is miyazaki repeating himself?
 

i enjoy the films, no doubt. but i question the amount of novelty that goes into his films.

for one, there's the old lady element, who seems to be present in moving castle, castle in the sky and spirited away at the least.

and how can we forget the similarities between the moving castle in the castle in the sky themselves.

i don't think that these aren't entirely derivative, but sometimes i feel like he's putting the same characters (if nothing more than physical resemblance) through different stroylines.

granted, i don't know a lot about anime so it may be for a good reason.

maybe someone else noticed this, though.

don't many director's "repeat" themselfs, according to your annalyasis of miyazaki? Tarantino makes little references to his other films, Scorsesse the same ect.

Hitchcock repeated himself all the time. Some directors find certain themes/images endlessly fascinating.

He is not repeating himself. Many of the characters in his films are depictions characters present in most Japanese fairy tales. ....ah, the things you learn growing up half japanese

I haven't seen Howl's, but I have a feeling he is repeating himself

yeah, i had a suspicion the sensed repetition was partially due to my lack of knowledge about japanese culture.

is there a japanese equivalent to grimms fairy tales? if so, what be it/they called? would be interesting read (especially if translated in english. lol)

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

He isn't repeating himself.

I haven't seen Howl yet, so I haven't actually read this thread, but I'd have to say yes. As is to be expected with someone who has almost complete creative control, from writing the script, to storyboarding, so supervising and personally correcting cels, there will be certain themes and concerns that will pop up over and over again. Look at Mononoke... it's pretty much a big-budget retread of Nausicaa, just the setting is in the past rather than the future.

That being said, I'm really looking forward to this one in spite of the somewhat lukewarm reviews it's received, even from critics that typically champion his work (Ebert, I'm looking at you).

ETA: repeating yourself is not necessarily a bad thing - look at Ozu. After a certain period, you could argue that he kept remaking the same movie, but each one of them is a masterpiece.

Well, Howl's Moving Castle is actually based on a book by Diana Wynne Jones, so the plot is not Miyazaki's (nor is it based on Japanese folklore). His character designs do make everyone seem similar, and he does reuse similar themes throughout his work, but people don't complain about all the talking animals and cups in Disney films, or how similar those stories (and character designs) are either...

He's also, to my knowledge, never made a sequel to any one of his movies, even with the rich worlds he's created in them (I would think a sequel to Totoro, at the very least, would make a mint)... though if he ever makes another one about a pig who fly's WWI aircraft, we know he's run out of ideas.

He's been repeating himself since Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds in 1984 (not that I'm complaining):

- the purity of nature vs. the pollution of industry
- strong female heroine growing up and finding herself (and usually meeting a good boyfriend along the way)
- retro-futuristic technology (most of which can fly)
- natural and supernatural forces that are benevolent when left alone, but can turn destructive if messed with

These are common elements of almost everything he has made.

If he is, that would make him no different than any other director working today.