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When Pigs Fly: Anime, Auteurism, and Miyazaki’s Porco Rosso

Penn State Altoona, kmm104{at}psu.edu

Michael Bartholow

mbartholow{at}gmail.com

This article addresses Western views of the Japanese animation form known as ‘anime’ through an analysis of a lesser-known film by one of the most important anime filmmakers, Hayao Miyazaki. In seeking to build what scholar Thomas Lamarre refers to as a ‘relational’ understanding of anime, we address Miyazaki’s film Porco Rosso through the lens of film studies concepts of auteur theory, and also in relation to the medium of animation. In a range of aspects, from visual approach to its deeper themes, Miyazaki’s work is found to draw on a distinctive set of strategies that might be described as ‘creative traditionalism’. Using Porco Rosso as a case study, our broader argument is that anime, as a form of postmodern popular culture, can be best understood in the West through a triangulation of different approaches that balance issues of form, medium, cultural context, and individual creators.

Key Words: animated film • animation and popular culture • anime • auteur theory • film studies and animation • Hayao Miyazaki • Japanese film and culture • relational media theories

Animation, Vol. 2, No. 1, 27-42 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1746847706068904


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