Hayao Miyazaki, founder of Studio Ghibli, is perhaps the greatest animator living today, and is one of the last living animators to have worked in cel animation. Using the traditional process for making animated movies, he has opened new horizons for animation, created classics that span genres, and caused critics and audiences to see animated movies in a new light. The history of Japanese animation can never be told without the story of Miyazaki’s career. Luckily, many of his most acclaimed films are in CRRL’s collection! This article is the summary of Miyazaki’s amazing career, and describes some of the best loved films he directed. Experience anime classics with CRRL, and check out this book, opens a new window on hoopla Digital!, opens a new window
Dawn of an Artist
The beginning of Miyzaki’s career in animation was more typical than his later, very personal works through Studio Ghibli would suggest. Shortly after graduating from Gakushin University in Tokyo in 1963, he was hired by Toei Animation as an in-between animator (Niebel, 276). He began working on Toei films and TV series immediately that year. Being an in-betweener meant that Miyazaki did not have any writing credits or creative control over his early work; instead, he created animation frames, opens a new window that ran in between the key drawings to create the illusion of movement. Most of the anime Miyazaki worked on at Toei, such as Doggie March, opens a new window and Ken the Wolf Boy, opens a new window, were never released in English or shown in the US. The highest he rose at Toei was chief animator and scene designer on Isao Takahata’s 1968 film The Little Norse Prince, opens a new window. The film was considered unusually ambitious and adult by the standards of early anime films, but, due to a labor dispute, opens a new window in Toei, it only played in Japanese theaters for 10 days and was a financial failure. Afterwards, both Takahata and Miyazaki found they could rise no further at Toei, and they both left in 1971. (Niebel, 276).
After they left Toei, Miyazaki and Takahata continued to work closely together on many anime series and films. At A-Pro (now Shin-Ei Animation, opens a new window), they worked on the TV series Lupin the Third,, opens a new window together under the pseudonym “Teruki Tsutomu.” Based on the manga by Monkey Punch, Lupin the 3rd would also provide the basis for Miyazaki’s first breakthrough as director. After several years working at A-Pro and Nippon Animation, opens a new window, Miyazaki was hired by TMS, opens a new window to direct a theatrical film based on Lupin the 3rd in 1979.
The resulting film, Lupin the III. The Castle of Cagliostro, opens a new window, was a classic action/adventure film and has become regarded by some critics as the best anime film ever made. Although sometimes cited as an inspiration for Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, opens a new window, this is somewhat unlikely, because the film was not widely shown in English-speaking countries while Raiders was being written in 1981. In fact, the first dubbed version of Cagliostro in the U.S. was not a theatrical release, but the laserdisc arcade game Cliff Hanger. Released four years after Cagliostro’s Japanese release, Cliff Hanger was the first exposure many children of the 1980s had to Miyazaki. The exciting script and wonderful animation still stood out, even in a heavily edited version designed to work with very simple “press the right button to not die” gameplay. Cagliostro was highly regarded by many in Hollywood’s animation industry and was an artistic influence on American films before anime became more popular in the U.S. It was a notable influence on Pixar’s co-founder John Lasseter, opens a new window, and the final action sequence of Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective, opens a new window was heavily influenced by it as well.
Miyazaki’s next film would prove to be career defining for him and was the first use of many themes distinct to his work. Based on a manga written by Miyazaki himself, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, opens a new window was released in 1984. The story of a young woman’s quest to save the jungle home of a race of mutant insects from a technologically advanced kingdom, Nausicaä featured the first “Miyazaki heroine.” Nausicaä has a deeply rooted connection with the natural world, including dangerous creatures, such as the insectoid Ohm, and is driven to offer them comfort and aid in any way she can. Miyazaki uses both written characterization and visual design to convey her connection to nature; she is accompanied by a small foxlike creature, the first of many wondrous imaginary animals Miyazaki created.
