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22-Year-Old Animator Crafted an Unbelievable Homage to Miyazaki

If 'Princess Mononoke' and 'Spirited Away' had a baby with 'Nausicaä,' it might look like Gwenn Germain's 'Girls and Guys from Summits and Skies.'
GIFs and screencaps by the author

A treehouse city, gelatinous nightmare creatures, and a windswept young protagonist sound like staple ingredients in a Hayao Miyazaki film, but 22-year-old student animator Gwenn Germain makes them his own in the short, Celles et Ceux des Cimes et Cieux (_Girls and Guys from Summits and Skies)_. Germain frames the animation in the form of a trailer for a non-existent feature film that follows "A young boy who lives in a village on a giant tree," who falls into the forest where "he meets two strange natives who will help him to go back home," according to the video description.

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Germain has a mind for the fantastical creatures and settings you'd traditionally see in one of Miyazaki's stories, from a massive city inside a geodesic dome, to airborne manta rays and lively mushroom sprites. Beyond the Studio Ghibli founder, Germainn also cites Blade Runner, Aliens,TRON designer Syd Mead, and comic illustrator Mœbius as important influences on the short. His inspirations are also apparent in his previous animation, Bococo, and his sizeable portfolio of illustrations, which are viewable here.

Watch Girls and Guys from Summits and Skies and check out a few of our favorite moments from the film, below:

See more of Gwenn Germain's work on Vimeo.

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