Hayao Miyazaki

Forest Spirit

Hayao Miyazaki just turned 85 years old. The animator who uses mainly females as his lead roles once stated that his Studio Ghibli was so successful because 50% of his employees are female. Highly unusual for a Japanese at the time he created all of those incredible characters.

Princess Mononoke deals with the complex exploitation and interaction with nature as well as rebirth and renewal.

There is a confirmed story about Miyazaki's interaction with Harvey W. (Yes that one), who was known to be cutthroat and bullish towards males as well. He wanted to distribute Princess Mononoke in the Western market, but only if Miyazaki reduced the length to 90 minutes, because no one would go see an animated movie for 3 hours in the theaters.

Miyazaki was angry and in style sent Harvey a beautiful long box with an authentic Katana in it, accompanied by a simple handwritten note: "No Cuts". The rest is history.

I've watched almost all of them and was delighted when Spirited Away won an Oscar.

Miyazaki has been very vocal against the use of AI in animation. There's a documentary about him on Netflix, which I haven't watched yet. 

Here's a very short video celebrating a very energetic Miyazaki.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTI0WD2Dw0b/

An icon, indeed.

Update: I watched The boy and the heron. The Japanese title "How do you live?" is more accurate. It's incredible and makes complete sense. Miyazaki  started this project in 2017. Its somewhat autobiographical and shows his desire for creating a better world, as we as a belief that we can. Only after watching it, here's a great and interesting analysis.

https://aleccowan12.medium.com/the-optimistic-absurdity-of-miyazakis-the-boy-and-the-heron-6d9b74d57372