The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness is a beautiful and sad documentary about one of Japan's greatest contributions to the world; Studio Ghibli and the man and the legend, Miyazaki Hayao. Its beautiful because its fun to watch the last big hand drawn animation studio at work and its sad because you know the end is coming.
+ I enjoyed watching Miyazaki do his storyboards and then time the scenes with a stopwatch while visualising it in his head.
- The level of attrition at Studio Ghibli is alluded to being high but I would like to have seen more about the hard work that the animators have to do.
+ I was surprised to see who ended up being the lead voice actor The Wind Rises.
- Daigo's appearance in this feels kind of pointless.
+ More than a documentary about making animation, it is a story about Miyazaki's viewpoint in life. He talks about nuclear power, war, the environment, children and whether there's any meaning to film making.
+ I really liked the story about the letter that Miyazaki receives out of the blue.
+ The one thing that left the biggest impression on me was the Ghibli producer talking to a bunch of new employees of Nihon Terebi about human relations.
I enjoy Ghibli stuff but I wouldn't call myself a fan (though I love Kiki) and The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness gave me such an appreciation of what they do. I think its better watch The Wind Rises before watching this documentary. Must watch.
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