Jeff and I checked out the trailer for Spirited Away, a new Hayao Miyazaki film that's coming out soon. Wow, does it ever look fantastic! I'm REALLY excited about seeing this. It has all my favourite elements in an animated film: a young girl as the main character, magic, and something "different" about the story. Can't wait until this movie is in the theatres!

Here are my favourite animated films:

Tonari no Totoro (My Friend Totoro): This is my all-time favourite by far. During our Tokyo visit, Jeff patiently suffered through my paroxysms of ecstasy when I found an entire section of a toy store devoted entirely to Totoro merchandise. The two girls in this film remind me a LOT of what Ruth and I were like when we were that age, and of course I could identify with them being worried about their mother being ill in the hospital. Parts of this film always make me cry. I love the incredible imagination shown throughout this film, the atmosphere, the soundtrack, the little fuzzy black creatures in the girls' house. A Hayao Miyazaki film. I highly recommend this. Geez, I should go out and see if there's a DVD available; now I'm overcome by a sudden longing to see this film again. Did I tell you that I adore this movie?

Majo no takkyubin (Kiki's Delivery Service): I'm not a big cat person (I'm allergic, eh?) but I do really like Gigi, the young witch's cat. Hayao Miyazaki film.

Tenku no shiro Rapyuta (Castle in the Sky): Another Hayao Miyazaki film.

Mulan: Disney film. I was pretty impressed by how well the animators managed to convey Asian features, which usually end up as caricatures in most cartoons.

Anastasia: John Cusack did the voice of Dimitri and Christopher Lloyd was Rasputin; how could I not like this?

The Little Mermaid: LOVED the music.

Snow White and The Seven Dwarves: Disney. I remember having a picture book that was part of the album cover (yes, I had the soundtrack on an LP!) when I was very young, and prop the book open to my favourite illustrations beside my pillow just before I fell asleep. Yes, it's cliched and doesn't give little girls the greatest inspiration (i.e. waiting around for their prince to come), but I've got a soft spot for this film. Plus the evil stepmother still gives me the willies.

Darn, I'm sure I've missed some. Maybe I'll be inspired your poll answers.

POLL: What are your favourite animated films?

Other Links/news:

The trailer for X-Men 2 is now online. Patrick Stewart looks pretty swoony in a suit, I must say.

Television Without Pity: Wow, these people watch a lot of tv.

Today's Blatherpic:

	An illustration from Ooo-cha!, a book by Colleen Sydor that my sister illustrated in 1999. Click on the picture to see a larger version. Please don't copy this graphic without permission of the artist, thanks.
	A Totoro hangy-thingy (I'm sure it has a proper term, but I don't know it) I picked up in Tokyo. I thought about hanging it from the end of my guitar, but it rattled around too much when I played, so I hung it on one of the tuning pegs on my harp instead.
	My Gigi and Totoro toys, gifts from my friends Mark and Andrew.

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