show it to me is this what you smell roasted Lo no way frog I'm saving every last bite for myself this is Spirited Away the movie is pure magic transporting its characters and viewers to an otherworldly Place through the enchanting medium of Animation but as with all good magic the best tricks are the subtle ones that happen right under your nose ha Miyazaki and Studio jibli have Bewitched us all with their quiet Mastery of adaptation since their early days jibli has been adapting stories with such skill that their movies often surpass The Works they're based
on so how do they do it you can't stay here they'll find you and you'll never get to rescue your parents I'll create a diversion while you escape no don't leave me I don't want to be alone before we pull back the curtain On Studio jbl's best kept secret take a moment to like this video And subscribe to the nerdstalgic channel the success of studio jibli is built off of adaptations their most popular and lucrative films are based on other works and it was an adap that launched the company to begin with though it was
produced one year before the company's founding 1984's Nosa of the Valley of the wind is widely recognized as the first film in the studio jibli catalog written and directed by jibli founder hay Miyazaki the movie was a smash hit both critically and commercially setting the fledgling Animation Studio up for Success on all fronts but before Nosa of the the Valley of the wind was a movie it was a manga also written and illustrated by Miyazaki the NSA manga is about a princess who navigates war in a post-apocalyptic World filled with bizarre creatures and Waring factions
she ultimately Brokers for peace as a prophesized hero and helps to clear the land of corruption since he was the original writer and artist he was uniquely capable of bringing his world and characters to the big screen the movie tells an Abridged version of the story while still getting at the core of its environmentalism and anti-war message and the art is practically lifted from the page and brought to life through animation it feels true to the manga while offering a distinct and enjoyable experience whether you've read the original or not it's nowhere near the most
beloved jibli film today but Nosa is an undeniably beautiful piece of art and it taught Miyazaki a very important lesson animated adaptations are artistically and financially viable and he'd repeat that success many times of course he wasn't the first person to apply this line of thinking to an animation Studio Disney had been doing it since the ' 50s but ji's approach to adaptation is wholly different from its Western contemporaries first of all unlike Walt Disney Miyazaki is an artist himself even when adapting other artists work miyazaki's fingerprints are all over the end product 1989's Kiki's
Delivery Service was heaped with praise on release and so was Miyazaki once again claiming the roles of writer and director for the film Miyazaki was heralded as a brilliant innovator for his work which he of course deserved but what he can't take credit for is the story concept itself many people and especially Western audiences could be forgiven for not knowing that Kiki's Delivery Service is an adaptation of a 1985 children's book of the same name the book while wonderful in its own right never reached the worldwide Fame of jbl's adaptation leaving many to assume the
movie is the first and only version of the tale iiko kadono book features a young witch named Kiki and her cat Gigi going to the city and running a delivery service it's written as a series of short stories rather than one long narrative which is where the movie and its source material really divide with Kiki's Delivery Service Miyazaki did what he does best he took a simple idea and made magic Kiki's Delivery Service is as loved today as it was in 1989 and a large part of why is that the world is alive and Fantastical
yet still grounded in a believable reality Kiki might be able to soar through the sky on a broom but she also scrubs floors in dark rooms packed full of clutter the world is cozy yet it still plays out like a grand spectacle we have miyazaki's artistic talent to thank for that he's able to showcase the tiny mundane details of everyday life in a way that reframes them and makes them feel special and that eye for detail in life translates handily into an eye for detail in stories with Kiki's Delivery Service Miyazaki read between the lines
of an uncomplicated children's book extracted the warmth and fun he saw on the page and quite literally Illustrated it on screen every frame of the movie is a labor of love with Miyazaki going to Great Links to ensure audiences could see what he sees and Kiki story whether the audience is familiar with the source material or not this F made Kiki's Delivery Service both a great adaptation and a great movie and he'd do much the same thing with Diana wi Jones's fantasy novel H's Moving Castle in 2004 however not all Miyazaki films are so outwardly
based on his or other artists work several ji movies are essentially stealth adaptations of well-known stories whether Miyazaki and his team publicly acknowledge it or not 1988's my neighbor tooro is almost certainly inspired by the Norwegian folk tale Three Billy Goats Gruff a theory supported by the fact that an illustration of the book appears in the in credits and 2001 Spirited Away is often compared to Allison Wonderland with its young female lead getting lost in a strange Place ruled by a literal bigheaded older woman Alice and Chihiro both insist their dreaming and are determined to
wake up and get home this isn't to say Spirited Away is a rip off of Ls Carroll's novel or the Disney adaptation Disney aimed to recreate lisis Carroll's work as closely as possible Spirited Away on the other hand is a refreshing take on the well-known story which removes it from its deeply European roots and reimagines it through the lens of Japanese folklore it's a wealth of imagination that only glances at the material that inspired it which is another strength of miyazaki's adaptations if I hear one little complaint out of you you'll be joining your parents
in the pig ped 2008's Pono is a retelling of Han Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid obviously The Little Mermaid has seen its fair share of adaptations over the years with the most famous of these being Disney's 1989 an at Classic while both Disney and jibli strip the story of its darker and less palatable aspects Miyazaki once again read between the lines of the original story to extract deeper meaning but he also used it to create something totally new Pono is essentially a love letter and apology to miyazaki's son Goro who was neglected by his father
growing up it's an emotional and deeply personal message that adds an additional level to what could have been a straightforward adaptation and the movie is better for it I will be a human too human what do you know about humans brunilda they spoil the sea jibli adaptations and miyazaki's movies in particular are all unique creative Marvels they stand apart from the works that inspired them through free flowing artistic license Miyazaki can transform a work so completely that you can forget it's an adaptation at all from todoro to Spirited Away to Pono jibli has been adapting
other creative works and many audience members have been none the wiser even more impressively the those who are aware of the original Works often prefer jbl's telling of events but Miyazaki also lovingly Embraces his Inspirations and adapts them with a keen eye for detail whether it's making his own work jump off the page as he did with Nosa or breathing life into someone else's story like Kiki Miyazaki has an uncanny ability to harness the original artistic intent and meaningfully translate it for audiences it's a delicate balance to maintain but through a lifetime of practice endless
talent and probably more than a little witchcraft Miyazaki and Studio jibli have managed to master the art of adaptation but that's just what we think now we want to hear from you does anyone do adaptations better than jibli and which of the Studio's many adaptations is your favorite let us know in the comments and be sure to like this video And subscribe to nerdstalgic for more
