jwinges Posted April 3, 2007 Posted April 3, 2007 Last Friday, the wife and I hit the Ghibli Museum. Your not allowed to take pics inside but you can on the rooftop garden and outside. Here's a few pics. Overall, we found it to be a bit disappointing since two rooms of the museum were dedicated to non-ghibli animation. Persoanally, the though of ghibli stuff being replaced by Wallace and Grommit was sickening. Additionally there wasn't much for ghibli stuff available in the store...I found more in TV Nippon and some stores in Akihabera. Anyway, a ticket gets you a screening of a ghibli short. We had a choice of one about a water spider or sometning and one about a lost puppy. We chose the lost puppy and really enjoyed the film. Its worth going to the museum especially if you have kids. However, I doubt we'll go again when we're in Japan next time. Last I'm including some pics of the TV Nippon Displays. TV Nippon was pretty cool...especially the animatronic clock outside. Its about 2 stories tall and is worth the wait to see. If you search Youtube for TV Nippon you can see it go off. Quote
sketchley Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 Don't you have to get tickets something like a month in advance to go to the museum? The wife and I had wanted to go to the museum during our trip to Tokyo last month, but couldn't because of that. http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/ Quote
jwinges Posted April 4, 2007 Author Posted April 4, 2007 Don't you have to get tickets something like a month in advance to go to the museum? The wife and I had wanted to go to the museum during our trip to Tokyo last month, but couldn't because of that. http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/ The link that the museum gives you is for some place in Chicago. We had forgotten to order out ticket and called 4 days before we left (March 16). The place in Chicago next day aired them to us so we could go last Friday. They also told us to make sure we bring our passports to Ghibli but they never did check them. There's some pretty cool stuff in there. But I was still left wanting more. If your into Ghibli make sure you see the Myazaki animatronic clock outside the TV Nippon building near the Shiodome. There's a TV Nippon store below it that has better prices and stuff than the Ghibli store. If your looking for plushies that is. If you want uber expensive models get them either at Ghibli (for the rare one's) or in Akihabara (cheeper there). If you do decide to go you might want to get a list of what shorts are being screened. We got two to choose from but I wish we could have seen a different one they have. In particular, we wished we could have seen "Mai and the Catbus." I believe they switch their movies either weekly or monthly. The puppy one is very good though and has some familiar characters in it. Quote
SpacePirateNeko Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 The animation area inside is amazing. Yes yoru not supposed to take pictures but i snuck some and some movies of the animated ferris wheel..ill have to upload it when i can. Miytaka is a really nice area and when i move to japan i think its where i would one day love to live. The day i went it was raining an a rabbit came up and sat next to me in the park outside ( literally a foot away) and didnt seem to care that i took pictures of him. Oh and what was also cool was the fact that tickets come with a frame from one of the movies. The short i got to see was about a little kid who planted tiny solar systems that grew in his house. Quote
jwinges Posted April 4, 2007 Author Posted April 4, 2007 The animation area inside is amazing. Yes yoru not supposed to take pictures but i snuck some and some movies of the animated ferris wheel..ill have to upload it when i can. Miytaka is a really nice area and when i move to japan i think its where i would one day love to live. The day i went it was raining an a rabbit came up and sat next to me in the park outside ( literally a foot away) and didnt seem to care that i took pictures of him. Oh and what was also cool was the fact that tickets come with a frame from one of the movies. The short i got to see was about a little kid who planted tiny solar systems that grew in his house. I thought the animation rooms and strobe displays were amazing. And the catbus is awsome...If I were only a little kid. My heart just sank when I saw a large room taken up by wallace and grommit and a hall taken up by some other annimater I've never heard of. Overall, its worth going. I think our expectations were just a little too high. BTW I really like how its an open tour. There is no set route. Your asked to explore the museum. Looking in little nooks and crannies is worth your time. We found lots of nice little touches around...even in the bathroom. Quote
sketchley Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 (edited) Please keep in mind that Wallace and Grommit have a similar stature in Japan, as anime does in your country, (cool foreign (claymation?) animation,) and that it brings in money for Studio Ghibli to continue producing the excellent productions that it does. Amongst my kindergarten age students (here in Japan,) Thomas (the train) is their most favourite show. However, Fuji TV has got the licence for that... Edited April 4, 2007 by sketchley Quote
