Hayao Miyazaki’s world
The unexpected love affair with Studio Ghibli’s animated movies
My entire life, every once in a while, I would come across references to the animated films of Hayao Miyazaki, a renowned Japanese animated film director, producer, and co-founder of Studio Ghibli. A desktop picture here, a toy there, even a tattoo. I don’t think I had ever met someone who had watched and not enjoyed at least some of Miyazaki’s works. It was intriguing to find out why. And so when Netflix added Miyazaki’s films to its catalog in early 2020, I knew I would eventually make time and watch at least a couple of them. I ended up watching over a dozen films of his.
I WAS BLOWN AWAY. The creativity, the level of detail, the stories, the characters, layers of meanings and so much more. Every one of these films had moments that broke my heart, yet also those where I was filled with joy. If you have not already seen Miyazaki’s films, as you read on, I want to try to convince you to watch at least some of them (and I strongly suggest you watch them in Japanese with subtitles).
The ones I enjoyed most were — Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Ponyo, Porco Rosso and My Neighbour Totoro. I also thoroughly enjoyed Laputa: Castle in the Sky, The Wind Rises, Whisper of the Heart, Arrietty, and Nausicaa: The Valley of the Wind. There was too much hype around Spirited Away, so the expectations were way too high — I enjoyed it but did not love it. My least favorite was Princess Mononoke (phenomenally drawn, but somewhat flat characters and a messy story for my taste). But that was incredible — how could it be that I liked almost all of these films?
Let me start by saying that Miyazaki’s films felt very different from, say, Disney films. Despite being set in fantasy worlds, they oddly felt much more realistic. For example, you are not always going to get a happy ending. The stories and characters feel more natural. One thing you notice about even the negative characters is how complex they are. You do not always get explicitly good or bad characters, a lot of “bad guys” have complicated motivations and redeemable qualities.
I have to note the incredible world-building in Miyazaki’s films. These worlds are very creative, full of fantastic events or creatures and yet somehow it is coherent and it all makes perfect sense.
Miyazaki’s films have some recurrent themes that was easy to notice since I watched his films back to back:
- Anti-war themes. Born in 1941, Miyazaki grew up in the post World War Two Japan, and this, especially seeing the impact of the war, and the difficult recovery Japan had to go through, must have had a tremendous influence on him. Whether we get to see the actual conflict (as in the Howl’s Moving Castle or Princess Mononoke) or the consequences of one (as in Nausicaa), the message is clear — the devastation is unnecessary and often unforeseen by those who unleash conflict.
- Love of flying. The man is obsessed with planes and everything that flies. I am struggling to name a movie that did not involve some shapes and sizes of planes, real or imagined, helicopters, dirigibles, gliders, an entire flying city, and even a broom (of a witch of course in Kiki’s Delivery Service). Miyazaki’s father was the head of a Miyazaki Airplane company that manufactured plane parts, and his childhood exposure to all things planes must have influenced his work. But I would say while Miyazaki seems to love flying and planes, he has a distinct distaste for warplanes. We see this in Howl’s Moving Castle where warplanes are purposefully depicted almost like ugly beasts, or in The Wind Rises, which is an animated biography of sorts of Jiro Horikoshi, the reluctant designer of warplanes in World War Two.
- Love of nature. Environmental themes are common throughout Miyazaki’s films. We often see beautiful natural landscapes, animals, and spirits as part of the rich worlds created in these movies. We see how humans destroy and pollute nature (damage to the ocean in Ponyo, destruction of entire landscapes in Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke, and many other examples). But more importantly, I love how Miyazaki underlines that small-scale action can make a big difference, for example cleaning the river spirit in Spirited Away or planting trees in My Neighbour Totoro, and so on. It is not enough to just complain about the state of the environment.
- Respect for and empowerment of women. Miyazaki’s female characters are strong, resilient, and resourceful. But this strength does not come off as fake or forced. This is where Miyazaki is truly masterful — every female character, typically a child or a young adult has to deal with serious odds (take Sophie in Howl’s Moving Castle, Arrietty in Arrietty, Chihiro in Spirited Away or so many others), they have to figure out how to get through the challenges life puts in front of them and it is a struggle. These characters are not just given superpowers. Their growth and resilience make sense and are believable, it all exists along with their vulnerability and failures. These are not female leads that strangely bulldoze their way through an army of male antagonists. Miyazaki’s female characters deal with love and loss, expressed through magic and fantasy where their parents have turned into pigs, where they are separated from an ill mother, where they are turned into an old lady, but they persevere, struggle and do their best to succeed. Ponyo fights for the love and life she wants. Arrietty, on the other hand, has to accept that being together is just not a possibility. Kiki’s is a classic coming-of-age story. Shizuku’s story is that of a struggling artist, working to become a writer. Sometimes it is not a specific female character, but women in general — in Porco Rosso, for example, the protagonist’s plane is fixed up by a female-only crew.
- The portrayal of children. Another thing that impressed me a lot was the incredibly accurate portrayal of children of different ages. So many details, little reactions, emotions, facial expressions, and mannerisms are done right. These characters have depth — children in Miyazaki’s movies are not shallow, they are intelligent and show incredible resilience in the face of serious challenges.
Finally, the music. I could not tell you enough about the music. The mind-blowingly beautiful scores by Joe Hisaishi. I cannot praise the music of Miyazaki films enough. As I watched each film, the music was so in tune with nature, the characters, and the story. I don’t know if the films would have quite this impact without such incredible music. Hisaishi has worked on almost all of Miyazaki’s films and this is truly the case of a match made in heaven. The scores of Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Ponyo, Spirited Away, and My Neighbour Totoro, in my opinion, can stand on their own as beautiful musical pieces, but combined with the imagery and the story, they are elevated to the level of true masterpieces. Here is a link to an almost two hours concert of Studio Ghibli music.
Sometimes you watch a film that gives you a chance to be a better person. It brings kindness and joy to your heart. It reminds you of the things worth loving and living for. It feels like Miyazaki’s entire body of work is designed to do just that. Enjoy.
