4 Animation Shorts and an Honorary Studio Ghibli Palme d'Or at Cannes Festival 2024

Mr Dough and the Egg Princess Studio Ghibli still

The 77th Cannes Film Festival honors Studio Ghibli and its majestic work in animation (also documented by the two Academy Awards Hayao Miyazaki has won for 'Spirited Away' and 'The Boy and the Heron')

4 animation shorts from Hayo Miyazaki (three of them not theatrically released outside Japan) will be screened during the festival. On Monday, May 20, at 3.30pm, film director and Creative Development Director of the Ghibli Park Gorō Miyazaki, Hayao Miyazaki’ son, will take to the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière to receive the Honorary Palme d’or, on behalf of the entire Studio Ghibli including the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka and Ghibli Park,

The full Studio Ghibli shorts lineup


Mei and the Baby Cat Bus (Mei to Koneko Basu, 13' 43'', 2006)

Original story, screenplay and directed by Hayao Miyazaki / Music Joe Hisaishi

Mei is eating a caramel on one very windy day, when suddenly a whirlwind appears and starts chasing her. The whirlwind turns out to be a baby cat bus. Mei offers the kitten a caramel and the two become friends. That night, the baby cat bus visits Mei. Letting Mei ride inside him, he leaps out into the sky. They head for the midnight forest full of ghosts. Other cat buses large and small have also gathered together. In the forest, Mei encounters...

This work is a mini-sequel to the film My Neighbor Totoro.
 
House Hunting (Yado-sagashi, 12' 11'', 2010)
Original story, screenplay and directed by Hayao Miyazaki

 Fuki packs all her needs in a big rucksack, and sets out on a journey to look for a new house. After going through the car-jammed city, she finds a stone Jizo statue on an old, narrow path. Fuki places an apple as an offering to ask for passage and walks on. On her way, she encounters the river guardian Nurari-Hyotan, the shrine guardian Ushi-Oni, and other strange creatures one after another. What will Fuki do now?

This work was created focusing on the rich onomatopoeia used in the Japanese language. Lettering is animated on the screen, and all sound effects were created using the human voice.
 
Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess (Pandane to Tamago-hime, 11' 37'', 2018)
Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki /  Music Joe Hisaishi

 In a lonesome water mill deep in a forest of briers and brambles lives a witch named Baba Yaga. There the witch keeps her servant the Egg Princess confined and forces the tiny egg-girl to do all the hard daily chores around the mill. One night, a large batch of kneaded dough resting in a trough suddenly comes to life from the witch's spell. Fearful of the witch, the Egg Princess and her new friend decide to run away. What will lay ahead for the two of them...?

The story unfolds under the spell of Joe Hisaishi's arrangement of Antonio Vivaldi's La Folia.
 

Boro the Caterpillar (Kemushi no Boro, 14' 20'', 2018)
Original story, screenplay and directed by Hayao Miyazaki / Music Joe Hisaishi

Just before dawn, Boro the Caterpillar hatched from an egg among patches of scrub grass. Looking around for the first time in fascination, he noticed the brilliance of the morning sun and a deliciousness in the air. As the sun lights up the grove, the borogiku (groundsel) leaves began to photosynthesize. "The air and water taste great!" Boro stepped out into the world of caterpillars' friends and foes.

Computer graphics and hand-drawn animation were combined to create a world seen through the eyes of an insect, and all sound effects were provided by the voice of Tamori.

Graphic tribute created by Toshio Suzuki, especially for the Festival de Cannes © 2023 Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli ©2024 Hayao Miyazaki - Toshio Suzuki

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