Interest
Jonathan Ross Talks About His Ghibli Fandom
posted on by Andrew Osmond
The latest episode of the Ghibliotheque podcast, discussing the work of Studio Ghibli, is a special edition in which hosts Michael Leader and Jake Cunningham talk to long-time Studio Ghibli fan Jonathan Ross and his daughter Honey Ross, who was brought up by her father on Ghibli's films.
In the course of the 48-minute episode, Ross describes how he was first introduced to Miyazaki's work around 1987, when a friend sent him a tape of Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind. He would later interview Miyazaki for the TV show Japanorama.
Ross also reveals how he once attempted to sing the theme of My Neighbor Totoro to an unimpressed Japanese Empress, and how he bought multiple copies of Studio Ghibli films to give them to the children of his friends.
For Ross, Miyazaki's "masterpiece" (probably) is Spirited Away, which is in Ross's list of top ten greatest films. He also loves Nausicaä, which he thinks is Miyazaki's most "massively underrated" film. Ross is also fond of Miyazaki's pre-Ghibli TV series Future Boy Conan, but doesn't rate Howl's Moving Castle highly.
Although it's not brought up in the podcast, Ross had a small voice role in the English dub of the Studio Ghibli-produced CG television series Ronja the Robber's Daughter. He voiced one of the "Rumphobs," strange subterranean creatures, in one episode.
Beyond Ghibli, Ross mentions that he loves the anime version of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure but he wasn't impressed by the live-action film version by Takashi Miike (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable). He also hated the American live-action version of Ghost in the Shell.
His daughter Honey reveals that the first Miyazaki film she saw, as an infant, was Spirited Away - at a screening at Studio Ghibli itself. She later jokes that the "piggish" parents in the film reminded her of her parents (her mother is screenwriter Jane Goldman, whose credits include Kick-Ass, the Kingsman films and The Limehouse Golem).
Both Rosses rave about the Joypolis indoor theme park at Odaiba, Tokyo, especially the Halfpike Tokyo attraction.
Thirteen previous episodes of the Ghibliotheque podcast are available here.
