Hayao Miyazaki : Most Accomplished Animation Filmmaker

    

    From the heart wrenching moments in Spirited Away to the beautiful blue skies in Castle in the Sky, Hayao Miyazaki and his film studio, Studio Ghibli, have created some of the most memorable moments in animation to date. Having gained international acclaim for his work, Miyazaki's studio has worked with the likes of Disney and is himself renowned as one of the most accomplished filmmakers in the history of animation. 

    Now, I don't know about you but that's pretty cool to be regarded as one of the best filmmakers in the history of animation. Ego boost if I've ever seen one. 

    Being born in Japan, much of Miyazaki's early work dealt with manga and animation; however, he soon found himself in the role of director, creating films such as  Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle, Castle in the Sky, and Kiki's Delivery Service. The early 2000s were a goldmine for Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, having cranked out numerous big hits with Spirited Away becoming the highest-grossing film in Japanese history and winning the Academy Award for Best Feature at the 75th Academy Awards. 

   To say the least, Miyazaki and his team are doing something right when it comes to creating unforgettable worlds and stories. Much of this is due to Miyazaki's ability as director to create something new or even to innovate from already existing stories. Did you know that Kiki's Delivery Service and Howl's Moving Castle are based off of children's books? I sure didn't. Nevertheless, its fascinating to look at the source material Miyazaki had to work with and how different it looks in the film adaptation. 

    Its clear to see that Howl's Moving Castle has the biggest visual difference which is true but story wise Kiki's Delivery Service diverged the most from its book origin. During its film conception , Miyazaki was not the director but soon after reading the script that Nobuyuki Isshiki and Sunao Katabuchi wrote Miyazaki decided to take it upon himself to rewrite it and direct the movie himself. He also decided to change a big part of the story beat and events that happen after Kiki arrives in her new town, much to the initial displeasure of the book's author, Enido Kadono. This displeasure was later changed to praise as Miyazaki convinced Kadono to let the film go ahead and proved upon release that the film adaption was worthy of these changes.

    Now, when thinking about class material and how to look at Miyazaki, I thought it best to look at him through the lens of either Big C or Little C. I believe Miyazaki to be a Big C for his ability to not only create worlds from scratch but also to take in already existing ones and to make them better in the medium of animation. For many it is not always easy to take something that is existing and to improve upon it, especially when that thing is already considered perfect. Throughout all of his films Miyazaki has demonstrated an amazing ability to deliver new and bright ideas that shock even those that may have created them, talking about the book authors of course. I mean come on, just look at the Castle from the film and from the book. I bet if you haven't watched the film you wouldn't even have the inclination to call that a castle and I wouldn't blame you. 

    As a final thought, there is so much going on in each of Miyazaki's films from background characters, animation style, detailed backdrops and music these films are no short of a work of art. 

Side note: Please listen to Merry-Go-Round of Life by Joe Hisaishi. Its a song from Howl's Moving Castle and its an absolute banger. That is all. 

Sources: 

https://www.tofugu.com/japan/studio-ghibli-books/

https://screenrant.com/studio-ghibli-movies-based-on-books-manga/amp/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki