Hayao Miyazaki changed the animated world forever with Studio Ghibli, the animation studio he created, inventing and exporting a new kind of art worldwide.
When watching a Miyazaki movie such as Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro or Princess Mononoke, it feels different—it feels so close and so warm. The stories, as unrelatable as could be, remain grounded in life; life depicted in such a beautiful way we nearly forgot it existed.
His talent relies on the immersive worlds Studio Ghibli can create. Worldbuilding is essential to any movie or animation, but Miyazaki does it in a nearly spiritual way. Deeply rooted in Shintoism, the Japanese ancestral religion characterised by the worship of kami (divine spirits) and reverence to nature, he embraces creativity while keeping a spiritual essence of life. His deep appreciation for nature and little things is truly noticeable, as he also says his “films show the world beauty. Beauty otherwise unnoticed.”
As part of world-building, Miyazaki embraces something called funiki, meaning “atmosphere.” A part of the reason his movies feel so real is that the emphasis on the mood is crucial to him. Take Spirited Away, the setting and the mood are so well designed we believe in the unbelievable. The monsters, the spirits, and the witch exist within a setting we believe is real because it is so detailed and explained. We are given so much explanation about the function of the place, the different soaps for different clients, thousands of employees with different jobs, the sleeping quarters, and the heating device, all meticulously shown and explained. Unlike other directors, his world-building doesn’t feel like a facade built for the convenience of explaining a story, instead, there is depth and richness, even in the details.
The depth does not end at the setting; it continues within each character, especially in their way of moving. Before starting a movie, Miyazaki starts by drawing everything, without a script. His movie is originally based on movements and drawings, the emotions are conveyed through art. In the final product, you find this same feel. This realism stems from the uncanny reality of his character’s movements. They look so real, there’s really no other way of saying it. One easy way of spotting this characteristic reality is through running. Characters in his movies run. Running is a central part of his animation because it translates something nearly visceral. In a way, I think it is a key component of expressing vulnerability; it represents motivation and dedication. The characters run like people, they run like children and grandmas, imperfectly and yet so beautifully. They run funnily because they have places to be and are seriously motivated by the storyline. The aesthetic of their run is not important, the truthfulness of it seems to be the type of attention to detail that makes the movie real.
Finally, what ties up a Miyazaki movie is the soundtrack. Joe Hisaishi is a Japanese composer and orchestra director who has been working with Miyazaki from the start. His music has accompanied nearly all of his movies and has become emblematic. If you don’t have time to watch a movie right now, listen to Merry-Go-Around Life from Howl’s Moving Castle, which transcribes the feel of the movie into a song.
I will leave you with these quotes: “I would like to make a film to tell children it’s good to be alive.” Much of Miyazaki’s art focuses on the simple but tremendously powerful beauty of life: “Although the world’s beset with lots of seemingly intractable problems…making it difficult to entertain hope, it’s nevertheless a wonderful thing to live.”
Illustration by Lauren Tooze, @laurentooze on Instagram.