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2011-04-03

Riffs - Future Boy Conan #01, Animal Treasure Island, Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind

I wanted to show a couple riffs that appear in the first episode of Future Boy Conan.  There are a few more, but you can dig those out if you're so inclined.  But these should help you out when you're engaged in your Miyazaki Riffs Drinking Games.


This first example is a gag of Conan tumbling down a set of stairs.  He's getting water for Lana, who is lapsing in and out of consciousness after being rescued from the beach the day before.  It's a funny little gag, perfectly suited for the physical Conan, and Miyazaki used it before, during the classic pirate battle in Animal Treasure Island.  In that movie, Jim, the hero, also stumbles down about four flights of stairs, past a couple of funny sight gags in the process.  This battle scene is packed to the rafters with tiny details and throwaway gags.



Our second Conan riff comes from this scene, where Conan is showing off his island to Lana, carrying her around and running all over the place.  He feeds her some fruit, which is...um, a little sour tasting, and Conan gets to make some funny faces.  This big was used a few years later in the Nausicaa film, in the photo you see above.  That's rather interesting, because there's hardly a joke in the entire film.  The very few bits drop in and out very quickly.

2 comments:

Blasko said...

Speaking of Nausicaa, check out this haunting Chernobyl photograph posted on BBC's recent "Day in Pictures" segment. Instantly, I thought of the opening scene of Nausicaa and of Japan's radiation concerns.

It's the second photo on the slideshow: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12961120

Ghibli said...

I simply love spotting those riffs, but your powers of observation seem to be far superior. It would be fun, if you publish the riffs that you spot in the later episodes as well.

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