Hayao Miyazaki 23
Books: How Geniuses Think
By Alex Dudok de Wit. The filmographies of Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki, the two geniuses of this book’s title, stand as monuments to their creativity. But how do we weigh the achievement of Toshio Suzuki, the third man at the head of Studio Ghibli? Suzuki’s influence on Ghibli is hard to summarise because it […]
Books: 15 Years at Studio Ghibli
By Jonathan Clements. “Asked to be the voice of an angry 900-pound, twelve-foot-tall wolf god, Gillian Anderson did pretty well and handled the recording session with considerable grace.” It’s all in a day’s work for Steve Alpert, the American executive hired to sell Studio Ghibli to the world. Originally part-released as a long-gone online diary, […]
Never-Ending Man
By Andrew Osmond. Never-Ending Man is a live-action documentary film about Hayao Miyazaki, and it starts with his “retirement” announcement in September 2013, after his “final” film, The Wind Rises. Those quote marks suggest how well he stuck to his word. “I’ve caused quite a stir before by saying I’m quitting,” Miyazaki said, “so people […]
Books: The Art of Nausicaa
By Raz Greenberg. With the release of The Art of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: A Film by Hayao Miyazaki, Viz has now published all of the art books that document the work on the Studio Ghibli films directed by Miyazaki – sadly, no art book has ever been published on his debut […]
Books: Totoro for Two
By Motoko Tamamuro. For months after the release of Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986), Hirokatsu Kihara waits for news of the next production for Studio Ghibli. The studio suddenly gets lively when the announcement comes that the next film will be Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata. However, nobody says anything to […]