Despite the sweltering heat and stinging mosquito bites, summer time in Tokyo is always exciting because of the numerous art exhibitions in store (timed to coincide with the school summer holidays, I think) – for example the most amazing Kazuo Oga Background Art Exhibition in 2007 and the Ghibli Studio Layout Designs Exhibition held last year, just to name a few.

This summer, Ghibli Museum in Mitaka will launch the “Ponyo on the Cliff Art Exhibition – Moviemaking with Pencils”. The exhibition is “a celebration of the fundamentals of traditional animation – creating moving visuals using simple pictures and tools, with minimal aid of digital technology.” – the very idea Miyazaki-san had in his mind when he set out to make “Ponyo on the Cliff“. While the official Ghibli website provided no details on the actual number of artpieces on exhibit, visitors can expect to see concept and background art from the film, as well as original animation drawings and layout boards.

For a taste of what you can expect to see at the exhibition, be sure to check out some of the gorgeous artwork from Ponyo in my earlier posts, The art of Ponyo Part I : Storyboards,  The Art of Ponyo Part II : Concept and Background Art, and some select Ponyo layout boards from the Ghibli Studio Layout Designs Exhibition. (see pictures below)

Many of the artwork shown above will no doubt be on show at the exhibition. If you think they look great in the pictures above, wait till you see the original pieces. I can’t wait ! :]

The exhibition is housed within Ghibli Museum itself, so you need only the museum entry ticket ( 1000 yen ) to gain admission – What a steal ! Don’t forget to catch one of these amazing shorts at the Saturn Theater too !

I’ll be sure to post more pictures from the exhibition (opening 23rd May) after my visit, but more importantly, has everyone here watched Ponyo ?