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Hayao Miyazaki is a respected Japanese director and animator known for his films featuring strong young women and tackling serious issues such as environmentalism. His mother’s love of reading and questioning authority influenced his work. Miyazaki co-founded Studio Ghibli and directed successful films such as My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Howl’s Moving Castle. His films are often hand-drawn and dubbed into English by Disney.
Hayao Miyazaki is a very popular director and animator in Japan and is well respected by the rest of the film world. His films tend to feature strong young women as main characters. Miyazaki’s films are perhaps best known for their fantasy element and their willingness to tackle serious issues such as environmentalism and anti-fascism.
Miyazaki was born in 1941 in Tokyo during World War II. His father owned an aviation company and most of Miyazaki’s films depict his long-term fascination with flying. After the war, Miyazaki watched his mother battle tuberculosis for eight years. Her love of reading greatly inspired him and she was known for her need to question authority. Film critics suggest that most of Miyazaki’s female leads are either tributes to or based on his mother.
The director graduated from Gakushuin University with double degrees in political science and economics, but it was his membership in the Children’s Literature Research Club that was most influential on his later work. The club was similar to a comic club. There, Miyazaki met others interested in both children’s stories and animation.
Hols: Prince of the Sun, released in 1968, was the first film in which Miyazaki was the main illustrator. In 1979, The Castle of Cagliostro is his directorial debut. Both represent collaboration with director Isao Takahata. Following the success of the 1984 film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Miyazaki and Takahata co-founded Studio Ghibli, which would produce most of Miyazaki’s subsequent ventures.
Castle in the Sky is Studio Ghibli’s first film. Miyazaki was introduced to English-speaking audiences with his upcoming film, My Neighbor Totoro; the first VHS releases of this film were produced as My Friend Totoro. Totoro is significant for its lack of a villain, and it’s also a story of environmental responsibility. It is often considered an excellent film even for very young children because it lacks the traditional climatic hero/villain ending.
Much like Totoro, the 1989 film Kiki’s Delivery Service has no central villain. Miyazaki introduces the strong female character Kiki, a little witch who must go on her own for a year as part of her training. Kiki was released in the United States in a dubbed version and was recognized by film critics as an excellent children’s film.
1997 brought the release of Princess Mononoke. The film set box office records in Japan and received the Japan Academy Award for Best Film. It also emphasizes environmental and pacifist themes, but with a PG rating, it might be a little scary for young children. It didn’t have much commercial success in the United States until years after its release.
Miyazaki retired after the success of Mononoke but re-entered the business to direct Spirited Away. The film was a huge success in Japan and English-speaking countries, where it was dubbed. It earned Miyazaki another Best Picture Award from the Japan Academy in 2001. The film also won the first Academy Award® in the new category, Best Animated Feature, in 2002.
Spirited Away was released by Disney, who helped dub the film. Disney’s involvement was largely due to the friendship between Miyazaki and John Lasseter, director of Pixar. The two have enjoyed a significant friendship ever since Mononoke and Lasseter was instrumental in distributing Miyazaki’s films in the United States.
2004 brought the release of what some consider Miyazaki’s best film, Howl’s Moving Castle. The film takes an anti-war stance and its animation is often described as “breathtaking”. It is important to note that most of the animation in Miyazaki’s films is drawn by hand, with little computer addition.
Miyazaki continued to direct, releasing several short films after Howl’s Moving Castle. His 2008 film Ponyo, about a boy who meets a goldfish princess who wants to be human, won several awards. Like many of his previous films, it was dubbed into English and released by Disney.
