Some more things to think about, to follow on from Weeks 8-9!!

1. In this paper we have considered Herge's The Blue Lotus as an example of orientalism, that is, the way the 'East' is constructed in western discourse. Miyazaki lived for a spell in Italy and almost half of his feature-length films - Castle of Cagliostro (1979), Laptua: Castle in the Sky (1986), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), Porco Rosso (1992) and Howl's Moving Castle (2004) - are set in Europe. Yet Miyazaki's Europe is a kind of imaginative reconstruction with fantasy elements that defamiliarises actual European settings and culture while remaining somehow remain indelibly Japanese. See the article I gave out by Dani Cavallaro (2006), pages 167-70.

Did you note any effects of such - what could be termed - 'Occidentalism' in Howl's Moving Castle? How might Europe function imaginatively for a Japanese audience? How do you think it works for a western audience? (Whew! That's my longest question yet :)

2. According to Cavallaro how successful was Howl commercially and critically?

3. What 3 major differences does Cavallaro identify between the book (a European fantasy novel by Wynne Jones) of the same name?

4. What does Cavallaro tell us about the technical aspects of Howl's production in terms of the animation technique and special effects?

Nice to see some smiles after this screening ＼（＾ ＾）／

What did you like (or not like, if that's the case) about Howl?