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Hayao Miyazaki’s movies have inspired generations of creators. Studio Ghibli has a unique animation style that is appreciated by the general audience and directors all over the world. The latest Miyazaki movie, The Boy and the Heron also won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Flow (2024) | Credits: Dream Well Studio

But who knew that Miyazaki’s movies would inspire a rival so soon? The Latvian entry for Best Animated Feature at the 97th Academy Awards is a movie that feels inspired by the backgrounds and art style of Ghibli.

Hayao Miyazaki’s Famous Film Inspired an Oscar-Nominated Movie My Neighbor Totoro backgrounds | Credits: Studio Ghibli

Flow, a film directed and co-written by Gints Zilbalodis, is the Oscar entry of Latvia for Best Animated Feature category of the 97th Academy Awards. The movie shows a post-apocalyptic world, but rather than focusing on the survival of humans; it portrays a...

Hayao Miyazaki shaped the course of the animation industry through his exemplary work. From Ponyo to Spirited Away, the Studio Ghibli Director has produced iconic work. It is remarkable in its storytelling and compelling themes. His films center on humanity and its relationship with the environment. However, that is not all considering its impact on Hollywood.

San in a still from the film Princess Mononoke | Credits: Studio Ghibli

Miyazaki has influenced Hollywood Directors like James Cameron. Similarly, the upcoming Lord of the Rings movie takes inspiration from a classic Ghibli film. The War of the Rohirrim is an animated film from the franchise that based its heroine on Miyazaki’s movie. On top of that, both films have a core theme of war and conflict which is encapsulated beautifully.

Hayao Miyazaki’s female hero inspired this The War of the Rohirrim character

Apart from handcrafted animation, Hayao Miyazaki is known for his intricate storytelling.

Every year sees the rise of one anime trend or the other. Some of them are positive, while others are annoying at best, and there’s one man who always has the guts to speak against them: Hayao Miyazaki, the founder of Studio Ghibli himself.

Over the years, Miyazaki has ruffled quite a few feathers by speaking against the mass production of anime as well as the rise of otakus. Another one of his criticisms, though not well known, is about a weird trend among Japanese voice actors.

Hayao Miyazaki Spoke Up Against the Rise of a Weird Voice Acting Trend Sophie and Calcifer from Howl’s Moving Castle. [Credit: Studio Ghibli]

Hayao Miyazaki was interviewed by the Guardian in 2005, prior to the UK release of Howl’s Moving Castle. The filmmaker was discussing the foreign actor cast for the movie’s English dubbed version. The conversation shifted to Lauren Bacall, who voiced the Witch of the Wastes.

The co-founder of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, has crafted some timeless classics such as My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and Princess Mononoke. Miyazaki’s works often explore environmentalism, pacifism, and feminism, while portraying complex female characters in leading roles. However, it seems like even legends like him are not without controversy.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind | Credit: Studio Ghibli

An interview with Hayao Miyazaki concerning one of his most iconic heroines, Nausicaä, left some of his fans feeling more than a little unsettled. While Nausicaä has been celebrated as a powerful female character, Miyazaki’s commentary on her physical design, specifically her breasts, sparked a debate among fans.

Hayao Miyazaki’s View on Nausicaä: A Surprising Commentary

David Bednar (@ykarps), a game designer, shared a passage from Hayao Miyazaki’s past interview on X (formerly Twitter). The passage was taken from Starting Point,...

In the world of animation and film, Studio Ghibli stands as an inspiration for creativity and artistry, producing films that have gone over and crossed the borders of animation with its core of humanity. At the heart of it is Hayao Miyazaki. With the support of the co-founders, the late Isao Takahata and Toshio Suzuki, Studio Ghibli has reigned over the animated film genre for years. The three have built a legacy like no other in the animation industry.

Castle in the Sky. [Credit: Studio Ghibli]

The recent release of an exclusive collection of original image boards from Studio Ghibli’s iconic films has reignited conversations about the brilliance and beauty of Hayao Miyazaki. These image boards will capture the breathtaking visuals and detailed worlds of nature-filled films like My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke. They undoubtedly highlight what Takahata was referring to when he said that Miyazaki’s genius was...

