Hayao Miyazaki

There was an animated part to Kamikaze Girls so I’m using that to justify writing about one of my favorite animators. Hayao Miyazaki is one of the greatest animation directors of our time. His success has lead people to see him as Japan’s Walt Disney. He has directed many films such as Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and many many more. His most recent film was Ponyo which was released in 2008. Many of Miyazaki’s films have won awards and many of them also have similar themes and other elements in common with each other. He often has nature being a spirit or spirits and the pollution of nature by man is something he likes to show in his films. He also typically has both a male and female main character and he likes to have flying come into play somehow. He also has a unique visual style because of his love for using watercolors in the production of the animation cells. Miyazaki started off working for Toei Animation and then ened up working in a few other studio’s until he started his own 1985, Studio Ghibli. All of Miyazaki’s films are released in the United States and most of them are put out under the Disney logo over here. Even in the modern age where most animators use computer animation Miyazaki has totally dissolved Studio Ghibli’s computer animation department because he believes that one of the fundamentals of animation is to have it be hand drawn.