The Toronto Star 

December 26, 1997, Friday, FINAL EDITION 

SECTION: ENTERTAINMENT; Pg. B10 

LENGTH: 560 words 

HEADLINE: Stunning Wings shows how high anime can soar Nothing to fear from 
visually exquisite Japanese cartoon 

BYLINE: BY HENRY MIETKIEWICZ TORONTO STAR 

BODY: 


With original programming in short supply over the holidays, there's not much a 
television diehard can do but comb the listings for the best movies. 

Certainly the most unusual and visually exquisite this weekend is The Wings Of 
Honneamise, an animated Japanese feature for adults that airs tomorrow at 
midnight on Teletoon. 

For the past several weeks, Teletoon has been devoting its late-night Saturday 
slot to Japanimation, widely considered by fans to be among the most 
accomplished cartooning in the field. 

Trouble is, some of these movies may be off-putting to average viewers because 
of the heavy emphasis on frenzied action, science-fictional themes and a 
tendency to sacrifice narrative logic for the sake of breathless pacing. 

Taken to extremes, these techniques can even cause physical ailments. 

Earlier this week in Japan, hundreds of children suffered convulsions and nausea 
after concentrating intently on brilliantly flashing animated scenes in a TV 
broadcast. 

But there's nothing to fear from The Wings Of Honneamise. Rather, it serves as a 
superb example of the heights to which animation can soar without gaudy computer 
gimmickry, fairytale cliches or merchandising tie-ins. 

Director Hiroyuki Yamaga places the action on a parallel Earth whose 
technological expertise is similar to what existed here in the '50s. Science is 
inching from the mechanical to the electronic, telecommunications are in their 
infancy and a small-scale space program is about to take off. 

At the heart of the story is Shiro Lhadatt, a naive cadet with the Royal Space 
Force who's proud of having volunteered for the hazardous task of becoming the 
first person to rocket into orbit. 

But as the launch date draws closer, Lhadatt looks closely at his own life and 
his war-mongering society. After meeting a humble, religious woman, he even 
wonders whether his mission will have any lasting meaning. 

That's not to suggest The Wings Of Honneamise is without tension or excitement. 
In fact, it brims with chase scenes and broad humour. But instead of degrading 
the film, these sequences neatly balance the pervading tone of introspection. 

Equally impressive is the movie's visual panorama, which is hardly surprising 
since Yamaga is said to have enlisted as many as 3,000 animators for the 
project. 

And it shows. Stunning backgrounds range from the simple pastel pinks and 
purples of dawn to astoundingly intricate shots of twinkling, neon-studded 
cityscapes and vast factories where rocket machinery is built. 

The motion is also surprisingly fluid, with textured shadows that shift 
gracefully among the folds of clothing, plus slightly out-of-focus foreground 
objects that give a natural perspective to the sharply delineated main figures. 

Of course, mainstream movies can be fun, too, and here are tonight's best: 

At 7, the Family Channel is showing The Absent Minded Professor, the 1961 comedy 
that inspired Disney's current Flubber remake. It's followed at 9:05 by Son Of 
Flubber. 

Even if Audrey Hepburn's singing voice is dubbed in My Fair Lady, she's still a 
joy to watch at 8 on Channel 57 in George Cukor's Oscar-winning adaptation of 
the musical by Lerner and Loewe. 

Barry Levinson made a strong directorial debut in 1982 with Diner, the 
perceptive and funny portrait of five high school buddies, airing at 9 on Bravo.