All hail the soot sprites! The last Thursday in 2005 seems like a fine time to look ahead to the first four in 2006.

No contemporary director has brought to the screen as many well-designed and highly functional girl characters as Hayao Miyazaki. Even his male characters have girlish appeal. His plush critters don't make for bad cupcakes and keyrings either. So fans of the "Walt Disney of Japan" may be interested to note, if you haven't already, that Turner Classic Movies is spotlighting Miyazaki each Thursday in January. Pixar director John Lasseter is providing the introduction each evening. The Miyazaki fest begins with 2002's "Spirited Away" followed by 1997's "Princess Mononoke" on Thursday Jan. 5. See a complete Miyazaki schedule here.

Photo note: "Howl's Moving Castle" display in Japan's Akihabara Station via leoofborg on flickr.