The film is based on the manga Nono-chan by Hisaichi Ishii, which was originally just several four-panel comic strips. Because of this, My Neighbors the Yamadas does not follow one single storyline, but rather is made up of 5-15 minute vingettes.
The movie is was the third in Studio Ghibli’s lineup to be directed by Isao Takahata, his works before this being Grave of the Fireflies (1988) & Only Yesterday (1991).
Different from other Ghibli works with done with traditional oil paint-on-cel animation, the film is done in watercolor, giving it an almost unfinished look. In order to achieve this look, the production team had to draw all of the frames on computers, making this the first Studio Ghibli movie to be fully digitally animated.
David Ogden Stiers plays the Narrator in the English dub of the film. You may also recognize Stiers from his performance as Governor Ratcliff in Disney’s Pocahontas.
The film won an Excellence Award for Animation at the 1999 Japanese Media Arts Festival
