115 Facts About Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist.

Hayao Miyazaki provided key animation to other films at Toei, such as Puss in Boots and Animal Treasure Island, before moving to A-Pro in 1971, where he co-directed Lupin the Third Part I alongside Takahata.

Hayao Miyazaki joined Tokyo Movie Shinsha in 1979 to direct his first feature film The Castle of Cagliostro as well as the television series Sherlock Hound.

Hayao Miyazaki directed numerous films with Ghibli, including Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Porco Rosso.

Hayao Miyazaki's works are characterized by the recurrence of themes such as humanity's relationship with nature and technology, the wholesomeness of natural and traditional patterns of living, the importance of art and craftsmanship, and the difficulty of maintaining a pacifist ethic in a violent world.

Hayao Miyazaki's works have been highly praised and awarded; he was named a Person of Cultural Merit for outstanding cultural contributions in November 2012, and received the Academy Honorary Award for his impact on animation and cinema in November 2014.

Hayao Miyazaki has frequently been cited as an inspiration for numerous animators, directors, and writers.

Hayao Miyazaki was born on January 5,1941, in Tokyo City, Empire of Japan, the second of four sons.

Hayao Miyazaki's father enjoyed purchasing paintings and demonstrating them to guests, but otherwise had little known artistic understanding.

Hayao Miyazaki said that he was in the Imperial Japanese Army around 1940; after declaring to his commanding officer that he wished not to fight because of his wife and young child, he was discharged after a lecture about disloyalty.

Hayao Miyazaki regretted not having a serious discussion with his father, and felt that he had inherited his "anarchistic feelings and his lack of concern about embracing contradictions".

Hayao Miyazaki has noted that some of his earliest memories are of "bombed-out cities".

In 1944, when he was three years old, Hayao Miyazaki's family evacuated to Utsunomiya.

Hayao Miyazaki was closest with Miyazaki, and had a strong influence on him and his later work.

Yoshiko Hayao Miyazaki died in July 1983 at the age of 72.

Hayao Miyazaki began school in 1947, at an elementary school in Utsunomiya, completing the first through third grades.

Hayao Miyazaki aspired to become a manga artist, but discovered he could not draw people; instead, he only drew planes, tanks, and battleships for several years.

Hayao Miyazaki was influenced by several manga artists, such as Tetsuji Fukushima, Soji Yamakawa and Osamu Tezuka.

Hayao Miyazaki destroyed much of his early work, believing it was "bad form" to copy Tezuka's style as it was hindering his own development as an artist.

Around this time, Hayao Miyazaki would often see movies with his father, who was an avid moviegoer; memorable films for Hayao Miyazaki include Meshi and Tasogare Sakaba.

Hayao Miyazaki joined the "Children's Literature Research Club", the "closest thing back then to a comics club"; he was sometimes the sole member of the club.

Hayao Miyazaki frequently approached manga publishers to rent their stories.

In 1960, Hayao Miyazaki was a bystander during the Anpo protests, having developed an interest after seeing photographs in Asahi Graph; by that point, he was too late to participate in the demonstrations.

Hayao Miyazaki graduated from Gakushuin in 1963 with degrees in political science and economics.

In 1963, Hayao Miyazaki was employed at Toei Animation; this was the last year the company hired regularly.

Hayao Miyazaki worked on Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon.

Hayao Miyazaki was a leader in a labor dispute soon after his arrival, and became chief secretary of Toei's labor union in 1964.

Hayao Miyazaki later worked as chief animator, concept artist, and scene designer on The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun.

Hayao Miyazaki moved to a residence in Oizumigakuencho in April 1969, after the birth of his second son.

Under the pseudonym Akitsu Saburo, Hayao Miyazaki wrote and illustrated the manga People of the Desert, published in 26 installments between September 1969 and March 1970 in Boys and Girls Newspaper.

Hayao Miyazaki was influenced by illustrated stories such as Fukushima's Evil Lord of the Desert.

Hayao Miyazaki provided key animation for The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots, directed by Kimio Yabuki.

Hayao Miyazaki created a 12-chapter manga series as a promotional tie-in for the film; the series ran in the Sunday edition of Tokyo Shimbun from January to March 1969.