The film’s depiction of healing a blighted world was inspired by Miyazaki’s memory of the mercury poisoning in Minamata Bay, opens a new window that occurred during his childhood. Miyazaki remembered how the fish population in the bay recovered after commercial fishing was halted after the mercury contamination was detected in humans and was impressed with nature’s resilience (Niebel, 58). Sadly, American audiences of the 1980s did not get to see Miyazaki’s film as he intended, but a horribly dubbed version titled Warriors of the Wind., opens a new window With over 20 minutes removed from the film, the characterization of the Ohm was ruined, characters were pointlessly renamed, and Miyazaki was so angered that he adopted a "no edits", opens a new window policy for all future international releases, which served him well. CRRL’s version of Nausicaä is the later 2005 dub, which is the full and unedited film as Miyazaki intended.
The Studio of Wonders: Miyazaki at Ghibli
After the success of Nausicaä, it was time for Miyazaki to establish his own animation studio. Miyazaki had directed Nausicaä while working at the studio TopCraft, opens a new window, but it went bankrupt and dissolved on June 15, 1985. This gave Miyazaki and his partners Toshio Suzuki and Isao Takahata the opportunity they were looking for; they bought out TopCraft and laid off most of its production staff. This radically changed the focus of the company; TopCraft had previously worked on many Western co-productions, such as the Rankin/Bass version of The Hobbit,, opens a new window before Miyazaki’s buyout. Under Miyazaki and his partners, the studio would become a much more personal and creator-driven company and needed a new name to match. Miyazaki chose the name “Studio Ghibli,” choosing the name of a hot desert wind, opens a new window for his studio in hopes that it would blow a new wind over the animation industry.
Studio Ghibli’s first production was the 1986 release Castle in the Sky,, opens a new window a story of two children trying to find the mythical flying city of Laputa while pursued by air pirates. The film was born of Miyazaki’s desire to make an old-school adventure story and inspired by a trip to Wales, opens a new window early in its production, but is best remembered by its fans for its ability to combine and reimagine its influences in uniquely creative ways. The film’s combination of 19th-century design styles and futuristic elements, such as robots and flying ships, places it within the steampunk movement of the 1980s (Niebel, 61). Castle in the Sky established Ghibli as a dynamic, creative animation company with superb attention to detail.
Never one to copy himself, Miyazaki’s next film was quite different from Castle in the Sky. Released in 1988, My Neighbor Totoro, opens a new window quickly became one of Miyazaki’s best-loved works. The story of two children encountering forest spirits while living in an old house with their father, Totoro featured some of Miyazaki’s most memorable creature designs. Totoro, opens a new window himself is a cat-owl shaped spirit who has become so strongly identified with Studio Ghibli that he is on the company’s logo, opens a new window. Equally memorable is the Catbus, opens a new window, a giant bus-shaped cat that Totoro uses to get around. My Neighbor Totoro was so important to the history of Ghibli that it was their only film to get a sequel. Mei and the Kittenbus, opens a new window tells of the further adventures of Mei with the Kittenbus, the baby of the Catbus. This film is a short that only screens at the Ghibli Museum, opens a new window in Tokyo, and has never been released on streaming or DVD; getting to see it is considered a great achievement by Miyazaki’s fans.
Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki released many films following Totoro. They included Kiki's Delivery Service,, opens a new window the story of a young witch trying to find her place in a large city, and Porco Rosso,, opens a new window the tale of a pig who flies in daring missions in 1929. As acclaimed and successful as many of these films were, they did not receive major theatrical releases in the U.S. English language dubs of Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Porco Rosso were produced for Japan Airlines by a company called Streamline Pictures. They were also released on VHS in editions that have gone out of print.
It would take until 1999 for a Ghibli film to receive a wide theatrical release in the U.S. That film was Princess Mononoke,, opens a new window which still had to wait two years before its U.S. release in 1999. Even this release proved to be difficult, as the film was released through Miramax, which was notorious, opens a new window for making edits to the foreign films it released. In response to Harvey Weinstein’s demand to edit the film from 135 minutes to 90 for its U.S. theatrical run, Miyazaki’s producer Toshio Suzuki sent Weinstein a samurai sword, opens a new window with a note saying “No cuts.”
