So, I guess the opportunity never really came up to go before now, and I didn't really want to go alone (plus the tickets sometimes have to be bought several months in advance since attendence is EXTREMELY limited)... but a while ago, Ami got tickets, and today we went with her mother and sister! It was quite the interesting place! There were no photos allowed inside, unfortunately (though I did see a guy taking them, boo), so I guess that I'll describe it with words?
We saw an original short, called (if I remember correctly) "Kujira Tori", which was a really old, really... boring little piece. I wouldn't have minded, but with all of the fuss over the Japanese whaling industry right now, you'd think that someone in charge might just connect that this sends the wrong message out to little kids? ^^;; Basically the story was about a couple of classes of kindergardeners. One class builds a fake boat out of blocks in their classroom, and suddenly it comes to life. They sail out on it in search of a whale to catch. They eventually do find a comical, huge blue whale, which they drag up to their school lawn. It beaches itself, and then they take pictures with it and tell the whale to come inside, whereupon it tells them that small places like their classroom are just not it's cup of tea, and proceeds to un-beach itself (!!) and swim off to sea. It kind of had me going, "wtf?" and left a sour taste in my mouth. ^^;; Maybe I'm being too sensitive, but whaling is not something that should really be glorified in my book, and I'm not entirely sure whether the point wasn't to teach kids to go sailing on blocks in the sea and talk to the creatures there. Dangerous! o.o;;;
There were a bunch of really nice rooms set up inside to look like the Ghibli offices. Really neat, but most of the material in them was touchable, so it obviously wasn't the real backgrounds and cels, etc, used in the films. Very neat to look at, and visually appealing, but kind of disappointing in a way? I'd rather see the real ones, myself! There were also cigarettes (fake, but "used" and "not used" both) on the desk of the storyboard artist, which I thought was a very very very bad touch. But there were a lot of interesting interactive displays on how animation is created that could be really educational, which I really liked. There was also a HUGE Neko-bus from Totoro made out of plush fabric! I wanted to go in SO BADLY, but only little kids were allowed! So so unfair! I know that an adult one would be popular, please make one Ghibli!! I'd definitely come back, and often!! <3<3 There was also a really interesting life-size setup of the Three Bears (from Goldilock's) table. OMG Papa bear's spoon was HUGE! I would have given my right arm to get a picture of me sitting in front of that! =D (Maybe next time, if there is one, I'll try to sneak it! Other people snuck pictures, and I don't see the big deal >.>;; It's like when the Gundam special exhibit forbid pictures of the super-awesome lifesize cockpit!! Kecchi!! :O)
Outside, there were some really awesome statues from Laputa (? I forget..). Sooooo cool! Of course, pictures were allowed there ♥ And a creepy Totoro, if I do say myself!
It was an interesting time! And during this time, the wind started blowing like no tomorrow, so much that it felt like a tornado! o.o What is up with the weather recently, whoa! The sky filled with brown dust and it knocked me into the air for a split second once! :O
Jamie's suggestions for improvement to the museum:
-Make a life-size Totoro to take pictures with! All soft and fuzzy!!
-Allow pictures inside the museum!
-Put more original work on display.
-Be fair and make a neko-bus for the adults too! Or allow us in with the kids, though our own would be better. =D
-No cigarettes (even fake ones) in the displays
-Play more interesting shorts and do away with the whaling propaganda!
-Create more life-size exhibits to wander through, like the village from Mononoke-Hime, Kiki's rented room, the furnace room in Chihiro, etc. That would be SO cool!!!! =D
-Offer special themed drinks at the cafe, instead of normal food. "Totoro tansy latte" and "Mahou no cocoa", etc! Wryy are there none, am I the only one with good business sense? :D
Pictures, yay!!
Come on, is this not the creepiest picture of Totoro you've ever seen? o.o Dude, I my heart would stop still from fright if I saw that come up on me in the middle of the night!
Now look at this image: http://sachsen.deviantart.com/art/TonariNoTotoro-Bus-Stop-57754491
Let me know if you have nightmares! ^.~
Anyways, the eyes came from this in the outside window of the museum... Now I'm getting creeped out, and it's nearing midnight, which doesn't help..
Sudden dimness and extreme dust and winds in the middle of the day! Whoa!!
Ehehehe! Notice how it brightened up again.. but it was WINDY like no tomorrow from then on!
The Laputans may have been here.. Nowhere near life-size, but it sure was BIG!
X Me =D
Secret path on the roof!
More Laputa... =D
Goin' back down to civilization!
My partners in crime, through a museum window.. I love the effect!
Me... so windblown! :O
EEPS!!!! Yes, yes, I know..
Tomorrow, I help Melissa move into my house for the next 6 weeks! It will be an interesting adventure, especially with her cat and Nessie trying to get along! I look forward to seeing what will happen! :O
Oh yes, and I promised to talk about the new movie L: Change the World.. well... Worst movie I've ever seen. Maybe that's putting it too harshly. But it was surprisingly gory (wtf?), surprisingly badly-written (to the extent that it was almost painful), and kind of seemed to make the entire Death Note saga into a joke. I mean, what? Wow, I felt quite saddened by the farce that they made of L's last 23 days. And Near... just no. ;_; My heart cries. Kenichi Matsuyama was good though. But there was just no saving that monstrosity. I guess giving the script-writing job to a 10-yr old boy was a bad idea after all... -_-;;
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