Hayao Miyazaki, the director and storyteller behind several beloved Studio Ghibli films, has always had a preference for female protagonists and treated them with care. He realistically portrays them for who they are and doesn’t necessarily prioritize their appearance for the male gaze. He gives them a nuanced personality with well-written and natural character development. Miyazaki keeps to his word and consistently writes them with a human touch. However, in modern anime, female characters are overly sexualized and the Big Three might be the worst offenders.

Nausicaä from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. [Credit: Toei Company]

One Piece, Naruto and Bleach might be the top-rated anime for decades now but there is one aspect they have in common. The female characters are mostly there for eye candy or don’t serve a purpose anymore, mostly due to the mangaka either not being able to write women properly or...

The recent blurring line between reality and fantasy has fascinated audiences all across the globe by resulting in live-action adaptations dipped in animated scenes. It has become the new horizon for storytelling. This approach has been exhibited well in films like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Here, animations flow very seamlessly into a live-action setting and vice versa.

A still from the Oscar-winning Boy and The Heron movie | Credits: Studio Ghibli

Now just imagine the untold magic that would emerge if the anime world gets onto this trend, staring at the legendary Hayao Miyazaki as animation director! It will certainly be a promising cinematic experience like no other, one that would break every record and redraw the future of anime.

Hayao Miyazaki’s Thoughts on The Recent Outgrowth of Live-Action X Animation Media A still from the Oscar-winning Spirited Away movie by Hayao Miyazaki | Credits: Studio Ghibli

From a resurfaced interview...

Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece stands as a heavyweight in the manga world for its vast world-building, engaging characters, and well-crafted storyline. However, one of Oda’s storytelling tendencies draws huge criticism even from the fans: his reluctance to kill off the characters. But, many might not know that this tendency stems from a major influence in his early creative work — the legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki’s creation.

Nausicaä and Teto | Credit: Studio Ghibli

Oda has stated Miyazaki’s 1984 film, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind as a major influence in his artistic journey. One of Hayao Miyazaki’s philosophies has shaped Oda’s approach to dealing with One Piece‘s characters, which simultaneously has become a debated topic among the fans.

Hayao Miyazaki’s Influence on Eiichiro Oda

It’s a known fact that the late Akira Toriyama was the biggest influence on Eiichiro Oda‘s passion for manga.

Even in this age of volume stages and limitless digital tools, there are some things that simply cannot be filmed. Or at least, film can’t capture the totality of them. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have to be high on that list, though atomic imagery has informed everything from “Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind” to “Godzilla Minus One.” To tell even a part of the story of either bombing is an extreme challenge. Yet that is exactly what Episode 5 of “Pachinko” Season 2 does with the opening of “Chapter 13.”

The Apple TV+ series threads a very fine needle, making some stylistic choices and setting some rules for itself in order to have its depiction of Nagasaki stand apart from the rest of the series and yet not feel like some foggy, moralizing history lesson. The most obvious choice is that the 13-minute sequence unfolds in black and white,...

Hideaki Anno is a prolific director in the anime world. You might know him from his most celebrated creation, the Evangelion franchise. While the director is surfing his successes with one hit film after another, it seems that his one dream production is far from his control.

Anno was previously involved in the animation of Studio Ghibli’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Thus, he has always wanted to remake the movie on his own terms. There have also been rumors that the director wants to create an anime series out of the source material left out during the movie’s creation.

Hideaki Anno Wants to Create a Live-Action Adaptation of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind A still from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind | Credits: Studio Ghibli

Toshio Suzuki is one of the founding members of the world-renowned Studio Ghibli. The former president of...

Miyazaki has become one of the most celebrated directors of kids movies for a reason, and viewers will find his films on-demand on Max.

Hayao Miyazaki has had a remarkable career. Miyazaki’s career started in 1963, and for the past six decades he has captured the imagination of audiences with his groundbreaking work. The legendary animator and filmmaker’s newest movie “The Boy and the Heron” is coming to streaming on Max on Friday, Sept. 6, joining the other Studio Ghibli titles available to stream on that service. We’ll run through the other Miyazaki films on Max below, and explain your subscription options for the streamer as well!