U.S. audiences were rewarded with a rare feat for the 1990s as a result: an uncut theatrical release of an anime epic with a dub designed to preserve the original intent of the story. With a story set in feudal Japan involving a prince cursed by a demon who must journey through the forest and encounter gods and nature spirits, Mononoke was very rooted in Japanese culture, but this did not prevent it from appealing to audiences all over the world, including the U.S., opens a new window Mononoke’s release was part of a turn in the tide towards widespread interest in anime within the U.S., and Disney was quick to take advantage. They had signed an agreement with Tokuma Shoten, opens a new window, Ghibli’s parent company, in 1996, and, after Mononoke’s success, they began producing dubs of every film in Ghibli’s catalog they could get the rights to. Most of the Ghibli films in CRRL’s catalog, including Totoro, Porco Rosso, and Mononoke itself, have English dubs produced through the Disney partnership.
A Master Outside of Time: Miyazaki in the CGI Age
During the 2000s, Miyazaki would see increasing acclaim across the world for making animation with a unique, human quality as the rest of the industry turned to CGI (computer-generated imagery) animation. One of Miyazaki’s biggest financial successes came in 2001 with the release of Spirited Away., opens a new window The film tells the tale of Chihiro, a young girl who visits an abandoned amusement park with her family, and is shocked when her parents are turned into pigs! In an effort to save her parents, Chihiro encounters many yokai (ghosts or spirits) with bizarre appearances and unpredictable behaviors. Unlike some contemporary Western works about ghosts, Spirited Away doesn’t try to rationalize or explain away the magic of ghosts and the spirit world, and the film has an atmosphere of mystery and nostalgia, like an unusual dream of childhood. Spirited Away was one of the first projects Ghibli staff used computers, opens a new window on for assistance, but the animation was still mostly hand-drawn, giving the film’s yokai an appearance like that of traditional Japanese art. The film represents the very best of Miyazaki’s abilities as a storyteller and animator and is recommended for anyone interested in anime or Studio Ghibli.
Miyazaki continued to direct films for Ghibli at a steady pace throughout the 2000s, releasing Howl's Moving Castle, opens a new window in 2004 and Ponyo, opens a new window in 2008. But the pace of Miyazaki’s releases slowed in the 2010s, and people began to wonder when his retirement would come. Miyazaki had first claimed he wanted to retire after the release of Princess Mononoke, but his announcement seemed more believable in 2013, opens a new window, when he was 72 years old. This announcement came on the release of The Wind Rises,, opens a new window his supposed final film. The future of Studio Ghibli and its leadership was very much in question at this time.
Goro Miyazaki, the son of Hayao Miyazaki, wanted to take Ghibli in a different direction. He had previously made hand-drawn films, such as Tales From Earthsea, opens a new window and From up on Poppy Hill,, opens a new window but felt Ghibli needed to modernize, opens a new window because CGI animation was more popular internationally and quicker to produce. He directed the first CGI Ghibli film, Earwig and the Witch, opens a new window, which was released in 2020. But the film was widely considered a disappointment, and reviewers and audiences complained that the visuals and script did not live up to Ghibli’s hand-drawn films. With audiences expecting more classic animation from Ghibli, the master was preparing to return one last time…
In 2023, Miyazaki’s next film, first announced in 2017, opens a new window, was finally ready to release. The Boy and the Heron, opens a new window had been in production during the late 2010s and early 2020s and was much anticipated as the “real” final Hayao Miyazaki film. The story of a boy who moves to the Japanese countryside during World War II and finds a world of strange birds inside an abandoned tower, the film was widely acclaimed, opens a new window and seen as a return to form for Ghibli. The film was praised as being heartfelt, imaginative, well-animated, and mesmerizing like the best of Miyazaki’s films. Unlike many prior Ghibli films, The Boy and the Heron received a wide theatrical release in the U.S., and even became the first Ghibli film to open in first place, opens a new window at the U.S. box office. Some have questioned whether it will truly be Miyazaki’s final film. While you wait for the next Ghibli release and wonder where the wind blows Miyazaki next, check out CRRL’s Teen Anime and Manga Club, opens a new window and discuss the latest anime and manga releases!
