aka My Neighbors the Yamadas
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206013/
Very lovingly produced little series of short movies that circle around the lifes of the four members of what might be a typical Japanese family, the Yamada family. There's a lot of fun and a lot of gags that just blend in perfectly with the poetic and philosophical insight on what it's like to be in a family. And sometimes it's just whack!
I enjoyed this movie thoroughly, and despite its rather simple artwork (which is beautifully set in scene, though) I think it can be recommended to about everyone.
Kinda makes me want to hunt down the manga it's supposed to be based on...
And I see it's going to be released on DVD in the US in August:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/releases.php?id=4570
I hear the manga it was based on ran in a newspaper and was one of those 4-koma gag style things.
After watching Howl ages ago I want to see the next Takahata film. I think Miyazaki's losing it.
Miyazaki has been doing wonky small films for a while, it's just that this is the first time Disney mistook one for a major production.
Yeah, the Japanese lapped it up big-time...
And since when has Miyazaki made small films recently? Neko no Ongaeshi and Whisper of the Heart aren't technically his films because he didn't do that much in them and he didn't direct them or anything. WHisper was way better than Howl though