Miyazaki Jr. Attempts To Tell A Tale

Title: Tales From Earthsea
Director: Goro Miyazaki
Starring: Timothy Dalton, Willem DaFoe
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Studio: Studio Ghibli
Genre(s): Fantasy
Rated:

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Studio Ghibli’s “Tales From Earthsea” has had a long and hectic road. Years ago Academy Award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki wanted to adapt the famous book series into an animated movie. The author said no. Years later Miyazaki became a household name and the author changed her mind and decided she wanted Miyazaki to direct. However at that point Miyazaki had directed “Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind” and “Castle In The Sky,” and had lost interest in adapting the books into a movie. Although Hayao wasn’t interested in making a movie adaptation anymore there was another Miyazaki who did want to adapt the series: Goro Miyazaki, Hayao’s son. Goro worked tirelessly on the film despite his father’s objections and released another hit for the studio.

As part of their contract The Walt Disney Company had to release this movie. However because of a mini-series that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel Disney could not release the film until this year, where it’s now in limited release. I discuss the difficulties of this film coming to America now because “Tales From Earthsea” has a reputation for being the worst Ghibli film in their impressive catalog. The dub premiered in Europe a couple years ago so many fans have already seen it and passed judgement. Writing a review seems pointless but it’s what I do. Finally I bring all this up because not much happens in “Tales From Earthsea.” The story revolves around Aaron, the prince of a kingdom out in one of these distant, fantasy worlds.

He’s run away from home because...well, I don’t know why he’s run away from home to be honest. It might be because he’s sustainable to serious mood swings but I’m not entirely sure. He ends up traveling with a wizard named Sparrowhawk, who takes him to a farm that is run by two ladies. The older one is named Cob and the younger one is named Therru. Unlike most animated films both these ladies prove to be love interests for the lead characters. I should mention at this point that all I’ve just discussed takes place within the first HOUR of the film! The animation in this film is gorgeous. The music wonderful. The acting very good. But while Goro may have his fathers eye he doesn’t have his natural storytelling ability.

This thing moves at a snails pace as we watch the character stare into the distance, plow the fields, walk through shopping marts...it just goes on and nothing seems to happen. At the midway point we meet the villain of the film, who looks so emo you might wonder if Ghibli is being serious at this point. During the final thirty minutes the film starts to pick up steam and moves a bit more. But it takes. Stinking. FOREVER! One of the main selling points to this movie have been the dragons. They are on the posters, in the previews, and so I was under the assumption that they would have a big role in the film. Turns out they are in less then five minutes overall. Their story is that they no longer mingle with humans because they choose freedom while men choose possessions.

I’m not sure what this has to do with the movie but it’s there. They show up long enough to get a cool poster for the film. Reportedly the movie is the combination of four of the books in this series. That there is four books worth of content crammed into this two hour film and it STILL feels like nothing happens is discouraging! Maybe Goro simply really wasn’t ready to handle such a big movie? After watching I have to admit that, yes, this is Studio Ghibli’s worst film. It’s not torturous to watch but it’s certainly boring. It’s pretty to look at, but so are many other animated films. Disney’s treatment of the film is as good as it can be but even they couldn’t make the film better. All they could do was dub it. It’s nice that we finally have “Tales From Earthsea” but I find it more of a curious viewing experience then a great one. Goro is already working on his next film. Hopefully he’ll have learned something about storytelling by then.