by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
I’ve always had a soft spot for animation. More years than not, at least a couple of animated features find their way onto my top 10 list. So, I’m setting out to shine a light on some films that may have passed you by. The idea with Animation Celebration is to take a look at some underseen gems — so no Toy Story or Frozen here.
Let’s get started.
Much like with Disney’s animated offerings, if you go hunting for an under-seen or under-appreciated entry in the Studio Ghibli catalogue, you’re working on a scale. However, the second-least seen of the Ghibli films — by quite a margin — is a film that deserves more eyes and doesn’t visually look like most of the rest of their catalogue.
My Neighbors the Yamadas came out in 1999 and sported a new look for the studio. Taking place on a white background, reminiscent of a canvas, the animation has a certain simplicity to it, like something straight out of a sketchbook. Calling it “simple” isn’t meant here as a pejorative, but it’s not as complex as some of the studio’s other offerings. Things are drawn in a more basic style, which is ironic because it’s their first fully digital offering so the film could get the watercolor feel right. With the utilization of watercolors, the colors don’t have the depth that you’ll see in some of their other films. In their catalogue, it looks most similar perhaps to The Tale of Princess Kaguya. That makes sense give that they share a director (Isao Takahata), though, he was not involved in the artwork of either. If you’re unfamiliar with that entry, picture the Red Bull animated commercials and you’ll have a sense of the visual feel. The light and whimsical feel is in contrast to director and studio co-founder Isao Takahata’s most popular film with the studio, The Grave of the Fireflies, having also directed Only Yesterday and Pompoko.
The film is a collection of different shorts in the life of the titular Yamada family, each highlighting little conflicts that arrive in their lives within their home. The different shorts cover issues that come up in the family’s day-to-day lives and explore the various interpersonal relationships within the family, consisting of a grandmother, mother, father, son, and youngest daughter. The style makes sense, as the film is an adaptation of Hisaichi Ishii‘s newspaper strip comic of the same name, of which I was unfamiliar, and the short vignettes really fit with that knowledge.
Despite the muted tones, there’s still plenty of creativity and whimsy on display. The grandmother’s speech, given at the wedding, is given an animated retelling early on with her words put to images in a fantastical way. The interfamily dynamics are easy to connect with. The standouts in the family for me were the youngest daughter, who’s just adorable, and the grandmother, who can be a bit of a curmudgeon. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy when segments focused on other characters. The way the film is edited together really helps to highlight the humor. The jump cuts during the missing child arc are some of my favorites, and there’s a hilarious sequence surrounding a fight over a TV remote. The film also uses music to bolster what each moment is trying to get across, whether it’s going more for serious or light-hearted.
If there was a negative, it can be hard to tell sometimes where one story ends and another begins, but the entire thing as so much charm that I just enjoyed spending time together with the family. Its simplicity really feels like a strength allowing the characters, humor, and music to shine.
If you’re looking for something to rival the depth of some of Studio Ghibli’s more recognizable offerings, you won’t find it here. However, what it does offer is a film full of explorations of interfamilial relationships and bursting with charm.
I’m excited to continue to geek out on some great animated work you may not have had a chance to catch. I’m not sure what next month holds, but thanks for reading, and I’ll see you at next month’s celebration.
You can follow Jake Bourgeois on Twitter and Letterboxd