Yesterday, my wife and I took our girls to see Up. The movie was excellent (as attested by its 98% fresh rating at RottenTomatoes.com), but what struck me was the number of themes picked up from the movies of Hayao Miyazaki, the “Japanese Walt Disney.” Miyazaki is probably best known in the U.S. for Spirited Away. Other notable films of his include My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Princess Mononoke. Pete Doctor, the director of Up, has expressed his fondness for Miyazaki’s work.
In Up, I noticed the following themes picked up from Miyazaki’s movies:
- Airships (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky)
- Man’s relationship to Nature (Nausicaä, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke)
- Relationships between children and the elderly (Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle)
- Fantastic hidden worlds (Castle in the Sky, Nausicaä, Totoro, Spirited Away)
On top of this, Russell, the young star of Up, is Asian American (a rarity in American films, not to mention American animated films), which might also be a tip of the hat towards Miyazaki.
So, do you see the same things that I see? Is Up a feature-length homage to Hayao Miyazaki?
by Charles Malik — Malik was a renowned Lebanese Christian diplomat, philosopher, and university professor, heavily influential in the early days of the United Nations. He delivered a series of lectures in 1981 at the University of Waterloo, which were collected in this book. Malik famously noted that the important question was not what the university thinks of Jesus Christ, but what does Jesus Christ think about the university? (Note: This book is out of print, but Malik’s equally influential lecture “The Two Tasks of the Christian Scholar” has been reprinted in a recent 
, which features essays by a number of prominent Christian professors.)
by George Marsden – In the conclusion to his book, 
, Marsden called for Christians to create distinctively Christian scholarship. The ensuing uproar in the secular academia led Marsden to write this brief follow-up, which has become a challenge to a generation of Christians scholars.
by Mark Noll – According to Noll, the “scandal of the evangelical mind” is that “there is not much of an evangelical mind.” A primary reason why evangelical Christians lack a presence in higher education is because many evangelical churches ignore the life of the mind and the importance of learning.
by J. Budziszewski – Budziszewski is a professor of government and philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, and this book is a short, practical guide based on questions that students have asked him over the years.
by Jonathan Morrow – This book is a series of short essays on nearly everything conceivable subject that a Christian will deal with in college – philosophical questions, peer pressure, sex and dating, drinking – complete with discussion questions and suggestions for further reading. Perhaps most helpful, Morrow has put together a devotional guide for a student’s first year in college.
by Donald Opitz and Derek Melleby – Taking its lead from Marsden, Opitz and Melleby challenge students to take both their faith and their studies seriously. They describe the invaluable opportunity Christians have while in college to study and exercise their mind, to distinguish themselves from the world of “bread and circuses” that dominates so much of college life. This book counsels students to truly study “as unto the Lord.”
by Os Guinness – Perhaps few of us feel like we have a “call from God,” yet Guinness reminds us that all of us are called by God to love him and love our neighbor. How we live that out, is different for each of us. This deep and insightful book helps to understand our unique vocation in the light of God’s call.
by Steven Garber – Garber has put together has excellent guide to living a life consistent with your faith. I read this book the year after I graduated college, and it radically changed by understanding of Christianity by showing me that consistent Christianity requires a community of people living out their faith together. I’ve recommended this book frequently over their years.
by James Sire – Jim Sire is the retired editor-in-chief of InterVarsity Press, and he brought to that role a strong sense of the intellectual life. This book, one of the more popular ones I have offered to ESN members, describes a variety of intellectual virtues and how they fit into a life of Christian discipleship.
), has drawn this very amusing animation for This American Life’s Showtime series. Please forgive the minor, elementary-school vulgarity.