LOL. Ponyo?
The little girl that was shooing away the pig looked and sounded like Ponyo. LOL.
shareI thought the same thing! XD I was like, "She looks like Ponyo!"
shareThat's because Miyazaki has a habit of recycling character designs for his projects; hence why Sheeta at the end of the film seems to resemble Nausicaa and Pazu, sometimes Asbel.
Incidentally, the girl who gets that one-liner "Get out, piggy! Get out!" is voiced by Debi Derryberry, who also plays young Sheeta during the flashback scene.
Interesting!
Yeah, I definitely noticed that he sometimes reuses character designs.
Miyazaki recycles EVERYTHING, not just character designs. He basically puts the same characters into different sorts of adventures, and lets you enjoy the ride.
The lead female character:
Nausicaa
Sheeta
San
Chihiro
Sophie
Ponyo
The male sidekick:
Asbel
Pazu
Ashitaka
Haku
Howl
Sosuke
The evil but not SO evil (actually kinda good-hearted) female character
Lady General
Dolu
Lady Eboshi
Yubaba
Witch of the Waste
It's a testament to his genius that despite this he delivers the goods every single time.
Sophie, Ponyo, Chihiro and San look and feel definetely different. I would say the most similar Miyazaki characters are Fio and Nausicaä and Sheeta and Lana.
shareBut the point is that they are all leading female characters.
shareBut I think the dynamics are very different. Nausicaä, Sophie, and Chihiro are the clear main characters, although some of them are more dominating Fio is a supporting character and Sheeta, Ponyo and San are pretty much equal, especially Sheeta and Ponyo.
shareI understand your point but that is not the point I am trying to make. ;)
shareIf you're going to count every single movie that has either girl or boy protagonist, you'll be doing it for at least so long as they keep making movies.
share*sigh*
Dude, it's simple: Miyazaki goes for a female lead all the time, that's not common. Most of the time they have a male sidekick, and an old woman that's semi-evil. Those are trademarks of his, no need to be so nitpicky about the nuances of each character.
But guaili, you said "He basically puts the same characters into different sorts of adventures." You were the one saying he recycles everything and uses the SAME characters. So when someone says they are NOT the SAME characters, that is hardly nitpicking.
If you simply meant he recycles the concept of the female lead, that is one thing. Just don't say 'same characters/different story.'
Oooook, then let me rephrase what I said, and instead of "same characters" let's say "same character types". There!
sharePorco Rosso has a male lead and so does Princess Mononoke, in Laputa Pazu is a bit more active and in Ponyo Sosuke shares the main bill. Only three of Miyazaki's movies have old women that come off as evil.
shareI always imagined Souske as being the lead in Ponyo. Who's the female lead in Porco Rosso? Fio is more of a supporting character. How about Pom Poko? Princess Mononoke, we don't even meet either of the women who could be considered "leads" until 30 minutes in to the movie.
He has many movies with female leads, and many without.
Wow, this is old, lol
It doesn't happen in 100% of his films, but it happens often enough to be a theme. In both the case of Ponyo and Princess Mononoke, the movies are named after their lead female characters, seriously...
just because they are all leading female characters doesnt mean that they are all the same character. I agree that he does recycle characters, but your point is too broad and doesn't fit in. The old lady from Laputa is a very similar character to Yubaba in Spirited Away. But to say that all old lady's he uses are the same because they are old ladies is absurd. In Howl's moving Castle the main character transforms into an old lady but her character bears no personality resemblance to Yubaba for example.
shareHe creates character templates and prototypes, and develops those characters from there. I never said that he creates the EXACT SAME CHARACTER each time. Most of his stories have fill-in-the-blanks character profiles:
the female lead
the male sidekick
the old woman that seems evil but not really
He starts with that and develops a story from there, or perhaps he is drawn to stories with those character prototypes.
He creates character templates and prototypes, and develops those characters from there. I never said that he creates the EXACT SAME CHARACTER each time. Most of his stories have fill-in-the-blanks character profiles:
the female lead
the male sidekick
the old woman that seems evil but not really
^Dolza anybody.
He reuses her design in the majority of his movies bar none!
ST4
Name's Django, The "D" is silent.
Miyazaki recycles EVERYTHING, not just character designs.
I agree. A couple examples I noticed: the same sootballs that filled the old house in "My Neighbor Totoro" reappeared carrying coal in "Spirited Away"; and the same small creature with pointy ears which bit fingers in "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" reappeared as a robot's pets in "Laputa: Castle in the Sky". share
Here's one for you: Sheeta's grandmother and Okami are both voiced by Tress MacNeille...
share