Dungeons & Dragons

There is a new Studio Ghibli film in progress. Although the film may never be released in cinemas in Singapore, I have come across a trailer for the film online. It looks promising, though knowing how they have a tendency to twist source material to their own themes and interpretation, I hope it'll still be good. A trailer does not reflect the film in it's entirety after all.

Entitled 'Gedo Senki", it is based on Ursula le Guin's Earthsea series. Those were entertaining books which were also mercifully short for something so obviously on an epic scale. Recall Lord Of the Rings, only more condensed, though the action is no less grand or vivid as Tolkein's Middle-earth. I think that if I were 12 when I read the Earthsea series, I would have been blown away by it...

In any case, the trailer certainly seems to indicate a film that deviates from the latest Miyazaki fare involving grandiose flights of fancy; of spirits, wizards, and mechanical contraptions. Of course, the Earthsea world isn't as filled with pretty elegance as Kingsbury or bureaucrats in suits, which might explain the more sparse and natural scenery. The director has also made it a point to keep the background and action simple so as to focus on the characters. Set in an archipelago setting, le Guin's Earthsea books are really a cross between LOTR and jedi lore. Sort of. As it is, being Goro Miyazaki's debut film, he has a lot to live up to, especially with a father who is already established as a master of animated films...