Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿, Miyazaki Hayao, born January 5, 1941) is one of the most famous and respected creators of anime, or Japanese animated films.

Films

Miyazaki first gained recognition while working as an inbetween artist on the Toei Animation production of Garib? no Uchuu Ryokou (1965) (U.S. title: Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon). He felt that the original ending in the script was lacking and pitched his own idea—which became the ending that was actually used in the final film.

Related Topics:
Toei Animation - 1965 - Gulliver's Travels

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A few years later Miyazaki played an important role as chief animator and concept artist on ', a landmark animated film directed by Isao Takahata, with whom he would continue to collaborate for the next three decades.

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Miyazaki's first film as a director was The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), a light adventure film based on Lupin III, an extensive Japanese TV series and movie franchise.

Related Topics:
The Castle of Cagliostro - 1979 - Lupin III

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The director's next film, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) (Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa), was an epic adventure featuring many distinctive themes which reappear in later films: a concern with ecological issues, a fascination with aircraft, and the absence of a traditional villain. He adapted it from the manga of the same name, which he had himself created two years prior. It was at this time that Miyazaki co-founded, with Isao Takahata, the animation film company Studio Ghibli, and has produced most (if not all) of his subsequent work through it.

Related Topics:
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind - 1984 - Ecological - Manga - Isao Takahata - Studio Ghibli

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His next three films at Ghibli were more traditional animated fare. Castle in the Sky (1986) (Laputa: Castle in the Sky) recounts the adventure of two orphans seeking a magical, floating island. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) (Tonari no Totoro) tells of the adventure of two girls and a magical creature called a "totoro". Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) is the story of a teenage witch who strikes out on her own in a big city.

Related Topics:
Castle in the Sky - 1986 - My Neighbor Totoro - 1988 - Kiki's Delivery Service - 1989 - Witch

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With Porco Rosso (1992), Miyazaki explored more unusual settings and characters for an animated film. The film is a light-hearted adventure set in a fictional world based on 1920s Italy where bounty hunters, aviators, and air pirates battle in the skies. Its hero is an anti-fascist aviator whose head has turned into that of a pig. The movie explores the tensions between adventure and duty. Many also see the film as being an abstract self-portrait of the director himself, somewhat akin to a fictionalised autobiography.

Related Topics:
Porco Rosso - 1992 - 1920s - Italy - Anti-fascist - Pig - Autobiography

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Miyazaki's next film, Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime), released in 1997, returns to the ecological and political themes of Nausicaä. The main plot is an epic struggle between the animal gods who rule the forest and the humans who are trying to exploit it for industry. The film was a huge commercial success in Japan where it became the highest grossing film of all time, until the later success of Titanic, and it ultimately won Best Picture at the Japanese Academy Awards. Miyazaki retired after making Princess Mononoke, intending it to be his last film as a director.

Related Topics:
Princess Mononoke - 1997 - Titanic - Japanese Academy Awards

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He came out of retirement after spending a holiday with the daughters of a friend, one of whom became the inspiration for Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi), the story of a girl who is forced to survive in a strange alternate spirit world, enlisted to work in a bathhouse for spirits and gods after her parents are turned into pigs. The film, released in Japan in July 2001, broke the attendance and box office records previously set by Titanic with ¥30.4 billion in total gross earnings from over 23 million viewings. It has received numerous film awards, including Best Picture at the 2001 Japanese Academy Awards, Golden Bear (First Prize) at the 2002 Berlin Film Festival, and the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the first Oscar awarded to an anime production. In 2005, Miyazaki was awarded for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival.

Related Topics:
Retirement - Spirited Away - 2001 - ¥ - Japanese Academy Awards - 2002 - Berlin Film Festival - Academy Award for Best Animated Feature - Oscar - Venice Film Festival

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In July 2004, Miyazaki finished production on Howl's Moving Castle, an anime film adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones' fantasy novel of the same name for which he was required to come out of retirement again following the sudden departure of original director Mamoru Hosoda. The film premiered at the 2004 Venice International Film Festival and won the Golden Osella award for animation technology. On November 20, 2004, Howl's Moving Castle opened to general audiences in Japan and earned ¥1.4 billion in its first two days, continuing the record-setting trend of Miyazaki films at the box office. The English dubbed version was released in the U.S. through Disney on June 6, 2005.

Related Topics:
2004 - Howl's Moving Castle - Anime - Diana Wynne Jones - Fantasy - Novel - Mamoru Hosoda - Venice International Film Festival - November 20 - June 6 - 2005

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One of the most distinctive traits of Miyazaki's later films that sets them apart from classic Western animation (like that of Disney) is the lack of stereotypically "good" or "bad" characters. His characters have complex motivations, and while some can be better or worse than others they are often capable of growth and change. For example, Lady Eboshi from Princess Mononoke stands in opposition to the other main characters, and her iron works blatantly exploit the nearby forests for raw materials. However, her character doesn't fit into the standard role of villain: the viewer sees how she provides a productive home for lepers and former prostitutes in her city, and by the end of the film she appears to have a change of heart about stripping the forest and killing off its spirits. Some of Miyazaki's early films, however, featured undeniably evil villains (Count Cagliostro in Castle of Cagliostro or Muska in Castle in the Sky), while others are remarkable for having no villain at all (Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro).

Related Topics:
Disney - Princess Mononoke - Lepers - Prostitutes - Kiki's Delivery Service - My Neighbor Totoro

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Another trait of his films are the character designs that, at the most basic level, are quite similar. This is often humorously considered an artistic perception that such characters are actors and actresses, reappearing in different films of his.

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