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Hayao Miyazaki has mostly created films that are catered to a young audience. They might carry serious undertones, but they are presented in a way that the films are digestible for children. However, one Ghibli movie wasn’t nearly innocent enough for children, and it’s notGrave of the Fireflies.
Porco Rosso, a 1992 Ghibli movie, revolves around a humanoid pig who is a freelance bounty hunter. While it was supposed to be another usual light-hearted movie targeted towards children, some major political ups and downs of the time derailed the film completely.
As War Broke Out in the Land ofPorco Rosso, the Movie Took a Serious Turn
Porco Rosso is an Italian hero from World War I. He is also shown fighting against Austro-Hungarian fighter planes in a flashback sequence of the movie. The story itself is predominantly set in Northern Italy, Milan, and the Adriatic Sea. The movie was initially planned as a short in-flight film for Japan Airlines. However, it later grew into a feature-length film.
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But during the production of the movie, the Yugoslav Wars broke out. These separate but ethnic conflicts, insurgencies, and wars of independence occurred between 1991 and 2001. This was right between the production procedure ofPorco Rossoas the movie was released in 1992. The wars cast a shadow over the production, leading to the film developing a more serious undertone. Since the movie was set in Dalmatia, another place where the war broke out, it had a severe effect on Hayao Miyazaki’s psyche.
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Inan interview, Hayao Miyazaki explained how he felt about it all:
Really, it was based on my hobby, and I wanted to make something light. But then Yugoslavia collapsed and all these conflicts broke out in Dubrovnic, Croatia and the islands which were my setting. Suddenly in the real world it became a place where battle was happening. So then Porco Rosso became a more complicated film.
According to Miyazaki,he was disappointed in humansand their continuous follies. Porco Rosso was an unexpected hit, and no one had expected it to be the success it was. In fact, Miyazaki himself advised his staff not to get their hopes up and was pleasantly surprised when the movie became a financial success.
Miyazaki was Disappointed BecausePorco RossoWas No Longer Intended for Kids
As war broke out during the production ofPorco Rosso, and the movie took a more serious turn, it wasno longer suitable for children. Inan interview,Miyazaki stated that in his mind,animation is for children, andPorco Rossoflies in the face of that assumption.
Morever, as a producer I still think Porco Rosso is too idiosyncratic a film for a toddlers-to-old-folks general audience. That it turned out to be a hit was an unexpected stroke of luck. It’s actually kind of disturbing.
The fact thatPorco Rossomight now cater to an older audience was almost unacceptable for Miyazaki. He must have felt like he had just lost his primary audience.
It was a very difficult film and I was so disappointed that I’d made something for middle-aged men, because I’d been telling my staff always to make films for children and then what did I do?!
However, the children came through for Miyazaki, as they came to watch it and made the movie a success. It was because of these kids that Miyazaki was able to begin a new project and finally free himself from the “curse ofPorco Rosso.“
Porco Rossois currently streaming on Hulu and Max.
Aaheli Pradhan
Anime Content Writer
Articles Published :1558
Aaheli is an Anime Content Writer at FandomWire with 1300+ published articles. With five years of experience under her belt, she is a living, breathing encyclopedia for anime and manga. From Shonen and Shojo to the most niche anime, nothing escapes her radar. Her poisons of choice are Assassination Classroom, Gintama, Ouran High School Host Club and every Ghibli movie ever. She believes in living a slow life, surrounded by incomplete art projects and her beloved cats.
