Hayao Miyazaki

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Hayao Miyazaki is considered one of the most important filmmakers in the history of animation.

He is a Japanese animator, manga artist, and anime director.

Intro

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for comics.

Anime are animated cartoon films.

Miyazaki’s most famous anime include My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away.

Anime

Youth

Hayao was born in Tokyo. He wanted to be a mangaka, or comic book artist.

In high school, Hayao “fell in love” with the heroine of The Tale of the White Serpent. His appreciation of the film inspired him to study animation.

In college, he joined the Children’s Literature Research Club. It was the “closest thing to a comics club in those days.”

Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon

After graduating, he got a job as an in-between artist at Toei Animation.

He was noticed for his work on Gulliver’s Travels Beyond the Moon.

Over the next few years, he contributed to the creation of numerous Toei films including Hols: Prince of the Sun, Puss in Boots, Flying Phantom Ship, Animal Treasure Island, and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

Panda!

Go Panda!

In the 1970s, Miyazaki worked on television shows for animation studios. He collaborated with his mentor, Isao Takahata, to create a cartoon about Pippi Longstocking, the famous Swedish children’s book heroine. Pippi’s creator refused the idea. So, Miyazaki adapted it to create Panda! Go, Panda! A cartoon about a red-headed girl adopted by a panda bear.

He went on to direct Future Boy Conan, an adaptation of another favorite children’s book.

Nausicaa

Miyazaki's directorial debut was The Castle of Cagliostro, a sequel.

His first original film was Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, based on his own comic book series.

These early cartoons established some of Miyazaki’s most enduring themes: pacifism, feminism, environmentalism, morally ambiguous characters, and a fascination with flight.

The success of these early projects allowed Miyazaki to organize his own animation company, Studio Ghibli. Miyazaki named the studio with the Italian word for wind. His purpose was

to “Blow a new wind through the anime industry.”

Their first film was Castle in the Sky about two orphans in search of a magical castle.

My Neighbor Totoro is about two girls who discover forest spirits in their backyard.

The largest Totoro

became the symbol

for Studio Ghibli.

Studio

Ghibli

Princess

Mononoke

Princess Mononoke was the studio’s breakout success. Its conflict allowed Miyazaki to explore ecological themes within an exciting fantasy world. The movie won Japan’s award for Best Picture. But Miyazaki had drawn 80,000 of the cartoon’s frames himself. He was exhausted by the process, and announced that Princess Mononoke would be his final film.

During this semi-retirement, Miyazaki spent time with some friends and their daughters. One of these girls inspired his next movie. Spirited Away is about a young girl who must rescue her parents from the spirit world.

The movie was Miyazaki’s greatest success. It won the Japanese Academy Prize and an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It is still considered one of the greatest animated films of all time.

Spirited

Away

Ponyo

During a vacation by the sea, Miyazaki kept sketchbooks and was inspired to direct another movie. Ponyo was a modern day adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale, The Little Mermaid. Miyazaki used no computer animation for the film at all. “It will be the director’s challenge to express the sea and its waves with freehand drawing.”

Miyazaki co-wrote Studio Ghibli’s next films, The Secret World of Arrietty (based on Mary Norton’s novel, The Borrowers) and From up on Poppy Hill.

Screen

Writer

In 2013, Miyazaki completed The Wind Rises, and he announced his retirement from animation.

He told reporters that he is “quite serious” this time. He explained that his approach to animation was “quite strenuous” and he believed he was getting too old for the business.

He contributed to his son’s next film, but he began working on the Studio Ghibli Museum.

The Wind

Rises

Life's

Purpose

In an interview, Hayao Miyazaki explained the purpose of his work: “I wanted to convey the message to children that this life is worth living.”

Bonus!

BONUS!

When Miyazaki was still in middle school, he felt that he could not draw people. So, he only drew planes, tanks, and battleships for several years.