Laputa And The Emergence of Life in Animation

How does life emerge from flatness and inanimate objects? To answer this question, one must look to the relationship between a film’s form and its theme. And there is no better film than "Laputa: Castle in the Sky" that can show how "the medium is the message."

In the late 50s, Disney invented what was called a MultiPlane Camera. This camera allows the background to shift dynamically, tricking the audience into thinking that there is depth in the film (e.g. Bambi or Snow white). This was revolutionary as animation could not convey this level of depth before the camera was invented.

Thirty years later, Laputa was released. But when you watch it, something jumps right out away. The animation is very jerky and the background is still somewhat flat. Despite thirty years of progress, why is it that Miyazaki refuses to adapt to the times?

Miyazaki questions whether better technology is a prerequisite for the creation of life in animation. Laputa relied very little on technology (despite being a film about technological destruction). In contrast to the smooth movements of Disney's animated films, Laputa's characters are rough and their movements are exaggerated. Movements of clouds are shot on a single plane. Yet we still perceive the characters to be alive, sometimes even more realistically than Disney's Mickey Mouse. The grandness of nature also comes across as something that evokes awe and a feeling of openness. That is because Miyazaki believes that the basic conditions for life does not rely on the progress of technology, but on movement.

Whether it is the movement of the characters towards a destination, a drifting of a cloud in the sky or more philosophically, a movement towards certain ideologies or beliefs, life emerges from this two dimensional surface. That, for Miyazaki is enough to transform the sea of inanimate objects into the animate.