The Influence of Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki in Tokyo in 2010 (Photo: Nicolas Guerin)
Dubbed
one of the greatest directors in history and the emperor of anime, Hayao
Miyazaki has left an impression in the world of film that is matched by no
other. According to Miyazaki’s IMDb page, he has won one Oscar, along with 72
other wins and 33 nominations. The 2010 Dazed magazine issue proudly describes
Miyazaki as possessing a mixture of Spielberg’s technical skill and Disney’s
emotional appeal.
Hayao
started his career in 1963 at the age of 22. He stood out early on due to his
beautiful drawing technique and endless ideas. With all of his success he
established the animation studio, Studio Ghibli in 1985. The word Ghibli is an
Arabic term standing for the hot dry siroccos that blow over the Mediterranean,
and Miyazaki wanted to renew the air of the stale industry he worked in so the
word stuck. In 2014 Studio Ghibli was put to a halt when Miyazaki decided to
retire. Today Miyazaki is spending his retirement with his family and is
drawing another manga. He has intentions to create a few shorts which will only
be shown in the Ghibli Museum.
In
his films he consistently hits upon many important themes such as; humanism,
family ideals, environmentalism, pacifism, feminism, etc. Our class was shown
Miyazaki’s 2008 film Ponyo which he wrote and directed. Something true
to this film and many of his others is the child protagonist who enters a
forbidden realm. By depicting these young characters as brave he stands out as
an inspiration to many children. Also in this film is the theme “love is blind”
which is transposed into Ponyo as a love story not based off of looks
but off of specific warming experiences, trust, and a void of any shallow
attractions. What he stands for is life affirming and productive, Miyazaki has
said, “I'm not going to make movies that tell children, "You should
despair and run away.”” According to the same Dazed issue listed above,
Miyazaki has even contributed to the drawing of every single film to date. His
films lack the dichotic hero and villain duo present in many Western films. And
rightfully so. To me (and many others I’m sure) this idea is so simplistic and
wrung out I cherish the fresh air Miyazaki’s films retain. It’s a wonder to me
how his films aren’t top rated in the Criterion Collection.
A
good friend of Miyazaki, John Lasseter, a co-founder of Pixar and the chief
creative officer at Disney, has been known to use clips of Miyazaki films as
inspiration when a block occurs. Another influence, Nick Park, who directed Chicken
Run said, “Miyazaki reminds me that it is always good to plunder the depths
of the childlike imagination and in doing so, he helps me get back to where all
my work comes from in the first place.” Though his films do not have the world
recognition they deserve, Hayao Miyazaki has influenced so many people, and
continues to do so today.
I like how you were able to quickly and concisely describe Miyazaki's life, work and influence on the world. Since I'm such a nerd I wanted to bring a little more trivia into your post. They (the studio themselves) pronounce Studio Ghibli as Jih-blee, a soft g, when according the original language, Italian it should be a hard g, or pronounced Gih- blee. Weird.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Miyazaki is a HUGE fan of airships and this may stem from his being a fan of Italian airship designer Giovanni Battista Caproni. Miyazaki even made Giovanni a major character in his last
Studio Ghibli movie, The Wind Rises. It is a beautful and very realistic film on the Japanese airships of WWII.
ANY WAY, what I was trying to do was create a connection between the name of Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki's love for airships, with the Italian language and culture. He puts in airship or flying machine in nearly every Studio Ghibli film... ever. Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind... But not Ponyo oddly enough, the film we watched as a class.
One last story! One of the more obscure Studio Ghibli films is called Tales from Earthsea. Miyazaki himself was not the director or writer, letting his son take the lead, but he provided one very important painting to the production. This single painting provided the entire artistic inspiration for much of the architecture and mood of the film. This shows Miyasaki’s power and influence within his own studio, even on pictures that he was not really a part of. You can see this glorious painting right here:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/81/73/b8/8173b850eadd51b6a7430646205b61a0.jpg
In one stroke, he created the mood, the characters, and the entire world of the film. OKAY! I’ll stop fan boy-ing and go away now. Hope ya learned something!