The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will expand its three-month celebration of anime with a screening of the 2002 Oscar-winning cartoon animation feature “Spirited Away” on Friday, July 17, at 7:30 p.m., and “A Tribute to Animation Master Hayao Miyazaki” on Tuesday, July 28, at 7:30 p.m. Both events will take place at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater and will include extended gallery hours for the Academy’s ongoing exhibition “ANIME! High Art — Pop Culture.”

Oscar-winning animator and Academy governor John Lasseter will host the July 28 tribute, the 14th installment of the Academy’s Marc Davis Celebration of Animation series. The evening will feature clips from several of Miyazaki’s films and a conversation with the master himself. A singular and inspirational force in the world of animation, Miyazaki writes, directs and storyboards his own feature-length animated films, overseeing every detail throughout production.

Miyazaki received the Animated Feature Film Oscar in 2002 for “Spirited Away” and a nomination in the same category in 2005 for “Howl’s Moving Castle.” His other features include “Castle in the Sky,” “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” “Porco Rosso” and “Princess Mononoke.”

The “ANIME!” exhibition, which includes items from several of these works by Studio Ghibli, will be on view in the Grand Lobby Gallery for one hour following the tribute.

Setting the stage for the tribute will be the July 17 screening of “Spirited Away,” a fantastic tale of a young girl, Chihiro, and her parents, who stumble into what appears to be an abandoned theme park, but is actually a bathhouse for gods, witches and spirits, where humans are not welcome. The film exemplifies Miyazaki’s ability to balance sometimes violent realities with a sense of childlike wonder and enchantment; it became the first animated film from Japan to win an Academy Award.

The “ANIME!” exhibition will be open in both the Grand Lobby and Fourth Floor galleries starting at 6:30 p.m. and following the screening until 11 p.m.

Tickets for “Spirited Away” and “A Tribute to Animation Master Hayao Miyazaki” go on sale starting June 25 and are $5 for each event for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Tickets may be purchased online at http://www.oscars.org, in person at the Academy box office or by mail. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. All seating is unreserved. The Academy is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information, call (310) 247-3600 or visit http://www.oscars.org.

“ANIME! High Art — Pop Culture” will be on display through Sunday, August 23. The Academy’s galleries are located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, and regular hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and weekends, noon to 6 p.m. Admission is free. The galleries will be closed for the Independence Day holiday weekend, July 3 through 6.

Posted on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:00:48 +0000 at http://blog.media-freaks.com/spirited-mi...lebration/
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