Miyazaki
Hayao, (born January 5, 1941, Tokyo, Japan), Japanese anime director whose
lyrical and allusive works won both critical and popular acclaim.
Miyazaki’s
father was the director of Miyazaki Airplane, a manufacturing concern that
built parts for Zero fighter planes. The family business instilled in Miyazaki
a love of flying that became apparent in virtually all of his work. After
having completed studies in economics at Gakushūin University, Tokyo, in 1963,
he took a position as an entry-level animator at Tōei Animation, a division of
the Tōei studio and Asia’s largest producer of animation. While at Tōei, he met
fellow animators Takahata Isao and Ōta Akemi. The former became a lifelong friend,
collaborator, and business partner, and the latter, after a one-year courtship,
became his wife. Miyazaki moved through the ranks at Tōei, working on such
projects as the television series Ōkami shōnen Ken (“Wolf Boy Ken”) and
Takahata’s feature directorial debut, Taiyō no ōji: Horusu no daibōken (1968;
Little Norse Prince). After leaving Tōei in 1971, Miyazaki, accompanied by
Takahata, continued to work for various studios throughout the 1970s.
Highlights from this period included the Panda kopanda (Panda! Go Panda!) film
shorts and Miyazaki’s first full-length film, Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no
shiro (1979; Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro), an adventure story featuring the
gentleman thief Lupin and his compatriots.
Miyazaki’s
individual style became more apparent in Kaze no tani no Naushika (Nausicaä of
the Valley of the Wind), a monthly manga (Japanese cartoon) strip he wrote for
Animage magazine. The story followed Naushika, a princess and reluctant
warrior, on her journey through an ecologically ravaged world. Its success
inspired a film of the same name (released in 1984) and encouraged Miyazaki and
Takahata to undertake a more permanent partnership arrangement. Together they
launched Studio Ghibli in 1985. The following year Miyazaki’s Tenkū no shiro
Rapyuta (Castle in the Sky) was released in Japan and Nausicaä was released in
the United States as Warriors of the Wind. Although the original film’s
impressive aerial sequences remained intact, confusing edits and poor dubbing
rendered Warriors of the Wind virtually unwatchable. More than a decade would
pass before Miyazaki would consider another Western release.
Miyazaki and
Studio Ghibli continued to produce works for the domestic market, however. His
Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro) debuted alongside Takahata’s Hotaru no
haka (Grave of the Fireflies) in 1988. While both films were well received
critically, the financial success of the studio was secured by the phenomenal
sale of Totoro merchandise. Miyazaki followed with Majo no takkyūbin (1989;
Kiki’s Delivery Service), the story of a young witch’s coming of age, and
Kurenai no buta (1992; Porco Rosso), an adventure yarn about a World War I
flying ace who has been cursed to have the face of a pig. These successes set
the stage for 1997’s Mononoke-hime (Princess Mononoke), a blockbuster that
broke Japanese box-office records. The film revisited some of Miyazaki’s
recurring themes, such as the conflict between human progress and natural order
and the persistence of the spiritual world alongside the mundane. In addition,
its depiction of kodama (Japanese tree spirits) as white humanoid creatures
with clattering heads provided one of the more enduring images in anime.
Miyazaki’s
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001; Spirited Away) captured the top prize at
the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival, won best Asian film at the Hong
Kong Film Awards, and was named best animated feature at the 2003 Academy
Awards. In his native Japan it won best picture at the 2002 Japanese Academy
Awards and replaced Titanic as the top-grossing film in Japanese history. In
the film, Chihiro, an ordinary if slightly spoiled young girl, wanders away
from her parents and enters a realm of gods and magic. There, dubbed with the
name Sen, she is forced to make do with her wits in an effort to reclaim her
name and return to the human world.
Miyazaki
followed the phenomenal success of Spirited Away with Hauru no ugoku shiro
(2004; Howl’s Moving Castle), the story of a young girl cursed with the body of
an old woman and the quest that leads her to a legendary moving castle; it was
nominated for an Academy Award in 2006. In 2005 Disney unveiled a restored
version of Nausicaä on DVD. Featuring both the original Japanese sound track as
well as a new professionally recorded English dub, this release marked the
first time that the film was commercially available in its original form in the
United States. Gake no ue no Ponyo (2008; Ponyo) was targeted to a younger
audience than were most Miyazaki films, but nevertheless it was the top
Japanese box-office draw of 2008. Miyazaki later cowrote the screenplays for
the Studio Ghibli releases Karigurashi no Arietti (2010; The Secret World of
Arrietty), which was based on Mary Norton’s children’s book The Borrowers, and
Kokurikozaka kara (2011; From Up on Poppy Hill), a coming-of-age tale adapted
from a manga series. The latter film was directed by Miyazaki’s son Gorō.
Kaze tachinu
(2013; The Wind Rises) was an impressionistic take on the life of engineer
Horikoshi Jiro, who designed fighter planes used by the Japanese during World
War II. The film was based on Miyazaki’s manga of the same name, and it was
nominated for an Academy Award in 2014. Miyazaki declared that Kaze tachinu
would be his last feature-length film, and he began work on Kemushi no Boro
(Boro the Caterpillar), a short film for the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka.