Hayao Miyazaki later proposed scenes in the screenplay for Flying Phantom Ship, in which military tanks would cause mass hysteria in downtown Tokyo, and was hired to storyboard and animate the scenes.

Hayao Miyazaki provided key animation for Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

Hayao Miyazaki left Toei Animation in August 1971, and was hired at A-Pro, where he directed, or co-directed with Takahata, 23 episodes of Lupin the Third Part I, often using the pseudonym Teruki Tsutomu.

Hayao Miyazaki directed the television series Future Boy Conan, an adaptation of Alexander Key's The Incredible Tide.

Hayao Miyazaki left Nippon Animation in 1979, during the production of Anne of Green Gables; he provided scene design and organization on the first fifteen episodes.

Hayao Miyazaki moved to Telecom Animation Film, a subsidiary of TMS Entertainment, to direct his first feature anime film, The Castle of Cagliostro, a Lupin III film.

Hayao Miyazaki directed six episodes of Sherlock Hound in 1981, until issues with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's estate led to a suspension in production; Hayao Miyazaki was busy with other projects by the time the issues were resolved, and the remaining episodes were directed by Kyosuke Mikuriya.

Hayao Miyazaki wrote the graphic novel The Journey of Shuna, inspired by the Tibetan folk tale "Prince who became a dog".

Around that time, Hayao Miyazaki was approached for a series of magazine articles by the editorial staff of Animage.

An agreement was reached that Hayao Miyazaki could start developing his sketches and ideas into a manga for the magazine with the proviso that it would never be made into a film.

Hayao Miyazaki drew the episodes primarily in pencil, and it was printed monochrome in sepia-toned ink.

Hayao Miyazaki initially refused, but agreed on the condition that he could direct.

Hayao Miyazaki's imagination was sparked by the mercury poisoning of Minamata Bay and how nature responded and thrived in a poisoned environment, using it to create the film's polluted world.

Pre-production began on May 31,1983; Hayao Miyazaki encountered difficulties in creating the screenplay, with only sixteen chapters of the manga to work with.

Several critics have labeled Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind as possessing anti-war and feminist themes; Hayao Miyazaki argues otherwise, stating that he only wishes to entertain.

Some architecture in the film was inspired by a Welsh mining town; Hayao Miyazaki witnessed the mining strike upon his first visit to Wales in 1984, and admired the miners' dedication to their work and community.

Hayao Miyazaki's following film, My Neighbor Totoro, was released alongside Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies in April 1988 to ensure Studio Ghibli's financial status.

The film was originally intended to be a 60-minute special, but expanded into a feature film after Hayao Miyazaki completed the storyboards and screenplay.

From March to May 1989, Hayao Miyazaki's manga was published in the magazine Model Graphix.

Hayao Miyazaki began production on a 45-minute in-flight film for Japan Airlines based on the manga; Suzuki ultimately extended the film into the feature-length film, titled Porco Rosso, as expectations grew.

The outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars in 1991 affected Hayao Miyazaki, prompting a more sombre tone for the film; Hayao Miyazaki would later refer to the film as "foolish", as its mature tones were unsuitable for children.

In November 1992, two television spots directed by Hayao Miyazaki were broadcast by Nippon Television Network :, a 90-second spot loosely based on the illustrated story by Rieko Nakagawa and Yuriko Omura, and commissioned to celebrate NTV's fortieth anniversary; and, aired as one 15-second and four 5-second spots, centered on an undefinable creature which ultimately became NTV's mascot.

Hayao Miyazaki designed the storyboards and wrote the screenplay for Whisper of the Heart, directed by Yoshifumi Kondo.

Hayao Miyazaki began work on the initial storyboards for Princess Mononoke in August 1994, based on preliminary thoughts and sketches from the late 1970s.

In May 1995, Hayao Miyazaki took a group of artists and animators to the ancient forests of Yakushima and the mountains of Shirakami-Sanchi, taking photographs and making sketches.

In Princess Mononoke, Hayao Miyazaki revisited the ecological and political themes of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

Hayao Miyazaki supervised the 144,000 cels in the film, about 80,000 of which were key animation.