Sign Up $9.99+ / month Max.com Where to Stream Miyazaki’s Films:

Castle in the Sky

The Cat Returns

From Up on Poppy Hill

Howl’s Moving Castle

Kiki’s Delivery Service

My Neighbor Totoro

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Only Yesterday

Pom...

With a genre-defying mix of space adventure, noir, and jazz-infused style, Shinichirō Watanabe’s Cowboy Bebop is one of the greatest anime ever made. But the road to its creation was anything but smooth. In fact, the anime that is now considered a masterpiece nearly wouldn’t get made at all.

Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop | Credit: Studio Sunrise

The creation of Cowboy Bebop was a risky venture; Bandai’s misguided belief that the anime wouldn’t be financially successful almost caused the project to be abandoned altogether. Ironically, the show’s near-failure played a major role in molding it into the cultural phenomenon that it is today.

Shinichirō Watanabe’s Inspiration for His Own Creation: Cowboy Bebop

In an interview conducted by Ollie Barder via Forbes, Shinichirō Watanabe reflected on his journey as an anime director. Originally passionate about movies since childhood, his interest shifted to the anime industry...

The work of Hayao Miyazaki is legendary in all senses of the word. Few filmmakers boast a line-up like his: My Neighbour Totoro! Spirited Away! Princess Mononoke! Ponyo! The Boy And The Heron! The Wind Rises! And that’s just scratching the surface. Those films drift towards the legendary too – presenting wild, fantastical worlds, spiritual reveries, and magical sights to inspire the imagination. Now, those qualities are at the heart of a new documentary, Miyazaki, Spirit Of Nature – celebrating the works (and general outlook) of the Studio Ghibli icon. Watch the trailer here:

Set to screen at the Venice Film Festival in the coming days, Miyazaki, Spirit Of Nature takes a specific angle on the master animator’s work – notably, exploring the ways in which Miyazaki’s films present and celebrate nature. As anyone with a passing knowledge of his work will know, ecological themes are an ever-present Miyazaki concern...

This article is part of IndieWire’s 2000s Week celebration. Click here for a whole lot more.

After Sam Raimi’s darkly playful 2009 fright fest “Drag Me to Hell” came out, star Alison Lohman said she faced a question. “It was kind of like: Do you want to be a household name?” she remembers in a recent phone call.

She didn’t. “I don’t think I really really wanted that, to be in the public eye,” she said.

If you had told film fans in the 2000s that Lohman would have essentially vanished from the big screen in 2024, they might have a hard time believing you. The decade offered Lohman an incredible run, starting with her breakout role in 2002’s “White Oleander,” Peter Kominsky’s melodrama, where she played the daughter of Michelle Pfeiffer. She played the love of Ewan McGregor’s life in Tim Burton’s “Big Fish,...

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" climaxes with the Marvelous heroes fighting the titular tin man and his army of duplicates in fictional European nation Sokovia. Ultron has built a giant engine beneath a Sokovian city to lift it off the ground, intending to slam it back onto the Earth and cause a mass extinction event. "When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal."

This scheme is not inspired by a Marvel comic, but rather another film about a robot army and floating city: Hayao Miyazaki's "Castle in the Sky," the first film made by Studio Ghibli. (Though "Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind" brought Ghibli's soon-to-be founders together.) "Castle In The Sky," set in a Wales-like fantasy world, follows orphans Pazu and Sheeta as they search for Laputa, a long-lost advanced civilization.

Laputa is like Atlantis if it soared above the clouds instead of collapsing beneath the waves.

Hayao Miyazaki has several masterpieces under his wing, two of which have won the Oscars. In fact, among the 13 Oscars received by Japanese movies, two belong to the legendary Studio Ghibli founder. But the director is only human and has moments of error.

However, even Miyazaki’s errors find their way into becoming right, and fans love the man’s zeal. In a watercolor illustration book for Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Miyazaki has poured his heart out about everything that plagued his mind while creating the illustrations.

Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘Failure’ Illustration for Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind Nausicaa Illustration | Hayao Miyazaki

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: Watercolor Impressions is a book in which all the illustrations that Hayao Miyazaki made for the movie have been compiled and published. In fact, each illustration also carried comments by the director, and what he felt while drawing them.

