Hayao Miyazaki: animation, manga and a filmmaking team

Miyazaki joined Toei Animation after graduating in 1963 and later worked at A Production and Nippon Animation. Productions including Horus: Prince of the Sun (1968) and Heidi, Girl of the Alps (1974) developed his experience within changing teams. He directed the television series Future Boy Conan in 1978, then his first animated feature, Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, in 1979.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind began as a manga and also became a feature film. The manga develops its story through drawn panels and serial publication; the film uses moving images, performance and sound. Released in 1984, the film predates Studio Ghibli’s founding, although it is now included in the studio’s catalogue. Tokuma Shoten led the studio’s establishment in 1985 following the film’s success. Miyazaki then directed Castle in the Sky (1986) and My Neighbor Totoro (1988).

After Ghibli’s founding in 1985, staffing and training continued to change. The studio’s retrospective describes moves towards fixed salaries and training after Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), followed by the new Koganei studio in 1992. Miyazaki’s later features included Princess Mononoke (1997) and Spirited Away (2001), made with teams responsible for animation, backgrounds, photography and production.

Finding a story through drawings

In a December 2001 interview, Miyazaki described starting storyboards before the entire story was settled, with production beginning while those drawings continued to develop. Decisions about characters and scenes could emerge through drawing.

Chihiro’s train journey

He illustrated this with the train journey in Spirited Away. Recalling his own first journey alone, he wanted attention on Chihiro’s experience rather than passing mountains or forests. Rain established earlier in the film had already turned the surrounding landscape into water.

Miyazaki announced his retirement from feature filmmaking in 2013. Ghibli closed its production department at the end of 2014, and its production staff dispersed. Recruitment for his new feature in May 2017 began the rebuilding of that department. The resulting film, The Boy and the Heron, was released in 2023. Its credits name Miyazaki for original work, screenplay and direction, Toshio Suzuki as producer and Joe Hisaishi for music, alongside the animation and voice teams.