Hayao Miyazaki claimed that Princess Mononoke would be his final film.

Hayao Miyazaki realised that he had not created a film for 10-year-old girls, and set out to do so.

Hayao Miyazaki read manga magazines like and for inspiration, but felt they only offered subjects on "crushes and romance", which is not what the girls "held dear in their hearts".

Hayao Miyazaki decided to produce the film about a female heroine whom they could look up to.

Hayao Miyazaki was inspired to direct the film upon reading Jones' novel, and was struck by the image of a castle moving around the countryside; the novel does not explain how the castle moved, which led to Hayao Miyazaki's designs.

Hayao Miyazaki received the honorary Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement award at the 62nd Venice International Film Festival in 2005.

Hayao Miyazaki met with Suzuki in August 2005, who wanted Miyazaki's son Goro to direct the film, as Miyazaki had wished to retire.

Hayao Miyazaki designed the covers for several manga novels in 2006, including A Trip to Tynemouth; he worked as editor, and created a short manga for the book.

Hayao Miyazaki aimed for the film to celebrate the innocence and cheerfulness of a child's universe.

Hayao Miyazaki intended for it to only use traditional animation, and was intimately involved with the artwork.

Hayao Miyazaki preferred to draw the sea and waves himself, as he enjoyed experimenting.

The film's seaside village was inspired by Tomonoura, a town in Setonaikai National Park, where Hayao Miyazaki stayed in 2005.

In early 2009, Hayao Miyazaki began writing a manga called Kaze Tachinu, telling the story of Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter designer Jiro Horikoshi.

Hayao Miyazaki later co-wrote the screenplay for Arrietty and From Up on Poppy Hill, directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Goro Hayao Miyazaki respectively.

Hayao Miyazaki wanted his next film to be a sequel to Ponyo, but Suzuki convinced him to instead adapt to film.

Hayao Miyazaki was inspired to create The Wind Rises after reading a quote from Horikoshi: "All I wanted to do was to make something beautiful".

In September 2013, Hayao Miyazaki announced that he was retiring from the production of feature films due to his age, but wished to continue working on the displays at the Studio Ghibli Museum.

Hayao Miyazaki was awarded the Academy Honorary Award at the Governors Awards in November 2014.

Hayao Miyazaki developed Boro the Caterpillar, a computer-animated short film which was first discussed during pre-production for Princess Mononoke.

In January 2019, it was reported that Vincent Maraval, a frequent collaborator of Hayao Miyazaki, tweeted a hint that Hayao Miyazaki may have plans for another film in the works.

In February 2019, a four-part documentary was broadcast on the NHK network titled 10 Years with Hayao Miyazaki, documenting production of his films in his private studio.

In 2019, Hayao Miyazaki approved a musical adaptation of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, as it was performed by a kabuki troupe.

Hayao Miyazaki has often criticized the current state of the anime industry, stating that animators are unrealistic when creating people.

Hayao Miyazaki has frequently criticized otaku, including "fanatics" of guns and fighter aircraft, declaring it a "fetish" and refusing to identify himself as such.

In 2013, several Studio Ghibli staff members, including Hayao Miyazaki, criticized Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies, and the proposed Constitutional amendment that would allow Abe to revise the clause which outlaws war as a means to settle international disputes.

Hayao Miyazaki felt that Abe wished to "leave his name in history as a great man who revised the Constitution and its interpretation", describing it as "despicable".

Hayao Miyazaki has expressed his disapproval of Abe's denial of Japan's military aggression, stating that Japan "should clearly say that [they] inflicted enormous damage on China and express deep remorse over it".

Hayao Miyazaki felt that the country's government should give a "proper apology" to Korean comfort women who serviced the Japanese army during World War II, suggesting that the Senkaku Islands should be "split in half" or controlled by both Japan and China.

Hayao Miyazaki recognized leftist values in his films, citing his influence by and appreciation of communism as defined by Karl Marx, though he criticized the Soviet Union's experiments with socialism.

Hayao Miyazaki refused to attend the 75th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles in 2003, in protest of the United States' involvement in the Iraq War, later stating that he "didn't want to visit a country that was bombing Iraq".

