Porco Rosso: Panoramic vs Binocular Vision

Un discorso sull'aviazione maiale...

George: Why did Porco change into a pig?

Mario: Because he had self-esteem issues. His friends died in an air battle. He felt guilty so he transformed himself into a pig through remorse.

George: Self-esteem issues? So he became a PIG? Why didn’t he become a… a… LUNCHBOX?

Mario: Maybe it was because Miyazaki loved that era of antique airplanes and animated air races. Set among islands in the Adriatic. A Time of Cherries. An era when pigs might fly. Pre-Animal Farm.

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Voice-over

Pig vision is an interesting hybrid concept. Pig panaoramic vision is 310 degrees and their binocular vision is 50 degrees. So they can see behind them to sense danger creeping up, but they still have some degree of bifocal stereoscopic vision for calculating distances. Un aviatore ideale.

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Tanabata, Pegasus and Laputa

An exchange student rewrites a Japanese myth…

Eiko: July 7 is Tanabata.

Starlight: Tana – what?

Eiko: Orihime, the WeaverPrincess and Hikoboshi, the CowHerderStar, were married. There was a leadup to this but we'll skip that. Once married they got a bit lazy, weaving and cow herding. Orihime's father became annoyed and stuck them on opposite sides of the Milky Way and allowed them to meet only once a year, and only then if they had done their work diligently for a year. So every July 7 they can cross the Milky Way and meet on a bridge made of wings of magpies flying together.

Starlight: MAGPIE wings?

Eiko: Sounds a bit far-fetched, doesn’t it? Maybe these days they might use FaceBook, or Skype each other?

Starlight: Out of keeping with the original story. How about… (thinks) How about that winged horse, Pegasus, flies down and carries them to some meeting place?

Eiko: I know. Up to Laputa, Castle in the Sky.

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Voice-over

Guest Blogger “Starlight” came up with this incredibly credible contemporary ending: Pegasus flying the pair to Laputa for their annual holiday. All the more apt for a Milky Way location since Pegasus is a star constellation. And the link to Miyazaki Hayao’s Laputa revitalizes Tanabata into a modern myth.

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Creative Blockage

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Interviewer: What do you do when you experience a creative block?

Miyazaki: I go off and take a nap.

Interviewer: Do all your staff do this?

Miyazaki: Some do. Most of them have a way of getting a fresh perspective on a problem. One boy lies in a chair and puts on a huge eye-mask. Another one goes and lies down.

Interviewer: I often find my best ideas come to me flying on a plane.

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Voice-over

They all have one thing in common in dealing with a block to the artistic process. Find a quiet place, block out intruding information. When Miyazaki recommends a nap, we can feel far less guilty about snatching 40 winks. Or a hundred, even.

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