is an anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 film directed by Isao Takahata

Isao Takahata

is a Japanese anime filmmaker that have earned critical international acclaim for his work as a director. Takahata is co-founder of Studio Ghibli with long-time collaborative partner Hayao Miyazaki. He has directed films such as the war-themed Grave of the Fireflies, the romantic-drama Only...

 and released by Studio Ghibli

Studio Ghibli

is a Japanese animation and film studio founded in June 1985. The company's logo features the character Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro...

 on July 17, 1999. The movie is a family comedy that is presented in a comic strip style which is unusual since all the other Studio Ghibli movies are presented in the traditional anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 style of Studio Ghibli. Based on the yonkoma

Yonkoma

thumb|right|150px|Traditional Yonkoma layout, a comic-strip format, generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom...

 manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 Nono-chan

Nono-chan

is a yonkoma manga series begun in 1991 by Hisaichi Ishii originally serialized as in the Asahi Shimbun in Japan. When the series first began, it was generally focused on all of the members of the Yamada family. As the series progressed, the daughter became the most popular character among...

by Hisaichi Ishii

Hisaichi Ishii

is a Japanese manga artist born on 2 September 1951 in Tamano, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. He is best known outside of Japan for his manga series Nono-chan, which was made into the Studio Ghibli anime film My Neighbors the Yamadas. Topics covered by Ishii's manga include baseball , politics,...

, it was the first completely digital Studio Ghibli movie. Takahata wanted Yamada-kun to have the art style of watercolor pictures rather than cel pictures. To achieve that, the traditional paint-on-cel techniques were replaced with digital technology, making Yamada-kun the first Ghibli movie to have animation drawings painted entirely on computers. Despite decent reviews, the movie did not fare as well at the box office in Japan as other Studio Ghibli movies. It was released on DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 in America in August 2005, alongside another Takahata film, Pom Poko

Pom Poko

is a 1994 Japanese animated film, the eighth written and directed by Isao Takahata and animated by Studio Ghibli.Consistent with Japanese folklore, the tanuki are portrayed as a highly sociable, mischievous species, able to use "illusion science" to transform into almost anything, but too...

. Produced by Toshio Suzuki.My Neighbors the Yamadas received an Excellence Award for animation at the 1999 Japan Media Arts Festival

Japan Media Arts Festival

The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs since 1997. The festival for a nominal year was usually held during February or March next year, rather than at the end of the nominal year. For instance, the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival, where...

.

Plot

This film is about the daily lives of the Yamada family: Takashi and Matsuko (the father and mother), Shige (Matsuko's mother), Noboru (aged approximately 13, the son), Nonoko (aged approximately 5, the daughter), and Pochi (the family dog). It has a significantly different "feel" to it than the other Studio Ghibli

Studio Ghibli

is a Japanese animation and film studio founded in June 1985. The company's logo features the character Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro...

 films, not only because of its different style of animation, but also because it is not a contiguous plot, but rather a series of vignettes

Vignette (literature)

In theatrical script writing, sketch stories, and poetry, a vignette is a short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or gives a trenchant impression about a character, an idea, or a setting and sometimes an object...

, each preceded by a title such as "Father as Role Model", "A Family Torn Apart" or "Patriarchal Supremacy Restored".

These vignettes cover such issues as losing a child in a department store, the relationships between father and son, or husband and wife, the wisdom of age, getting one's first girlfriend and many more. Each is presented with humour, presenting a very believable picture of family life which crosses cultural boundaries. The relationships between Matsuko, Takashi and Shige are particularly well observed, with Shige giving advice and proverbs to all the family members, and having a great strength of character which far outweighs Matsuko's. Takashi and Matsuko's relationship is often the focus of the episodes, their rivalries, such as arguing about who has control of the television, their frustrations and their difficulties, but the overriding theme is their love for one-another despite their flaws, and their desire to be the best parents possible for their children.

For a much more detailed plot synopsis, covering every episode in detail see: plot synopsis.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Akiko Yano

Akiko Yano

is a Japanese pop and jazz musician and singer. She was born as Akiko Suzuki in Tokyo and raised in Aomori, Aomori, and later began her singing career in the mid-1970s...

 and it is characterised by very short piano themes. Classical pieces played by Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra conducted by Mario Klemens.
Released by Tokuma on July 1, 1999.

