Hayao Miyazaki – The Essence of Humanity

I recently watched this short youtube video on Hayao Miyazaki, the co-founder and film director of Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation studio. Ghibli has long been one of my favorite film studios, and this hasn’t changed from when I was 10 years old to now (so almost a solid decade). This video helps articulate a lot of the reason I find Ghibli films so compelling–the depiction of complex, imperfect characters who highlight the human condition and the creation of whimsical worlds. Studio Ghibli really emphasizes the visual quality of it setting. I found it really interesting that the film creation process has everything occur simultaneously. The script is developed as storyboards are drawn, so everything grows organically from each other! I also really liked the comparison between anime, with its exaggerated, comical character portrayals, and what Miyazaki aims to achieve in his films, which is more subtle, true-to-human emotions and habits.

here’s the link!