Profile of Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎 駿) was born in Bunkyo, Tokyo, on January 5th, 1941. Through a fifty year career as a film director, producer, and screenwriter, animator, and manga artist Miyazaki has become one of the most esteemed artists in film on an international scale.

Career

Miyzaki was involved in many of the early classics of anime as he started his career in 1963 as an animator at the studio Toei Dōga. From the beginning, he commanded attention with his incredible ability to draw, and the seemingly-endless stream of movie ideas he proposed. In 1971, he moved to A Pro 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. In 1978, he directed his first TV series, Conan, The Boy in Future, then moved to Tokyo Movie Shinsha in 1979 to direct his first movie, the classic Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.

Works

Throughout his career Miyzaki has been involved in the production of over fifty works including feature-length films, television series and manga. Of Studio Ghibli's twenty-some films, Miyazaki has either directed or co-directed ten!


'The Wind is Rising' (Kaze Tachinu/風立ちぬ) is a Studio Ghibli film currently in production and set to be released 20th July 2013. It will be the first film Miyazaki has directed in five years.

The Wind Rising promotional image.

Achievements

Miyzaki has earned a multitude of achievements for his work; since 1980, he has been either nominated for or won close to one hundred awards!

Influences

The majority of the recurring themes found in Ghibli films are consequence of Miyzaki's personal and artistic influences. From early childhood Miyazaki was fascinated by drawing models of aeroplanes. This obsession with aircraft and flight (especially human flight e.g Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind) has continued throughout his life and influenced his career. He sees flight as a form of liberation from gravity and thus the theme of motif has appeared in the majority of his works in some incarnation or another.



References:

Hayao Miyazaki Brief Biography
Ghibli Wiki Miyazaki Entry
Anime News Network Miyzaki Profile




Post by Alia