Ringing Bell (1978)

Purchased this film many years ago maybe on Beta.It's been misplaced so I haven't seen it for quite awhile.My children had watched it before I ever did.Since they use to sing a song from it I was really expecting some kind of cute movie,no way.It was really surprising how dark and serious this film was.The filming didn't meet up to the animation standards of other films but it gripped the viewers attention.There are no laughs in this film.My children didn't watch it with me as it had already made them cry.As adults they still talk about how sad it was.Anyone that let's their child view this movie takes a chance on upsetting them.

This is a classic cartoon that anyone should avoid 'judging a book by its cover'. It looks exactly like any other cheesy Disney cartoons...but it is TOTALLY the opposite.This 40-minute clip is one huge character development influenced by the choices in life made by a sheer little lamb, and the consequences that followed. There are other anime with equally dark/depressing themes, but this is probably one of the first few that I noticed that made it very obvious & convincing part in the latter. The unfairytale-like ending -- definitely something you won't expect from a cartoon like this -- is one such powerful testimony. Aside from the first 8 minute, the rest of the movie is very dark but true to anything anyone has to face in reality. If i have kids, I will definitely include this cartoon at the top of the 'cartoons for kids' list. Cartoons should not be meant to give kids false impression of life but instead prepare them for the real moral lessons. This anime absolutely nailed it.

I saw this movie as a child and it broke my heart! No other story had such a unfinished ending... I grew up on many great anime movies and this was one of my favourites, because it was so unusual - a story about unfairness, and cruelty, and loneliness, and life, and choices that can't be undone, and the need for others. Chirin is made alone when the Wolf kills his mother, but the Wolf is alone, too, when Chirin follows him into the mountain. The Wolf doesn't kill the lamb, even though each night he says "maybe I'll eat you tomorrow." The tape of it I have is broken and degraded from age and use. I will repair it and watch the movie again someday and cry just as hard as I did as a child. Stories like this, with this depth and feeling, and this intricacy of meaning, are very rare. It is a sad story, but I've never encountered any catharsis more beautifully made. I am glad I have seen this movie, and I'm glad I saw it as a child.

in a not so conventional sense of the word.This movie was one of my favorites as a young child, and I just recently remembered it, and thought to look it up. While many of the details are no longer clear in my mind, the overall feeling that the movie gave me has stuck with me over the years.If parents feel that their children can handle mature and sometimes violent themes, then I highly recommend this movie. It taught me a lot about life and death, and brought forth in me a lot of emotion. To this day, it remains one of my favorite films.