Animation: Research
Hayao Miyazaki, born January 5, 1941, is a Japanese film director,
producer, screenwriter, animator, author, and manga artist. Through a
career that has spanned five decades, Miyazaki has attained international
acclaim as a masterful storyteller and as a maker of anime feature films
and, along with Isao Takahata, co-founded Studio Ghibli, a film and animation
studio. The success of Miyazaki's films has invited comparisons with American
animator Walt Disney, and American directors Steven Spielberg and Orson Welles.
Born in Bunky, Tokyo, Miyazaki began his animation career in 1963,
when he joined Toei Animation. From there, Miyazaki worked as an
in-between artist for Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon, where he
pitched ideas that eventually became the movie's ending. He continued to work
in various roles in the animation industry until he directed his first feature
film, Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, released in 1979.
After the success of his next film, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984),
he co-founded Studio Ghibli, where he continued to produce many feature films.
While Miyazaki's films have long enjoyed both commercial and critical success
in Japan, he remained largely unknown to the West until Miramax
Films released Princess Mononoke (1997). Princess
Mononoke was briefly the highest-grossing film in Japan until it was
eclipsed by another 1997 film, Titanic, and it became the first
animated film to win Picture of the Year at the Japanese Academy
Awards. Miyazaki's next film, Spirited Away (2001),
topped Titanic’s sales at the Japanese box office, won Picture of
the Year at the Japanese Academy Awards, and was the first anime film to win an
American Academy Award.
Miyazaki's films often contain recurrent themes,
like humanity's relationship with nature and technology, feminism, and the
difficulty of maintaining a pacifist ethic. The protagonists of his films are
often strong, independent girls or young women. While two of his films, The
Castle of Cagliostro and Castle in the Sky, involve traditional
villains, his other films like Nausicaa and Princess
Mononoke present morally ambiguous antagonists with redeeming
qualities. He co-wrote films The Secret World of Arrietty, released
in July 2010 in Japan and February 2012 in the United States; and From Up on
Poppy Hill released in July 2011 in Japan and March 2013 in the United
States. Miyazaki's newest film The Wind Rises was released on July
20, 2013 and screened internationally in February 2014. Miyazaki announced on
September 1, 2013 that this would be his final feature-length film. In November
2014, Miyazaki was awarded an Honorary Academy Award for his impact on
animation and cinema. In 2002, American film critic Roger Ebert suggested
that Miyazaki may be the best animation filmmaker in history, praising the
depth and artistry of his films.
