Being gone for the Canada Day long weekend, into cottage country and fantastic weather, these two items got by me. I will bundle them into a single post:

Pixar or Ghibli? For my money, Studio Ghibli is putting out better films (even if both studios have their duds), if only because they rely less on the sense of humour and slapstick (even the two Brad Bird Pixars rely heavily on this crutch) The Japanese studio often focuses on on sweeping epics from the point of young folks who are thrust into the world of danger and maturity and consequences with little life-lines. Yes, there are exceptions, such as bonafide classic My Neighbor Totoro, arguably the most pure children’s film ever made, which has no plot to speak of, yet still builds interesting characters and a compelling story of discovery.

I’m not pitting east vs. west on this one. I’m glad both studios exist. I’m glad that Pixar is really looking to take the Ghibli road with Brave. In the mean time, however, Ghibli has two films in the can that have put out recent trailers.

The first, Arrietty (The Borrower) feels like the sort of classic golden age Disney film from source material; vaguely resembling brothers Grimm tale or other such folklore out of Europe. Note the tone of the trailer plays like a bed-time story. Actually, it is adapted from Mary Norton’s classic 1950s novel which has has several film and TV adaptations to date. Arrietty is not actually directed by either of the studios venerable directors (Hayao Miyazaki or Isao Takahata); this one is helmed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who has been one of the studios key animators for the past 15 years. I’ve got the UK trailer which features a solid voice cast from the British Isles (apparently the US version will have an different, American, dub) featuring Saorise Ronan, Mark Strong, Tom Holland and Olivia Coleman.

14-year-old Arrietty and the rest of the Clock family – people sized no larger than a mouse – live in peaceful anonymity as they make their own home from items “borrowed” from the house’s full sized human inhabitants. Life changes for the Clocks when a human boy discovers Arrietty.

The second film, Kokurikozaka Kara, is directed by Miyazaki’s son Goro who made the disastrous Tales from Earthsea (Bob’s Review) but appears to have gone back to the traditional old-school nostalgia of his father with this one. In fact the teaser trailer tells nothing of the actual story, but evokes the sort of emotions and images that the studio is known for.

A group of Yokohama teens look to save their school’s clubhouse from the wrecking ball in preparations for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

Both the trailer for Arietty and teaser for Kokurikozaka kara are tucked under the seat.