene with the giant radish spirit in the elevator mimics shots and poses from My Neighbor Totoro's classic scene at the bus stop. I think one of the things I enjoy about Miyazaki's movies is how he fills his canvas with so all these little details, and populates his worlds with minor characters who come and go, yet leave an indelible impression upon our imaginations. This radish character is a throwaway, barely on the screen for a moment and then gone forever. And I'm left wanting more. I'd like to see a whole movie about this character. Wouldn't you? Eh, maybe, maybe not. Whatever. Every Studio Ghibli movie features at least a handful of riffs that aim back to earlier works. Many have well over a dozen. Spirited Away has shots that wink back to Future Boy Conan, Castle of Cagliostro, My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke (the original 1980 storyboard book), among others. If ...
Read more

Studio Ghibli Music Box Medley

Image
This is just too charming. A YouTube member named "BoxOfMusic" has created this video of a music box that plays a medley of songs from your favorite Studio Ghibli movies. The music box is a simple DIY machine that can be found at most arts and crafts shops at an affordable price, and plays music from rolls of paper with holes punched in the appropriate spaces. Anyone can compose their own music with a little time and effort. In addition to composing the songs, this video artist has also drawn illustrations as each movie's music plays, in a rolling panorama of your favorite Ghibli highlights and characters. It's an especially nice touch for those of you who aren't as familiar with some Ghibli melodies. The medley in this video includes themes from the following movies: Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, The Cat Returns, and Whisper of the Heart. Overall, this is very entertaining and clearly a labor of love. Ku...
Read more

"If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger" and the Death of Pop Culture Blogs

Image
I'm very sad to discover that Tom Sutpen's essential pop culture photo blog "If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger..." has closed down. I don't know exactly when this occurred, but the author's Twitter page was last updated on March 29. Every week, I am reminded that the golden age of movie and pop culture weblogs has now passed, as people have devolved from engaging with culture to merely consuming it. People once shared their love of movies and music and the arts, often sharing a spotlight to more obscure, left-of-the-dial subjects. It was always such a joy to discover these cultured, educated fans as they blossomed on the new online frontier of the 21st Century. Now it's nearly all gone extinct, and the few remaining holdouts are fighting over table scraps. It appears that most people today are perfectly fine with just clicking on images on social media sites. They're not really engaging or bonding or coming together in any meaningful way. They're...
Read more