This past December, filmgoers around the world flocked to local theaters to watch legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki\u2019s first film in 10 years. Miyazaki, co-founder of Japanese animation collective Studio Ghibli, had announced his retirement after the 2013 release of \u201cThe Wind Rises,\u201d which he directed.<\/p>\n
His newest film, \u201cThe Boy and The Heron,\u201d released in theaters with little prior announcement and promotion. Now that the director, 83, has produced another structurally complex and visually striking film \u2014 in March, it won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature \u2014 avid fans and critics alike are reflecting on the transformative impacts he has left during his long, celebrated career.<\/p>\n
Animated film far precedes Miyazaki: By the time he entered its complex world, the medium had found global success, especially thanks to animation giant Disney. Moreover, in his native Japan, animated content (commonly referred to as anime) was a beloved alternative to traditional live-action cinema, and its films and television series were \u2014 and often still are \u2014 adaptations of popular manga, or Japanese comics.<\/p>\n
While Miyazaki may not have pioneered animated film, he has still influenced its course greatly. Beginning with Studio Ghibli\u2019s first film, \u201cNausica\u00e4 of the Valley of the Wind\u201d (1984), Miyazaki established one of his signature storylines: following young protagonists faced with quests highlighting family, adolescence, environmentalism, war and mortality.<\/p>\n
While \u201cNausica\u00e4\u201d is considered to be fairly graphic and violent, other Miyazaki works such as \u201cMy Neighbor Totoro\u201d (1988) and \u201cPonyo\u201d (2008) follow his classic storyline through a more lighthearted, family-friendly lens. Art of Visual Storytelling teacher Terence Kitada noted the underlying themes in Miyazaki\u2019s works.<\/p>\n
\u201cGhibli movies are not about saving an entire world or kingdom,\u201d he said. \u201cSure, some are more action-oriented, but they are still stories about family, community or friendship.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Japanese teacher Matt Hall, the visual aesthetics of Miyazaki\u2019s films are integral to his success.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, a lot of people would argue that Miyazaki is not interested in the story,\u201d Hall said. \u201cHe\u2019s interested in the images and aesthetics he creates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Miyazaki\u2019s cultivation of a traditional hand-drawn anime style has found incredible success at home and abroad. Many of his earlier films gained acclaim in Japan, and American and other Western audiences soon became familiarized with Miyazaki after \u201cPrincess Mononoke\u201d (1997) and \u201cSpirited Away\u201d (2001). In 2002, the latter even became the first foreign entry to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Miyazaki\u2019s style) doesn\u2019t differ much from the other Japanese animation studios, but he was the first to really nail it,\u201d Hall said. \u201cHe\u2019s been in this industry for longer than anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Western audiences enjoy anime beyond Miyazaki and Ghibli works. Series such as \u201cOne Piece\u201d (1999) and \u201cMy Hero Academia\u201d (2016) have reached widespread success. Additionally, the release of Ghibli\u2019s blockbusters like \u201cSpirited Away\u201d and \u201cPrincess Mononoke\u201d converged with the introduction of franchises like Yu-Gi-Oh and Hello Kitty, creating what Hall refers to as a major \u201c2000s wave\u201d in Japanese pop-culture popularity. Miyazaki\u2019s works introduced Western viewers to Japanese and Asian cultural values, Kitada said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s this one five-minute scene in Ghibli\u2019s \u2018Ponyo\u2019 where the characters make ramen together, and it\u2019s so purposeful,\u201d Kitada said. \u201cIt\u2019s very logical to bring childhood memories to Japanese audiences, but I don\u2019t know if you\u2019d see the same thing being done in an American movie like \u2018Frozen.\u2019 In that sense, Ghibli movies expose people to Japanese values and different ways of looking at the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
All in all, while the popularity of anime far preceded Miyazaki\u2019s iconic tenure with Studio Ghibli, the influence of his work is undeniable for audiences and the industry alike.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo around and find the best anime creators around the world and go, \u2018Who is your number-one influence?\u2019\u201d Hall said. \u201cI guarantee you the name that will come out is Miyazaki.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This past December, filmgoers around the world flocked to local theaters to watch legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki\u2019s first film in 10 years. Miyazaki, co-founder of Japanese animation collective Studio Ghibli, had announced his retirement after the 2013 release of \u201cThe Wind Rises,\u201d which he directed. His newest film, \u201cThe Boy and The Heron,\u201d released…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":27057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[278,1],"tags":[604493784,604493783],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27051"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27051"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27217,"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27051\/revisions\/27217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunnoracle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}