Miyazaki’s retirement appeared to be temporary, however; in 2016 he announced
that Kemushi no Boro would be expanded to a feature-length release. The film
marked Miyazaki’s first project to be done entirely in computer animation. In
2015 he received an honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences.
Films :
The Wind Rises
Produced by : Toshio Suzuki
Screenplay by : Hayao Miyazaki
Based on : The Wind Has Risen by
Tatsuo Hori
Music by : Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography : Atsushi Okui
Edited by : Takeshi Seyama
Production company : Studio
Ghibli
Distributed by : Toho
Release date : 20 July 2013
Running time : 126 minutes
Country : Japan
Language : Japanese
Howl's Moving Castle
Produced by : Toshio Suzuki
Screenplay by : Hayao Miyazaki
Music by : Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography : Atsushi Okui
Edited by : Takeshi Seyama
Production company : Studio
Ghibli
Distributed by : Toho
Release date : 5 September
2004
Running time : 119 minutes
Country : Japan
Language : Japanese
Spirited Away
Produced by : Toshio Suzuki
Written by : Hayao Miyazaki
Music by : Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography : Atsushi Okui
Edited by : Takeshi Seyama
Production company : Studio
Ghibli
Distributed by : Toho
Release date : July 20, 2001
Running time : 125 minutes
Country : Japan
Language : Japanese
Princess Mononoke
Produced by : Toshio Suzuki
Written by : Hayao Miyazaki
Music by : Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography : Atsushi Okui
Edited by : Takeshi Seyama
Production company : Studio
Ghibli
Distributed by : Toho
Release date : July 12, 1997
Running time : 133 minutes
Country : Japan
Language : Japanese
Porco Rosso
Produced by : Toshio Suzuki
Screenplay by : Hayao Miyazaki
Music by : Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography : Atsushi Okui
Edited by : Takeshi Seyama
Production company : Studio
Ghibli
Distributed by : Toho
Release date : July 18, 1992
Running time : 94 minutes
Country : Japan
Language : Japanese
Lupin the 3rd: Castle of Cagliostro
Produced by : Tetsuo Katayama
Screenplay by : Hayao Miyazaki,
Haruya Yamazaki
Music by : Yuji Ohno
Cinematography : Hirokata
Takahashi
Edited by : Mitsutoshi
Tsurubuchi
Production company : Tokyo
Movie Shinsha
Distributed by : Toho
Release date : 15 December
1979
Running time : 100 minutes
Country : Japan
Language : Japanese
Kiki's Delivery Service
Produced by : Hayao Miyazaki
Screenplay by : Hayao Miyazaki
Music by : Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography : Shigeo
Sugimura
Edited by : Takeshi Seyama
Production company : Studio
Ghibli
Distributed by : Toei Company
Release date : July 29, 1989
Running time : 103 minutes
Country : Japan
Language : Japanese
My Neighbor Totoro
Produced by : Toru Hara
Written by : Hayao Miyazaki
Music by : Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography : Hisao Shirai
Edited by : Takeshi Seyama
Production company : Studio
Ghibli
Distributed by : Toho
Release date : April 16, 1988
Running time : 86 minutes
Country : Japan
Language : Japanese
laputa castle in the sky
Produced by : Isao Takahata
Written by : Hayao Miyazaki
Music by : Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography : Hirokata
Takahashi
Edited by : Takeshi Seyama, Yoshihiro
Kasahara
Production company : Studio
Ghibli
Distributed by : Toei Company
Release date : August 2, 1986
Running time : 124 minutes
Country : Japan
Language : Japanese
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Produced by : Isao Takahata
Screenplay by : Hayao Miyazaki
Music by : Joe Hisaishi
Cinematography : Koji
Shiragami, Yukitomo Shudo
Yasuhiro Shimizu, Mamoru
Sugiura
Edited by : Tomoko Kida, Naoko
Kaneko, Masatsugu Sakai
Production company : Topcraft
Distributed by : Toei Company
Release date : 11 March 1984
Running time : 117 minutes
Country : Japan
Language : Japanese
On Your Mark
Directed by : Hayao Miyazaki
Produced by : Toshio Suzuki
Written by : Hayao Miyazaki
Cinematography : Atsushi Okui
Edited by : Takeshi Seyama
Production company : Studio
Ghibli
Distributed by : Toho
Release date : July 15, 1995
Running time : 7 minutes
Country : Japan
Language : Japanese, English
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
Produced by : Toshio Suzuki
Written by : Hayao Miyazaki
Based on : The Little Mermaid by
Hans Christian Andersen
Cinematography : Atsushi Okui
Edited by : Takeshi Seyama
Production company : Studio
Ghibli
Distributed by : Toho
Release date : July 19, 2008
Running time : 101 minutes
Country : Japan
Language : Japanese
To be continued...
