Interviewer: What was the original idea for “Princess Mononoke”? Miyazaki: When Japanese history is depicted in Japanese movies, it always takes place in the capital and only features samurais and people of certain classes. I found this strange. The real protagonists of history should have lived in borderlands and fields, living more abundant and profound …
44 Questions To Hayao Miyazaki about Princess Mononoke Read More »
The clash of the fierce gods and mankind In this work, samurai, lords, and farmers who usually appear in period dramas hardly show their faces. Even when they appear, they are very much in the background. The primary focus is on individuals unseen on the grand stage of history and on the furious deities of …
Within ‘The Tales of Heike’, a story called ‘The Princess Who Loves Insects’ emerges. The princess, known to be the inspiration behind the character Nausicaä, is indeed a lover of insects, as her title suggests. In the contemporary age, this might not raise eyebrows, but during the late Heian period when this story was …
When creating a visual work, including animation, a plan is developed and its content is concretized into a script (scenario). The script includes the location, time, scene, characters’ actions, and lines of the story. The image of that scene is further concretized, and the completed anticipated figure is a storyboard (Director Hayao Miyazaki often draws …
Yamashita Akihiko (Animation Director) Interviewer: How was the work on “Howl”? It was a stimulating day-to-day and fulfilling. I’m happy to be able to work with a director who has such an intense personality. You can see his view of life. For example, changing the original work significantly and turning the Witch of the Waste into …
Miyazaki: “Yamashita’s ‘flair’ stands out in this film” Read More »
Takeshi Inamura (Animation Director) Prioritize simplicity over Western-nessInterviewer: When Director Miyazaki first asked you to join as an animation director, what did you think? I had already received a description of “Howl” from Mr. Toshio Suzuki and thought it was interesting. But I thought it would be physically impossible to direct a feature-length film by …
By Kitaro Kousaka (Animation Director) The recent Miyazaki works are unpredictable, not explanatory. Interviewer: Mr. Takasaka, your involvement with Miyazaki’s works as an animation director started with “Princess Mononoke” and this is your third time, isn’t it? If you include “Whisper of the Heart”, it would be the fourth time. But I’m not exactly a …
Capturing the Character’s Sensibilities in Howl’s Moving Castle Read More »
“Suzuki-san, have you read this book?” Miyazaki-san entered my room, holding a book and looking excited. The title was “Mahou Tsukai Howl to Hi no Akuma” (“Howl’s Moving Castle and the Fire Demon”), a fantasy novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones. The children’s book editor from Tokuma Shoten had been sending us new …
The Most Challenging Work in All of Miyazaki’s Films Read More »
When I watched “Howl’s Moving Castle” in a movie theater, I was first struck by the beauty of the color of the sky. The freshness of the clear blue, even the color of the puffy clouds looked sweet and delicious. I have never seen such a blue sky in other animations or in the …
By Hayao Miyazaki The story’s synopsis has been expertly summarized by Mrs. Junko Nishimura, the Japanese translator of Dianne Wynne Jones’s Howl’s Moving Castle. Allow me to provide a modified quote of her summary: The story starts with Sophie, the eldest daughter of a hatter, who gets cursed by the Witch of the Waste and …
Howl’s Moving Castle: Director’s Vision Statement Read More »