Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki is one of Japan's greatest animation directors. The entertaining plots, compelling characters, and breathtaking animation in his films have earned him international renown from critics as well as public recognition within Japan. The Walt Disney Company's commitment to introduce the films to the rest of the world will let more people appreciate the high-quality works he has given the movie-going public. Hayao Miyazaki was born in Tôkyô on January 5, 1941.

He notes the works of fantasy writers Ursula K. Le Guin, Lewis Carroll, Edward Blishen, Diana Wynne Jones, Roald Dahl and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French artist Jean 'Moebius' Giraud, the animated films "Hakuja den" (1958)_ and _"Snezhnaya koroleva" (1957)_, and cartoonists Osamu Tezuka and Yuri Norstein as an influence on his work.

He started his career in 1963 as an animator at the studio Toei Douga studio, and was subsequently involved in many early classics of Japanese animation. From the beginning, he commanded attention with his incredible drawing ability and the seemingly endless stream of movie ideas he proposed.

In 1971, he moved to the A Pro studio with Isao Takahata, then to Nippon Animation in 1973, where he was heavily involved in the World Masterpiece Theater TV animation series for the next five years.

Russian animator Yuri Norstein is Miyazaki's friend and praised by him as "a great artist." Norshteyn's "Yozhik v tumane" (1975)_ is one of Miyazaki's favourite animated films.

In 1978, he directed his first TV series, Mirai shônen Konan (1978) (Conan, The Boy in Future), then moved to Tôkyô Movie Shinsha in 1979 to direct his first movie, the classic Lupin the 3rd: Castle of Cagliostro (1979).

His major work was the Nausicaä manga, an epic tale he worked on intermittently from 1982 to 1984 while he was busy making animated films.

In 1984, he released Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), based on the manga (comic) of the same title he had started two years before. The success of the film led to the establishment of a new animation studio, Studio Ghibli (Sutajio Jiburi), at which Miyazaki has since directed, written, and produced many other films with Takahata and, more recently, Toshio Suzuki. All of these films enjoyed critical and box office successes.

In 1985, along with friend and fellow animator Isao Takahata, founded Studio Ghibli.

Frequently makes references to nature, ecology, and pollution by humankind in his films, such as My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Princess Mononoke (1997), and Spirited Away (2001).

Two of his title characters have been voiced by Batman actors in the English language adaptations of his films. Michael Keaton, who played Batman/Bruce Wayne in Tim Burton's first two films based on the DC character, provided the voice of Porco Rosso in Porco Rosso (1992) (1992) while Christian Bale, who played Batman in the Christopher Nolan Batman films, provided the voice of Howl in Howl's Moving Castle (2004) (2004).

In particular, Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke (1997) received the Japanese equivalent of the Academy Award for Best Film and was the highest-grossing (about USD$150 million) domestic film in Japan's history at the time of its release. In addition to animation, Miyazaki also draws manga.

He sometimes bases characters in his movies on people he knows in real life. For example, in Spirited Away (2001), Chihiro is based on a daughter of one of his friends.

Refused to attend 2002 Academy Awards out of protest over the American invasion of Iraq.

A fan of Lauren Bacall, who later did the English voice of the Witch of the Waste in Howl's Moving Castle (2004).

Preparing Studio Ghibli for two new feature film productions. [December 2008]