Studio Ghibli films aren’t famous because of their beautiful backgrounds and innocent characters. They are renowned worldwide because of how they tackle serious issues while simultaneously portraying the beauty of a slow life. No other animation studio has been able to capture the same essence except one Disney movie.

Lilo and Stitch, a 2002 Walt Disney Pictures production, is about a little Hawaiian girl who encounters a tiny blue alien and finds companionship in him. From the surface, it looks like a cartoon that promotes family values, but fans have been able to find its themes, storytelling, and backgrounds very similar to Ghibli films.

Lilo and Stitch Tackles Some Sensitive Topics Just Like Ghibli Movies Lilo and Stitch | Disney

In order to find similarities between Lilo and Stitch and Ghibli productions, you first need to understand the core motifs that are portrayed in both. Different Ghibli movies tackle different societal...

Japanese indie record label Kakubarhythm's official YouTube channel has started streaming a music video for a newly-recorded 2024 version of "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" sung by actor Narumi Yasuda . In 1983, Yasuda won the grand prize out of 7,500 applicants in the image girl contest for the 1984 anime film of the same name directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The opportunity to sing the image song for the film was a side prize for the grand prize. The song was originally composed by acclaimed Japanese artist Haruomi Hosono . It was released as Yasuda's debut single on January 25, 1984, and peaked at #10 in Oricon's weekly single charts, becoming the biggest hit in her singing career. Though the song was not used in the film, it was recognized as one of the most well-known anime songs of the year. On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the song's release this year, Yasuda...

Max has shared a curated list of films available to stream on the service in Summer 2024. Max is home to Warner Bros. Pictures films, classics and new favorites from A24, the Studio Ghibli library, and award-winning films spanning multiple genres.

The platform is showcasing its vast film library with curated summer watch lists of blockbusters, horror, family-friendly films, and more.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Warner Bros. Pictures’ Dune: Part Two, the groundbreaking sequel to Dune, is now available to stream on the platform along with recent hits like Wonka and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which also has an American Sign Language (Asl) version of the film available to stream.

Viewers can also find summer favorites like Mamma Mia!, Meg 2: The Trench, A Night at the Roxbury, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Dune: Part Two

Horror fans can look to Max for their summer scares and favorite films from franchises,...

Studio Ghibli is often considered synonymous with filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, director of the studio's best movies. Many would argue Miyazaki's works are some of the best animated movies ever, so it's natural that he casts a shadow over the studio he helped build.

However, the studio actually has multiple founders: the late director Isao Takahata, producer (and current studio chairman) Toshio Suzuki, and Yasuyoshi Tokuma. The latter's company Tokuma Shoten offered the foundation for Ghibli and was the studio's parent company from 1985 to 2005.

Miyazaki was already a prolific animator pre-Ghibli and acquainted with Suzuki and Takahata. The three first made a movie together in 1984: "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind." Miyazaki directed, Takahata produced, and Suzuki was the one who first connected Miyazaki with Tokuma Shoten. As a bonus, composer Joe Hisaishi (who went on to be Ghibli's in-house composer) also scored "Nausicaä."

1000 years in the future, the...

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Release Date News and All You Need to Know - Main Image

J.R.R. Tolkien's stories on Middle-Earth are far from over as the Lord of the Rings prequel anime feature, The War of the Rohirrim, premiered at Annecy Animation Film. But when can fans expect the release date of Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim? Give this a read to find out!

Lotr: The War of the Rohirrim Release Date

Created by Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Blade Runner: Black Lotus' Kenji Kamiyama, The War of the Rohirrim also included original film franchise creators Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, who were confirmed working as executive producers on the feature film.

The first 20 minutes of the anime feature was previewed at the Annecy Animation Festival, but when can we watch the entire film?...

Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim Confirms Peter Jackson Involvement - Main Image

The latest Lord of the Rings installment, The War of the Rohirrim, has just confirmed the original franchise helmer Peter Jackson's involvement in making the animated feature.

The feature film is set in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth with New Line Cinema producing the prequel alongside Warner Bros. Animation, joined by Japanese studio Sola Entertainment for the animation of the flick.