Hayao Miyazaki did not publicly express this opinion at the request of his producer until 2009, when he lifted his boycott and attended San Diego Comic Con International as a favor to his friend John Lasseter.

Hayao Miyazaki expressed his opinion about the terrorist attack at the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, criticizing the magazine's decision to publish the content cited as the catalyst for the incident.

In November 2016, Hayao Miyazaki stated that he believed "many of the people who voted for Brexit and Trump" were affected by the increase in unemployment due to companies "building cars in Mexico because of low wages and [selling] them in the US".

Hayao Miyazaki did not think that Donald Trump would be elected president, calling it "a terrible thing", and said that Trump's political opponent Hillary Clinton was "terrible as well".

Hayao Miyazaki's works are characterized by the recurrence of themes such as environmentalism, pacifism, feminism, love and family.

Hayao Miyazaki's narratives are notable for not pitting a hero against an unsympathetic antagonist.

Hayao Miyazaki is critical of exploitation under both communism and capitalism, as well as globalization and its effects on modern life, believing that "a company is common property of the people that work there".

When characters in Hayao Miyazaki's films are forced to engage in violence, it is shown as being a difficult task; in Howl's Moving Castle, Howl is forced to fight an inescapable battle in defense of those he loves, and it almost destroys him, though he is ultimately saved by Sophie's love and bravery.

Hayao Miyazaki is concerned with the sense of wonder in young people, seeking to maintain themes of love and family in his films.

Hayao Miyazaki found that many of the protagonists in Miyazaki's films present an idealized image of families, whereas others are dysfunctional.

Hayao Miyazaki felt that the non-biological family in Howl's Moving Castle gives a message of hope: that those cast out by society can "find a healthy place to belong".

Hayao Miyazaki forgoes traditional screenplays in his productions, instead developing the film's narrative as he designs the storyboards.

Hayao Miyazaki has cited several Japanese artists as his influences, including Sanpei Shirato, Osamu Tezuka, Soji Yamakawa, and Isao Takahata.

Specific works that have influenced Hayao Miyazaki include Animal Farm, The Snow Queen, and The King and the Mockingbird ; The Snow Queen is said to be the true catalyst for Hayao Miyazaki's filmography, influencing his training and work.

Hayao Miyazaki married fellow animator Akemi Ota in October 1965; the two had met while colleagues at Toei Animation.

Hayao Miyazaki felt that becoming a father changed him, as he tried to produce work that would please his children.

Hayao Miyazaki initially fulfilled a promise to his wife that they would both continue to work after Goro's birth, dropping him off at preschool for the day; however, upon seeing Goro's exhaustion walking home one day, Hayao Miyazaki decided that they could not continue, and his wife stayed at home to raise their children.

Hayao Miyazaki said that he "tried to be a good father, but in the end I wasn't a very good parent".

Hayao Miyazaki was described as the "godfather of animation in Japan" by BBC's Tessa Wong in 2016, citing his craftsmanship and humanity, the themes of his films, and his inspiration to younger artists.

Swapnil Dhruv Bose of Far Out Magazine wrote that Hayao Miyazaki's work "has shaped not only the future of animation but filmmaking in general", and that it helped "generation after generation of young viewers to observe the magic that exists in the mundane".

Hayao Miyazaki became the subject of an exhibit at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles in 2021, featuring over 400 objects from his films.

Hayao Miyazaki has frequently been cited as an inspiration to numerous animators, directors and writers around the world, including Wes Anderson, James Cameron, Dean DeBlois, Guillermo del Toro, Pete Docter, Mamoru Hosoda, Bong Joon-Ho, Glen Keane, Travis Knight, John Lasseter, Nick Park, Henry Selick, Makoto Shinkai, and Steven Spielberg.

Keane said Hayao Miyazaki is a "huge influence" on Walt Disney Animation Studios and has been "part of our heritage" ever since The Rescuers Down Under.

Hayao Miyazaki won the Ofuji Noburo Award at the Mainichi Film Awards for The Castle of Cagliostro, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, and My Neighbor Totoro, and the Mainichi Film Award for Best Animation Film for Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Whale Hunt.

Hayao Miyazaki was named a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government in November 2012, for outstanding cultural contributions.