Hayao Miyazaki, Academy Award-winning Japanese filmmmaker of Studio Ghibli fame, is one of the most universally loved people in the Japanese animation industry, as well as having a considerable following worldwide.
Miyazaki won an Academy Award in 2001 for Spirited Away – the first anime to win an Oscar. Alongside Princess Mononoke (1997, released in English in 1999) this created a great interest in his works outside of his native Japan. However, Miyazaki’s works were already adored by the animation community worldwide, as well as receiving critical acclaim both in Japan and internationally.
He has been a beloved director inside Japan for several decades, having started his prolific animation career back in 1963 and been involved in successful projects such as Panda! Go, Panda! and Anne of Green Gables before releasing his first full-length feature, The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), and his second film, Nausicaa: The Valley of the Wind (1984). The success of Nausicaa led him to found Studio Ghibli with his long-term collaborator, Isao Takahata.
Other Ghibli films of Miyazaki’s include:
* Castle in the Sky
* My Neighbor Totoro
* Kiki’s Delivery Service
* Porco Rosso
* Howl’s Moving Castle (also nominated for an Academy Award)
* Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
These films were all great successes in Japan, and many Japanese have grown up loving these films, and now are showing these films to their children. In addition, these films have all been released into English and have gained popular acclaim with young and old alike.
Miyazaki’s films are known for their beautiful (mainly hand-drawn) animation and common themes such as childhood, Western culture, environmentalism, and strong female leads that appeal universally. In 2005, Time Magazine named Miyazaki #50 on their list of 100 Most Important People, and he also received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice Film Festival.
It has been reported that Miyazaki shall be releasing two more feature-length films in the next three years. It is certainly exciting to see what this amazingly talented filmmaker will delight the world with next.
