The boy hero Pazu has his origins in ancient mythology, and in true Miyazaki fashion, it has to do with the wind. In the last of our 3-part mini-series on Castle in the Sky, we explore how the film connects the mythologies of wind, earth and sky, and then look at how Pazu’s story is the classic Father Quest that Hollywood has horribly overdone but it’s so fresh and interesting when Miyazaki does it. And finally, we’ll go into the big questions: What is Laputa? Why is it important that all of...

One nuanced thing that connects Studio Ghibli films is the attention that the Studio’s two main writers and directors pay to the actual physical spaces that the characters move around in -- making landscapes and architecture characters in their own right. In this episode, we'll be talking about Studio Ghibli landscapes, from the vanishing scenery of My Neighbor Totoro, through Yakushima Forest that inspired Princess Mononoke, the exact building Spirited Away's bathhouse is based on, and how...

Castle in the Sky is often waved away by Western film critics as simplistic and not nearly as polished as later Miyazaki films - but that's a huge misconception. In the first of our three-episode look into this raw, early Ghibli masterpiece, we'll explore the origins of the film's story, how a scouting trip to Wales and the South of England influenced the film's landcape and characters, and we'll also talk about the film's unique childhood lens and how it changes depending on whether you're...

One nuanced thing that connects Studio Ghibli films is the attention that the Studio’s two main writers and directors pay to the actual physical spaces that the characters move around in -- making landscapes and architecture characters in their own right. In this episode, we'll be talking about Studio Ghibli landscapes, from the vanishing scenery of My Neighbor Totoro, through Yakushima Forest that inspired Princess Mononoke, the exact building Spirited Away's bathhouse is based on, and how...

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, an 1984 film based on a 12th century Japanese folktale, is one of Hayao Miyazaki’s most important works that a lot of people in the West haven’t even heard about. In this episode we sat down with independent cinema expert Flick Beckett (who has just seen the film […]

Going into a dark space to watch moving images on the wall seems like a recent thing, but humans have been doing it for tens of thousands of years. In this first episode of the Moon Rabbit Podcast, I sat down with independent cinema expert Flick Beckett to discuss the mythological elements of the cinema-going […]

How to listen to the Moon Rabbit Podcast Right here, right now: Click on the big play button above. Magic! Take it with you: Download the mp3 for this episode by clicking here! iTunes, Spotify, Podcast Addict, etc. coming soon! Read along with the episode below. This is the Moon Rabbit Podcast – full transcript […]