Directors: Tomomichi Mochizuki, Isao Takahata, Hayao Miyazaki
Featuring: Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, Only Yesterday, Princess Mononoke, Whispers of the Heart, My Neighbor Totoro, Pom Poko, Porco Rosso, Laputa, Castle of the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service, Grave of the Fireflies, I Can Hear the Ocean, On Your Mark

- Reviewed by Darrell

Have you ever heard of Tenku no Shiro Laputa, (Laputa, Castle of the Sky) or Kaze no Tani no Nausicca, (Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind)? What about Hotaru no Haka, (Grave of the Fireflies)? If you've even heard one of these names before, you're probably already well on your way to opening the door to the world of Studio Ghibli. It is quite unfortunate that probably a great number of people have never heard of, or had the opportunity to view, these fantastic films. Studio Ghibli is a famous yet still under-rated animation studio based out of Saitama, Japan, which is close to Tokyo. So popular are these movies in fact, that every time a new one is released it creates an incredible wave of excitement in Japan and throughout Asia. Sometimes this wave is large enough to come crashing on the shores of the other side of the Pacific, but not always.

One such tsunami crashed here in North America in the year 2000 called Princess Mononoke. Backed by Miramax Films, the film was even dubbed and released for a short theatrical run. What is all this getting at? That there are animated films of superb quality and craft coming out of Japan that should be enjoyed the world over. Their stories are beautiful, timeless and full of adventure. They transcend culture and at the same time are distinctly Japanese.

I am personally not a fan of what usually falls under the category of "Anime," the shortened name for what is typically Japanese Animation, but I find it very unfair to categorize an incredible variety of animated films by using a highly stereotyped half-word. These films do not suffer from that stereotype in the least. Each film is quite unique and yet still contains many of the same characteristic traits, like themes based on flight and nature, and having a female lead character. They are made to appeal to a variety of audiences as diverse as the films themselves.

I recently purchased an amazing DVD boxed set called the Studio Ghibli: The Collection. This collection spans almost two decades of fantastic film-making and includes every feature film released by the studio up to 1997 when Mononokehime (Princess Mononoke) was released. There are 11 full feature films on 6 DVDs in the set and a bonus music video on the last disc. I have not yet had the time to view them all, but the ones I have watched have been transferred to DVD beautifully and are of terrific quality.

The sound has all been done in Dolby Digital, so players and audio systems with this option can hear the full clarity of the sweeping scores, melodies, and sound effects. The amazing scores, done by Joe Hisaishi, complete the full feel of each film and help bring out an incredible amount of emotion, very rarely associated with animated films.

All films are also captured in their original 16 x 9 widescreen format. Let me just say that every film in this set is presented in a way as to stay true to its original form, which is the way it should be. None of these versions of the films have been butchered in any way, as it has been noted that other versions in the past have. What this also means is that the voice soundtracks are all in Japanese.

There are English and Chinese subtitles included for each movie on each disk, and these are very well done and easy to read. If you are in any way turned off by having to read subtitles, please be open-minded to the fact that these films have been carefully made to the vision of their creators. Changing any part of this, even the voice soundtrack, takes away from the experience of the film and its performances, even if you can't understand the meaning of the words. That's what the subtitles are there for, and these ones are quite well done.

Well, now you say, "The world can't possibly be so perfect!" and you're right, no it can't. The only minor annoyance with each DVD, and it is stressed as a minor, is that at the beginning of each chapter of each movie, there is a small "Anime Cartoon International" logo shown in the top left corner of the screen. This appears as a small 'A'. It disappears after about five seconds and does not in any way take away from the film. It is also worth mentioning that each disk is encoded as "All Region Code," meaning that theoretically anyone around the world should be able to view them.

To keep this a review of reasonable length it's best not to go into each movie individually and instead focus on the set as a whole. Simply put, it is excellent! You can't beat that!

Following is a list of each film included using its English translated name and its approximate running length:

Disc 1: Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind (115 min) / Only Yesterday (120 min)

Disc 2: Princess Mononoke (128 min) / Whispers of the Heart (107 min)

Disc 3: My Neighbor Totoro (87 min) / Pom Poko (119 min)

Disc 4: Porco Rosso (93 min) / Laputa, Castle of the Sky (125 min)

Disc 5: Kiki's Delivery Service (103 min) / Grave of the Fireflies (88 min)

Disc 6: I Can Hear the Ocean (72 min) / On Your Mark (8 min music video)

EDITOR'S NOTE: It has been brought to our attention by a reader that this box set may be a pirated and unlicensed DVD set (more info here), which are extremely common in Hong Kong. However, there is such a huge demand for this box set because most of the films included are nearly impossible to get ahold of internationally. It's your conscience. You make the call.

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