The Studio Ghibli Series Part 4: Porco Rosso

[School of Movies 2023]

This was a whimsical period for Ghibli, they tried a few new things, and established one or two absolute mainstays. 

1991: Only Yesterday (1m 50s)

1992: Porco Rosso (11m 50s)

1993: Ocean Waves (25m 10s)

1994: Pom Poko (41m 10s)

1995: Whisper of the Heart (59m 40s)

There's a disarmingly frank and sympathetic story of a schoolgirl hitting adolescence wrapped in a Hallmark movie about returning to your rural home town after the big city has crushed your spirit. Conversely there's a high school romance about a doormat crushing on a girl who thinks only of herself.

Then there's two of the most abiding and beloved of their canon, in the tale of a high school girl who likes a musical boy which winds up being a powerful statement on creativity, and then there's the World War II pilot who was turned into a pig. But he's much rather be porcine than  fascist. 

And finally, an ecological parable starring enormous raccoon testicles!