Message from ljacques

[Anonymous]

I watched this DVD at the reccomendation of a 7th and a 4th grader. They love it and have viewed it numerous times. After watching it myself, I understand why.

The film is the adventure of a young girl (an only child) moving to a new town with her parents. She is very upset because she is leaving what is familiar, along with leaving her best friend. Her father takes a "short cut" and discovers a tunnel. They walk through and wind up in what seems to be a deserted town, and this is where the adventure begins.

I would encourage all ages of students to view this film for many reasons. The first being that the art work in the animation is so incredibly detailed and culturally significant, you have to watch it more than once to make sure you don't miss anything. The second reason is that the film is a good introduction to some of the cultural aspects of Japan (social, mythological, religious), apart from the larger fantasy realm the film explores. I also love the fact that the star of the story is a young girl, one who faces many challenges to her bravery and wit, and she winds up being a hero in the end.