Learn all about Japan’s most beloved animator with these five charming facts about Hayao Miyazaki.
He’s a lifelong aviation fan.
As a child, Miyazaki expressed an interest in artparticularly in manga, a style of Japanese comics.
Hayao Miyazaki (Photo:Wikimedia Commons[CC BY 4.0])
Why was Miyazaki drawn to aviation?
Like other children living in Japan during World War II, Miyazaki was no stranger to aircrafts flying overhead.
His tendency to include female protagonists is intentional.
Studio Ghibli Diorama (Photo:Stock Photosfrom mujiri/Shutterstock)
After quickly climbing the ranks of the studio, he was promoted to chief animator.
In 1971, he parted ways with Toei Animation.
Well-received and relatively profitable, this film is regarded as a turning point for Miyazaki’s career.
Still from “My Neighbor Totoro” (Photo:© 1988 Studio Ghibli)
They’ll need a friend, or a supporter, but never a savior.
Any woman is just as capable of being a hero as any man.
He never starts his films with a script.
Miyazaki, Suzuki, and Takahata by Nicolas Guérin (Photo:GKIDS / Studio Ghibli North America)
I usually don’t have the time.
So the story develops when I start drawing storyboards.
The production starts very soon thereafter, while the storyboards are still developing.
Photo:Stock Photosfrom photoninestreet/Shutterstock
We never know where the story will go but we just keeping working on the film as it develops.
He has dabbled in CGI.
Another movie-making tool that has featured little in Miyazaki’s process is computer-generated imagery.
Unlike other mainstream animation houses, Studio Ghibli has steered clear of CGIfor the most part.
But it is far too late for me to try it.
Released in 2016,Boro the Caterpillaris only shown at the Studio Ghibli Museum.
