But it was noteworthy to me to feel a certain level of incompleteness going back to a recent movie by Pixar ( Turning Red), a production company I would consider on the cutting edge of American animation.
You can see, perhaps, how much I am trying to understand what it is I love about these movies.. I’m trying to do the same
The music is phenomenal. Joe Hisaishi is a revelation. There’s something about the simplicity of his melodies, their playfulness, and their willingness to step to the side and give the film room to breathe.
The Wind Rises especially struck a cord with me. There’s something beautiful about Jiro’s struggle to build airplanes. His “beautiful dreams”, despite their potential use as destructive weapons of war.
I still think about Kiki’s Delivery Service, about Nausicaa, about My Neighbor Totoro, about Spirited Away, about Howl’s Moving Castle, abotu Castle in the Sky, Ponyo, Princess Mononoke, among others.