Track listing

CD 1

1. "Theme I: And So It Begins" 1:45
2. "Joyous Music I: Going Forward With Reckless Abandon" 0:26
3. "Cuckoo I: Not Like The Main Title" 0:28
4. "Extract from Chopin's "Nocturne No. 1 in B Flat Minor", Op. 9" 4:13
5. "Extract from Mahler's "Symphony No. 5", 1st Movement, Funeral March" 0:29
6. "Extract from Mendelsson's Wedding March" 4:22
7. "My Neighbors the Yamadas" Theme (Orchestra Version)" 3:34
8. Happy Bridge" 0:21
9. "Evening Waltz Theme (Orchestra Version)" 1:43
10. "Lively BGM" 3:21
11. "The Dog's Policeman" 2:25
12. "Troubles (BGM I)" 1:08
13. "Troubles (BGM II)" 0:24
14. "Sunset Scamper" (1:01)
15. "Theme II: Thank Goodness" 1:11
16. "Shut Up And Bring It Here!" 0:34
17. "Joyous Music II: Please, Stop Pushing, Right Now!" 0:52
18. "Cuckoo II: Oh, Welcome Home" 0:29
19. "Happy Bridge II" 0:15
20. "Takashi and Matsuko's Tango" 0:59
21. "Pom Poko Tanuki Band" (Wakaya Rakudan) 1:13
22. "Joyous Music III: A Happy Mouth" 0:25
23. "A Father's Sorrow" 0:39
24. "Paradise of Freedom" 0:23
25. "Extract from Mahler's "Symphony No. 1", "Giant", 4th Movement 3:32
26. "Theme III: Spring Rain" 3:32
27. "Cuckoo III" 0:28
28. "Cuckoo IV: The Correct Answer" 0:26
29. "Cuckoo V"

CD 2

1. "Round Of Forgotten Things I: Morning Blessings" 1:16
2. "Round Of Forgotten Things II: Morning Blessings" 1:19
3. "Cherry Cherry" 0:45
4. "Extract from Albinoni's Adagio" 2:07
5. "Young People" 1:42
6. "Cuckoo VI: Summer Dreams" 0:28
7. "Joyous Music III: School Is Fun" 0:50
8. "Exciting BGM" 0:45
9. "Phone Line" 2:56
10. "Bach: Prelude and Fugue No. 8 in E Flat Minor" 4:14
11. "Cheerful Music III: Going My Way" 1:16
12. "Round of Forgotten Things: Bridge" 0:28
13. "Round III of Forgotten Things: Good Advice" 0:36
14. "The Masked Moonbeam Theme Song, "Who is the Masked Moonbeam?" (Yoshiko Kondou) 3:24
15. "Broken Dreams" 0:24
16. "Mozart's "Toy's Symphony", Movement No. 2" 2:27
17. "Que Sera Sera/Whatever Will Be, Will Be" 3:20
18. "Quit Being Alone" 3:55

Characters

• Takashi Yamada (山田たかし Yamada Takashi) - Father
• Matsuko Yamada (山田まつ子 Yamada Matsuko) - Mother
• Noboru Yamada (山田のぼる Yamada Noboru) - Son
• Nonoko Yamada (山田のの子 Yamada Nonoko) - Daughter
• Shige Yamano (山野しげ Yamano Shige) - Matsuko's mother
• Pochi (ポチ) - family dog

Voice cast

• Hayato Isobata as Noboru Yamada
• Masako Araki as Shige Yamano
• Naomi Uno - Nonoko Yamada
• Touru Masuoka - Takashi Yamada
• Yukiji Asaoka - Matsuko Yamada
• Akiko Yano
  Akiko Yano
  is a Japanese pop and jazz musician and singer. She was born as Akiko Suzuki in Tokyo and raised in Aomori, Aomori, and later began her singing career in the mid-1970s...
  
   as Fujihara-Sensei
• Kosanji Yanagiya as Haiku Reader

English

• James Belushi
  James Belushi
  James Adam "Jim" Belushi is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is the younger brother of comic actor John Belushi.-Early life:Belushi was born in Chicago...
  
   as Takashi Yamada
• Molly Shannon
  Molly Shannon
  Molly Helen Shannon is an American comic actress best known for her work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1995–2001 and for starring in the films Superstar and Year of the Dog. More recently, she starred in NBC's Kath & Kim from 2008–2009 and on the TBS animated series Neighbors from...
  
   as Matsuko Yamada
• Daryl Sabara
  Daryl Sabara
  Daryl Christopher Sabara is an American film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for playing Juni Cortez in the Spy Kids film series, as well as for a variety of television and film appearances, including Wizards of Waverly Place, Father of the Pride, The Polar Express, Keeping Up with...
  
   as Noboru Yamada
• Liliana Mumy
  Liliana Mumy
  Liliana Berry Davis Mumy is an American teen actress and voice actress. Her most notable roles are as Jessica Baker in the Cheaper by the Dozen movies with Steve Martin, Lucy Miller in The Santa Clause sequels with Tim Allen, Mertle Edmonds on the Disney Channel original series Lilo & Stitch: The...
  
   as Nonoko Yamada
• Tress MacNeille
  Tress MacNeille
  Tress MacNeille is an American voice actress best known for providing various voices on the animated series The Simpsons, Futurama, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Disney's House of Mouse, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rugrats, All Grown Up!, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, and Dave the...
  
   as Shige Yamano
• David Ogden Stiers
  David Ogden Stiers
  David Ogden Stiers is an American actor, director, vocal actor, and musician, noted for his roles in Disney movies, as well as his performances in the television series M*A*S*H as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III and the science fiction drama The Dead Zone as Reverend Gene Purdy...
  
  as the narrator

External links

• My Neighbors the Yamadas on Nausicaa.net - detailed information on a fan site