Unpublished manuscripts written by late Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata have revealed that the acclaimed filmmaker as soon as deliberate a prequel to The Story of the Princess Kaguya, a venture that by no means materialized.
In accordance with Tokyo Zokei College’s Professor Seiji Kano, roughly 130 pages of handwritten scripts and inventive notes have been unearthed in June at Takahata’s research. The findings embrace an “Adaptation Proposal for an Animated Model of The Story of the Bamboo Cutter,” outlining concepts that will later evolve into The Story of the Princess Kaguya, launched in 2013.
The memo describes the story as one about “a daughter of the moon who longs for all times on Earth” and even outlines a gap scene that includes a dialog between Kaguya-hime and an elder on the moon, who warns her towards her fascination with Earth — an idea not seen within the last 2013 movie.
In accordance with Kano, the memo is probably going the identical prequel draft Takahata as soon as referenced on the official Kaguya web site, the place he defined that he had written a backstory to make sense of the primary narrative whereas growing his adaptation of The Story of the Bamboo Cutter.
Past the Kaguya notes, the gathering additionally contains two full, unpublished scripts, Oeyama and The Jewel I Acquired, that are believed to have been written throughout Takahata’s early years at Toei Animation.
Oeyama attracts inspiration from the demon-slaying legend of Shuten Doji however diverges from conventional portrayals, with notes describing a want to discard the demon-slaying eventualities and as a substitute portraying them in a “comical and never essentially consultant of evil.” Within the story, the heroes use sake from a hermit to shrink the demons as a substitute of killing them, and rescuing captured kids with out hurt.
In the meantime, The Jewel I Acquired reinterprets Kenji Miyazawa’s kids’s story The Shell Fireplace. Within the unique story, a rabbit loses its sight after being tempted into wrongdoing by a fox. Takahata’s model alters the ending, with the rabbit realizing its errors, reconciling with its associates, and serving to drive the fox away.
The script additionally incorporates a meta-ending wherein the fox addresses the viewers, saying, “Hey, I’m at all times the villain. Don’t you suppose that’s unfair?” — a tool later echoed in Takahata’s 1994 movie Pom Poko.
“On the time, animation was largely seen as kids’s leisure with clear ethical dualities. But Takahata’s early writings already reject this notion, incorporating complicated human feelings and contradictions he would proceed to discover all through his profession. It is a exceptional discovery,” acknowledged Kano.
Takahata’s son, Kosuke Takahata, commented that the newly found manuscripts replicate his father’s unrelenting inventive vitality, stating, “You’ll be able to really feel his inventive vitality and fervour in these writings. It took him almost 9 years after becoming a member of the studio to direct his first movie, and these pages really feel like his plea—‘Please, simply let me make one thing.’”
His spouse, Kayoko, who labored with him at Toei throughout his early years, recalled, “Debates amongst colleagues have been an on a regular basis prevalence again then. Isao was decided to create one thing significant. These writings are the fruit of that effort, and I hope younger individuals will discover inspiration in them.”
Takahata made his directorial characteristic movie debut in 1968 with Horus: Prince of the Solar and went on to co-create quite a few classics alongside Hayao Miyazaki, together with Heidi, Lady of the Alps, 3000 Leagues in Search of Mom, and Anne of Inexperienced Gables. He later co-founded Studio Ghibli in 1985, directing acclaimed works similar to Grave of the Fireflies, Solely Yesterday, Pom Poko, and My Neighbors the Yamadas.
His last movie, The Story of the Princess Kaguya, obtained widespread worldwide approval for its hand-drawn, watercolor-inspired animation and was nominated for an Academy Award for Finest Animated Function.
Supply: NHK
