Princess Mononoke, Hayao Miyazaki, 1997
Snow White and the Huntsman, Rupert Sanders, 2012
Haven't done one of these in a while. And there are many who would argue that this example doesn't represent so much an affinity or an example of nothing new under the sun than it does a complete and blatant lift or rip-off, right down to the forest fairies in both films. I wouldn't blame anime fans for getting their panties in a bunch, but I learned about the futility about pursuing such matters in an indignant fashion almost around the time that Jeff Beck invented feedback. But do carry on.
Yup, I leaned over and whispered Princess Mononoke to the person next to me during this scene. I strongly suspected that Stewart or Uncredited Deer would walk on the water around the island.
That whole sequence in the Sanctuary hearkens to some other “Heart of the World” scenes in other films… Avatar, for instance… and even in games, like Quest for Glory 3, which had a “World Tree” location that fulfilled a similar function. There were also resonances of this in a few locations in Final Fantasy VII.
I’d be interested in seeing a study of what these types of scenes/settings tend to accomplish, how they help structure the narrative, etc.
Futile, indeed. Maybe I’m wired differently, but when I see parallels/connections like this, I tend to think “Neat!” rather than “Thieves!”
Still, it’s not as if ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ (despite a respectable 1st weekend) is going to end up earning more than any other movie except ‘Titanic’, as ‘Mononoke’ did in Japan.
Sorry, couldn’t resist; it was John Lennon, not Jeff Beck.
Carry on.
Sorry can’t resist. It was Ike Turner and Sam Phillips, not Beck or Lennon. “Rocket 88”.
“Can’t resist” indeed. You guys are just walking right into the joke!
LOOK AT HER!
Per one of his posts over the weekend, D.Z. from Elsewhere is already on the case, and is sure to be ambushing Rupert Stevens the rest of his life– ie, going to screenings of movies he doesn’t like then leaving dejected when nobody passes DeezNuts the mic during the Q&A.
Haven’t seen either of these movies, but maybe the posted stills suggest a possible earlier influence: the unicorn and the fairy tale forest of “Legend” (Ridley Scott, 1985).
Certainly, some of the early business re Chris Hemsworth’s Huntsman seemed to be mooched from Kurosawa’s direction of Toshiro Mifune.
The Miyazaki also seems to echo some of the forest imagery from BAMBI. I love this series of posts, btw, and I’m very glad to see it return.
some of the early business re Chris Hemsworth’s Huntsman seemed to be mooched from Kurosawa’s direction of Toshiro Mifune.