A former World War I pilot suffers from a curse that has turned him into a pig.
Hayao Miyazaki is a legendary figure in animation, having formed Studio Ghibli in the mid-1980's as a house for his works along with those of friend and collaborator Isao Takahata. His films range from the childhood fantasy of My Neighbor Totoro to the post-apocalyptic sci-fi of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind to the Jules Verne steampunk of Castle in the Sky to the historical fantasy of Princess Mononoke.
A a child, Miyazaki was heavily influenced by his father's job at an aviation company, and would often draw various planes. This life-long interest manifested into a recurring element in his filmography, almost every feature involving characters who fly via machine or winged creature. Porco Rosso takes this personal subject head-on, as it's set in the world of aviation itself.
Aside from the central supernatural conceit of the main character's appearance, Porco Rosso is the most "normal" of Miyazaki's films, taking place in a specific geographic area (the Adriatic coast), with only real-world technology. At the time of production, the war in Yugoslavia affected the writer-director's approach to the material and perhaps accounts for its more sombre tone.
Also setting the film apart from other Miyazaki works are the ages of the main characters; instead of the typical young female lead, the story is focused on adults, and romance plays a much bigger part than in other Ghibli releases. The cast for the English language dub features Michael Keaton (Tim Burton's Batman films), Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride), Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond), and David Ogden Stiers (a veteran of many Disney animated features).
The film was well-received by critics and was the highest-grossing film of the year in Japan. It is regarded as one of Miyazaki's most underrated works, and the director has spoken recently of a possible sequel.
Running time is approx. 90 minutes.
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