A Commitment to Hand-Drawn Animation
In today's animation industry, where digital technology is advancing rapidly, director Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli continue to uphold the tradition of hand-drawn animation. During the production of Ponyo (2008), Miyazaki declared that he would not use computers, achieving all its complex movement, including the depiction of water, through hand drawing. This commitment is not simply conservatism; it rests on an aesthetic that values the warmth and vitality unique to drawing by hand.
An outstanding fluidity of movement is characteristic of Miyazaki's animation. Vehicles and creatures such as the flaptors in Castle in the Sky, the Ohmu in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and Yakul in Princess Mononoke move with extraordinary smoothness and vitality. This is the result of carefully drawn keyframes and the in-between animation that supports them. Miyazaki himself has produced many key drawings, and his exceptional drawing skills and sense of movement enhance the quality of each film as a whole.
Detailed Background Art That Builds a World
Another feature of Hayao Miyazaki's films is their meticulously crafted background art. Each film builds its own world in detail, from the mining town and airborne fortress in Castle in the Sky to the town of Koriko in Kiki's Delivery Service and the bathhouse in Spirited Away. These backgrounds are more than scenery: they depict living worlds whose history, culture, and even economy have been considered. Working with accomplished background artists such as Shinji Igarashi has brought Miyazaki's visions vividly to life.
Especially notable are the worlds created by his distinctive blend of Western and Eastern cultural elements. Howl's Moving Castle combines European-style streets with Japanese elements, while Spirited Away interprets traditional Japanese mythology and hot-spring culture in its own way. These cultural mixtures give viewers the unusual feeling of a world that seems familiar yet exists nowhere.
A Philosophy of Character Design and Direction
Miyazaki's character designs are simple yet capable of rich expression and movement. His depiction of eyes is particularly renowned, conveying delicate changes in characters' inner lives. The changing expressions of Chihiro in Spirited Away vividly communicate her growth. His characters also move in very human ways. His skill in closely observing how people walk, run, and make small gestures, then reflecting those movements in animation, is highly regarded worldwide.
His direction also has a distinctive use of ma, or pauses and intervals. Moments of silence after intense action and scenes in which only the wind can be heard make effective use of this Japanese sense of space and timing. By inserting breathing spaces not directly connected to the plot—such as Ashitaka riding Yakul through the forest in Princess Mononoke, or the protagonist flying a paper airplane in a meadow in The Wind Rises—he gives the narrative depth and a lingering resonance.
Miyazaki's Influence on Animation Around the World
Hayao Miyazaki's animation techniques and aesthetics have had a major impact not only in Japan but across the global animation industry. People at Pixar and Disney in the United States have openly acknowledged drawing considerable inspiration from his work, and his influence grew further after Spirited Away won an Academy Award. The forms of expression unique to animation that Miyazaki has pursued differ from Hollywood's 3D computer animation, but the two approaches have inspired each other and broadened the range of animated expression worldwide.
Miyazaki's greatest achievement is demonstrating that animation is an art form capable of expressing profound themes and complex emotions, rather than merely entertainment for children. His films have moved people across boundaries of age and culture and greatly expanded animation's possibilities. He announced his retirement from feature animation in 2013, but continued working on shorts such as Boro the Caterpillar and returned to feature filmmaking with The Boy and the Heron in 2023. The animated expression he has pursued throughout his life will continue to influence creators around the world.
Hayao Miyazaki's films possess a hand-drawn warmth and vitality that digital technology cannot easily reproduce. Perhaps this beauty lies not in mechanical perfection but in the imperfections that arise precisely because the work is made by human hands.
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