Mowe Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 I always thought the Ghibli Museum is the commercial side of the Studio that doesn't quite fit with Miyazaki's vision. I have never being there myself, but from pics I have seen, the quality of the displays and the general concept of the museum just doesn't have the same level of quality and care when compared to his films (this is purely my personal view ). I think a tour of his studio would definitely be a richer experience. I remembered he talked about how he planned the studio to reflect many of his personal beliefs - women equality, staff (non) hierarchy, balance of pleasure and work, even environmental issues (e.g. bicycle parking at roof top). Anyone knows what he is up to with his next film (after the flop of his son’s debut movie)? Bty, I think the museum is ran by his son (if that means anything… ). Thanks for sharing the pic anyway. Quote
Phyrox Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 Anyone knows what he is up to with his next film (after the flop of his son’s debut movie)? I'm pretty sure his son's movie wasn't a flop. Pretty successful actually from what little I've gathered. Quote
Mowe Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 (edited) Oh, that is good. I have't seen it but I read a few articles and it got some worst anime of the year award. May be they had too much expectation. Also, a few of my friends have seen it and they really didn't like it. I guess i'll have to see it this winter when it screen in Sydney. I don't mean to put his son down, just telling what I heard. I'm pretty sure his son's movie wasn't a flop. Pretty successful actually from what little I've gathered. Edited April 4, 2007 by Mowe Quote
The Shade Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 Oh, that is good. I have't seen it but I read a few articles and it got some worst anime of the year award. May be they had too much expectation. Also, a few of my friends have seen it and they really didn't like it. I guess i'll have to see it this winter when it screen in Sydney. I don't mean to put his son down, just telling what I heard. Critically, it was panned. But, commercially, it was a success. Quote
jwinges Posted April 4, 2007 Author Posted April 4, 2007 Please keep in mind that Wallace and Grommit have a similar stature in Japan, as anime does in your country, (cool foreign (claymation?) animation,) and that it brings in money for Studio Ghibli to continue producing the excellent productions that it does. Amongst my kindergarten age students (here in Japan,) Thomas (the train) is their most favourite show. However, Fuji TV has got the licence for that... Please don't get me started on Thomas the train. My nephew had a thomas the train birthday party where everybody was supposed to give him one of those expensive little train engines. I said screw that and bought him a lacross set. The kid needs to play outside more. We got a bit sick of all the american crap we found...disney, thomas, stitch, we kept going to stores that were supposed to be for anime stuff and it turned out they had more american related stuff than japanese. Quote
jwinges Posted April 4, 2007 Author Posted April 4, 2007 Critically, it was panned. But, commercially, it was a success. I think I saw a poster somewhere that Tales from Earthsea is supposed to be released in April on DVD. We saw a lot of Earthsea stuff in stores...I'm betting it was a success. At the ghibli museum there was a ton of stuff and the kiddies were eating it up. Quote
F-ZeroOne Posted April 4, 2007 Posted April 4, 2007 (edited) Please keep in mind that Wallace and Grommit have a similar stature in Japan, as anime does in your country, (cool foreign (claymation?) animation,) and that it brings in money for Studio Ghibli to continue producing the excellent productions that it does. Amongst my kindergarten age students (here in Japan,) Thomas (the train) is their most favourite show. However, Fuji TV has got the licence for that... Not quite as strong a shock as when I encountered Bob the Builder on Japanese TV... I liked the Ghibli Museum. I wonder if some of the criticisms it gets is due to national differences in what counts as an "attraction"; Japan seems to specialise in small, very specialist museums, and coming from a compact country like the UK maybe I'm used to the little things in life giving pleasure (Bill Bryson has commented on how the English can make getting a biscuit with your cup of tea seem like the most wonderful thing to have happened that day... ). I did enjoy the Ghibli Museum, and loved some of the neat details (like the little step by the kitchen so that kids can peer in at the chefs at work!), but I can also understand how some could be disappointed. As for Wallace and Gromit, only one thing I can really say here: "Cracking!" Edited April 4, 2007 by F-ZeroOne Quote
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