Hôhokekyo tonari no Yamada-kun (1999)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Isao Takahata

Writers:

Hisaichi Ishii (comic)
Isao Takahata (writer)

Release Date:

17 July 1999 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Family

Tagline:

Kanai anzen wa sekai no negai.

Plot:

The life and misadventures of a family in contemporary Japan.

Plot Keywords:

Japanese Family | Japan | Middle Class | Anime | Episodic Structure

Cast

Toru Masuoka	...	Takashi (voice: Japanese Version)
Yukiji Asaoka	...	Matsuko (voice: Japanese Version)
Masako Araki	...	Shige (voice: Japanese Version)
Naomi Uno	...	Nonoko (voice: Japanese Version)
Akiko Yano	...	Fujiwara (Nonoko's teacher) (voice: Japanese Version)
Chocho Miyako	...	Kikuchibaba (voice: Japanese Version)
Tamao Nakamura	...	Woman wearing glasses (voice: Japanese Version)
Yasuko Tomita	...	Information clerk of department store (voice: Japanese Version)
Arata Furuta	...	(voice: Japanese Version)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Belushi	...	Takashi (voice: English version)
Jeff Bennett	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Alex Buck	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
A.J. Buckley	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Dixie Carter	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Erin Chambers	...	Department Store Clerk (voice: English version)
Maree Cheatham	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Flo Di Re	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Melissa Disney	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Suguru Egawa	...	(voice: Japanese version)
Amber Hood	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Tress MacNeille	...	Shige (voice: English version)
Edie McClurg	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jim Meskimen	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jon Miller	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Liliana Mumy	...	Nonoko (voice: English version)
Jordan Orr	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Trenton Rogers	...	Toshio / Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Ashley Rose	...	Additional Voices (voice) (as Ashley Rose Orr)
Daryl Sabara	...	Noboru (voice: English version)
Jeremy Shada	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Molly Shannon	...	Matsuko (voice: English version)
David Ogden Stiers	...	Narrator (voice: English version)
Matthew Underwood	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Billy West	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)

Also Known As:

My Neighbors the Yamadas (USA) (literal English title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild thematic elements.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

French | Japanese | English

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:PG | Australia:G (original rating) | Australia:PG (TV rating) | Ireland:PG | South Korea:All | Japan:G | France:U | USA:PG

Company:

Buena Vista International

Trivia:

This is the first 100 percent digital movie created by Studio Ghibli. No traditional "cels" were used for this film.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs "Gekkô kamen" (1958)

Soundtrack:

Que Será, Será

Nice, but really not enough here to get excited about.

I bought this movie after reading a five star review of it in a magazine. Having watched the American dubbed version I really don't see what the fuss was about. The film is nice and slightly funny at times, but it lacks any sharp humour and there isn't a belly laugh in sight. Its suffers from the attempt to echo the source material, which is a comic strip. The movie jumps from one short event to another and is drawn in the same way as a daily strip would be. This does not work for a full length film, and gives it a jerky feel. The characters are not particularly funny and neither are their daily lives. Where the same director's 'Grave of the Fireflies' is unrelentingly bleak, this movie is unrelentingly dull. Don't watch this thinking you are going to get the same type of movie as a Miyazaki flick for example, because this is not in the same league. I personally would prefer to watch Shin Chan cartoons for a dose of hilarious Japanese suburban life.