I grew up watching the amazing animated movies of Hayao Miyazaki. From My Neighbor Totoro to Kiki’s Delivery Service to Spirited Away, Miyazaki’s creative limits are nowhere to be found. For 5 years straight in elementary school, I dressed up as a different character from one of his movies. Watching these movies as a child made me feel as though there were no bounds to reality.
Hayao Miyazaki was born in 1941 in Tokyo, Japan. After graduating from Gakushuin University in Tokyo in 1963 with an economics degree, he took an entry level position as an animator at a company known as Toei Animation, the largest animation studio in all of Asia. Working his way up at the company, he worked on various television shows before his departure from the studio in 1971. He published his first film in 1979. He continued with his own personal career and published the manga (comic) strip, Naushika of the Valley of the Wind, which was a huge success. This led Miyazaki and his wife, Takahata Isao, who was also an animator, to establish their own studio: Studio Ghibli.
Studio Ghibli is where he found his true success. Each film released was one success after another. They began with the creation of the popular, Castle in the Wind. However, after releasing one film previously to the US and receiving negative feedback, Miyazaki was discouraged from releasing any future films to the West. My Neighbor Totoro was released in 1988 and achieved phenomenal success. In 2001, he released Spirited Away, which was award-winning as well as displacing Titanic as the "top-grossing film in Japanese history". With the release of Howl's Moving Castle in 2004, Miyazaki received his first Academy Award nomination. In 2005, Disney released a fully English-dubbed version in the United States, starting the expansion of Miyazaki's already amazing career.
His work transforms traditional anime styles of animation to create a brand new universe. Many of his big films center around themes such as the conflicting patterns of human progress and the natural world. In addition, his films focus heavily on spiritual beings and a spiritual world.
"My [creative] process is thinking, thinking, and thinking-- thinking about my stories for a long time". Unlike most people who work in animation, Miyazaki disregards traditional methods of story boarding while producing his films, and instead develops the film's narrative as he designs the storyboards. "We never know where the story will go but we just keep working on the film as it develops". In a majority of his films, the protagonist is a strong young female. In addition, the antagonists in each movie typically have redeeming qualities and are not like the typical villains you see in other films. He emphasizes themes of pacifism, environmentalism, family, and feminism throughout all his films.
I would say he is middle-c creative because although he may not have invented animation, he definitely recreated the genre by expanding past typical plot lines or themes. He creates brand new worlds through his films, almost sending the viewers to another dimension.
Miyazaki has left a huge impact in not only the world of animation, but also the hearts of many. His unique films will serve as his legacy. Miyazaki's films are not just cartoons, they bring a whole new level of perspective, meaning, and depth most films lack. I urge you to check out some of his films if you are unfamiliar with his work and would like to experience an entirely new level of animated films.
Sources:
http://www.midnighteye.com/interviews/hayao-miyazaki/
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vvyb4m/8-pearls-of-wisdom-from-hayao-miyazaki
https://knepublishing.com/index.php/KnE-Engineering/article/view/3603/7517
This is the first post I saw when I clicked on the blog, and I absolutely loved it! I, too, am a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki and his work. I have grown up watching his films and still love watching them to this day. I remember the first film of his I saw was My Neighbor Totoro, and my family and I were immediately drawn into his fantasy world. I would say my favorite film of his is Howl's Moving Castle--I absolutely love the characters and the soundtrack to the film is beautiful. However, I also enjoy watching many others such as Spirited Away, Ponyo, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Whisper of the Heart.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you described him reimagining the anime world and creating a brand new universe. I definitely see that whenever I watch any of his films. I would agree that he is middle-c creative because although he didn't create anime, I definitely think he created a new style which is completely unique to his films. I also like how there are themes in his film that relate to the natural world. I remember reading about how Howl's Moving Castle contains strong anti-war themes which were influenced by Miyazaki's distate of the 2003 Iraq War.
I really enjoyed reading your post. It brought me back to my childhood and made me remember how I love watching all of his films. I might want to go have a Hayao Miyazaki movie marathon now :)
This post really peaked my interest because I have heard a lot about Miyazaki's movies, however I don't think I have ever seen one myself. One of my roommates raves about his movies all the time and has been begging me to watch some with her, after reading your post I think I might take her up on that offer. Is there any particular movie you recommend over the others as a good starting point? I would love to experience these films considering they seem to be pretty popular and well known.
ReplyDeleteAs someone that knows close to nothing about Miyazaki and really anime in general, I appreciate how informative you post was. I really feel like I have a better understanding of him and his career thanks to you. Just based on the information you provided, I think I would agree that he is middle-c creative. Thank you for sharing this post, he seems like a very creative person and you have inspired me to explore his work a little more.
I remember quite vividly watching Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away on Cartoon Network when I was a kid. I was fascinated and captivated by the animation and overall beauty of the scenes Miyazaki painted on his work. I remember showing my nephew one of his later movies, Ponyo, which ultimately backfired as I had to watch the DVD every week afterwards.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy Miyazaki's Anti- War and Environmentalist themes like you said, because they are done very well and never come across as cliche and surface level. I also like his fleshed out female protagonists as well, and think they are very character driven and don't fall victim to tokenism. I would also agree that he is a middle-C creative, as he didn't completely reinvent anime or create the medium. However, Studio Ghibli's animation is often unmatched among contemporary studios. As Miyazaki's painting style takes too long to replicate for normal animation studios. Overall, this post is a great example of Middle-C Creative who changed the medium in which he works.
Miyazaki's work is some of the best I've seen. While I understand the middle-c distinction... I have to admit that he will always be a Big-C in my heart. I find myself turning to his movies more and more now that the world is absolutely crazy. There's something so calming about how Miyazaki's protagonists handle life. From Kiki's delivery mishaps to the the destruction of the world in Nausicaa and Mononoke, they all have something I feel I need more of in a world like today's. Miyazaki has created a whole world where I feel safe and happy and so much so that I feel compelled to be kind. That's some magical stuff right there.
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