Since “Ponyo - On the Cliff By the Sea” is out in theatres now, I thought it would be nice to include my own list of my favorite Miyazaki films. As well as more info on the man behind them.
Kiki’s Delivery Service, image from Wiki.
Hayao Miyazaki was born in Japan on January 5, 1941. He is Japan’s most successful film-maker. He is said to be more of a pessimist when it comes to the future of our world, but at the same time he wants to give children hope by saying that life is worth living and the world is worth living in.
I have to agree, even watching the films as an adult, the scenes are all memorable and brings me back to my happy childhood too. The innocence and the wonder of everything around me. And it makes me want to preserve what I had for future generations to come.
As for his view on hand-drawn cell animation being replaced, his answer was “If it is a dying craft we can’t do anything about it. Civilization moves on. Where are all the fresco painters now? Where are the landscape artists? What are they doing now? The world is changing. I have been very fortunate to be able to do the same job for 40 years. That’s rare in any era.” But he admits he likes Toy Story because it opened the doors to a new breed of animation. And he does use CGI in his own movies (but never more than 10% of the finished print). Miyazaki continues by saying, “Actually I think CGI has the potential to equal or even surpass what the human hand can do,” he says. “But it is far too late for me to try it.”
Scenes from Howl’s Moving Castle and Hayao Miyazaki at the Venice film festival in 2005. Photograph: Claudio Onorati/EPA. Photo from the Guardian.co.uk.
I may be sad at illustrations being replaced by graphics or CGI, but I guess it is the sign of the times. At least it will still keep the themes I’ve come to love such as having a strong female lead character. As well as themes focusing on conserving our natural environment. It’s an important issue, if not for us, then at least for sake of our planet.
