The Best Anime for the Whole Family

Summer’s following hard on spring, and you’ll soon have a household full of kids to entertain. I may not be a parent, but as an aunt to a baker’s dozen of nephews and nieces, I’ve had some white-knuckled experience quieting a marauding herd of lil’ uns and not-so-lil’-uns.

You itch to wash your hands of the whole blazing lot of them and plunk them all down in front of the DVD player, but they’re glassy-eyed from computer games already, and you know for a fact the older ones will sneer at Disney re-runs, and the younger ones will have screaming nightmares if the older kids get to choose their digital ‘entertainment’.

Take a deep breath. Help is at hand. I offer you two words—Miyazaki Hayao. Exotic, true, and yet overwhelmingly wholesome. Educational even, but the critters wouldn’t even cotton on to the fact that they’re learning something.

For Miyazaki Hayao is the name of a prolific, highly-respected and much-admired Japanese director whose anime (animated feature films) have become cult classics within the genre. Most of his well-known productions hail from the famed Studio Ghibli, but even before this happy collaboration came Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, one of the first quality anime featuring a strong young female lead and a serious message that spoke both to children and adults alike.

With Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki garnered international acclaim with the production of steampunk-ish Laputa: Castle in the Sky, the quirky and highly adorable My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Porco Rosso. By the time Princess Mononoke was released in Japan (in 1997), it was also deemed worthy of distribution in the US through Disney. Princess Mononoke set a box office record in Japan, one that had since been beaten by Spirited Away which also has the distinction of winning the Animated Feature Film Oscar for 2002. Only two years later, in 2004, came Howl's Moving Castle, a steampunk-ish fantasy based on the novel by popular young adult fantasy author, Diana Wynne Jones.

While I defy anyone--from the littlest toddler to the most cynical teen to the most careworn caregiver--not to be charmed by Totoro, perhaps Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, with their more feral and spooky themes, would be better left for the older tween or teen audience. Also for this older, more sophisticated bunch would I recommend the following anime:

• The Girl Who Leapt Through Time: fun contemporary time-travel

• Appleseed--very cool sci-fi, will appeal to teens, great message

• Voices of a Distant Star--sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, will appeal to teens

• The Place Promised In Our Early Days--pre/post-apocalyptic, teen appeal

• Millenium Actress--historical, stunning visuals, more sophisticated audience
• Grave of the Fireflies: tragic WWII aftermath, tear-inducing even for adults, great message, will sear your soul

As for TV anime series, I would recommend Sailor Moon and Ranma 1/2, which will provide hours of harmless fun entertainment to youngsters and their young-at-heart caregivers.

There you have it--wholesome family entertainment for nothing if you get the DVDs from the local library, but chances are you will want your own copies of your favourites, to watch over and over again, marvelling at the sophisticated artistry and story-telling of highly gifted animators and directors of this amazing genre. Sure to fire the imagination of children and teens (as well as young-at-heart grown-ups), the stunning beauty and meaningful (and often exciting) story-lines of quality anime will engage and entertain the whole family.