The Lord of the Rings Anime Feature Confirms Peter Jackson's Involvement

On Tuesday, June 11, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit's Oscar-winning producer Philippa Boyens revealed at the Annecy Animation Festival that Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh are serving as executive producers on the animated feature, Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

The new feature film was created by Kenji Kamiyama while working with original franchise helmer Jackson and screenplay writer Walsh.

Any filmmaker worth their salt will acknowledge that the path to greatness comes from seeking inspiration from any source big or small, that could have a deep influence in their process of creating art. Australian director George Miller who has inspired many people through his iconic Mad Max franchise, has also found magic in various places.

Tom Hardy in Mad Max: Fury Road (image credit: Warner Brothers)

Miller expertly rebooted his famous action series in 2015 with Mad Max: Fury Road starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron that went on to become a blockbuster. While talking about different aspects of the film, the director revealed a 40s classic film with a controversial history that served as inspiration for one of his characters.

An Old Hollywood Film Made George Miller Christen This Mad Max Character

George Miller created the dystopian action series Mad Max back in 1979 with Mel Gibson, which was followed...

Given the weight and scope of Frank Herbert’s Dune, Denis Villeneuve’s decision to split his adaptation of the novel into multiple parts not only makes sense, but it allows for a clean division at the moment the story tips over from a narrative rooted in court intrigue and hostile power plays redolent of Old World Europe into one steeped in a lysergic blend of ecological fable and Islamic mysticism.

The first film ended with Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) escaping from a coup that left his ducal father dead and House Atreides’s hopes for control of the planet Arrakis shattered by their noble rivals, the Harkonnens. Left in Arrakis’s vast desert with his mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), Paul falls in with the indigenous Fremen people, who view him as their possible messiah in a fight to regain control of their colonized planet and its invaluable spice resource.

Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind, written and directed by Academy Award®-winner Hayao Miyazaki, is an epic masterpiece of sweeping scope and grandeur that remains one of the most breath-taking and exhilarating animated films of all time.

In the years after an apocalyptic war, a brave princess fights nefarious forces to save her people and the planet.

Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind will be in theatres May 19 and May 21.

Watch the trailer and buy your tickets Here

Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind

Castle In The Sky is a timeless story of courage and friendship, with stunning animation from acclaimed Academy Award®-winning director Hayao Miyazaki.

Brought together one fateful night, Pazu and Sheeta must unlock the mystery of the legendary floating castle.

The English-dubbed cast includes the vocal talents of Anna Paquin, James Van Der Beek, Cloris Leachman, Mark Hamill, Mandy Patinkin, and more!

A few years ago, Masashi Kishimoto and Yoshihiro Togashi sat down together for an interview, where they also answered some fan questions about their creative process and other aspects of Naruto and Hunter x Hunter. One fan question during the discussion prompted Togashi to compare Kishimoto to Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli.

Naruto and Sasuke in a still from Naruto

Miyazaki is one of the legends in the anime industry and is known primarily for his works like Spirited Away, The Boy and the Heron, Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and many more. The creator has won two Academy Awards in the Best Animated Feature category for Spirited Away and The Boy and the Heron.

During the interview, Kishimoto and Togashi were discussing their drawing skills when they were kids, and that’s when Togashi compared Kishimoto’s skills with Studio Ghibli’s director.

"Mad Max: Fury Road" is one of the best movies of all time — according to /Film — a masterpiece of action cinema and a masterclass in visual storytelling. It is also a bit of a live-action cartoon. Like the best live-action directors, George Miller pulls inspiration from "Looney Tunes" as much as he does live-action movies in making his post-apocalyptic epic, with a sense of logic, physics, pacing, and fun that feels more outlandish than grounded.

But before the movie came out and became a big hit and an Oscar winner, it went through development hell for literal decades, only to go through actual hell during filming. Development took so long and suffered so many setbacks that Miller looked at alternatives to "Fury Road," including telling a completely different story in animated form. Indeed, we know that in 2009 — between two "Happy Feet" movies — Miller considered making an R-rated 3D "Mad Max" anime instead,...

As far as iconic franchises go, George Miller’s Mad Max films are right up there among Hollywood’s favorite film series. Similar to his namesake George Lucas and his brainchild Star Wars, Miller created the dystopian action series back in 1979 with Mel Gibson, which was followed by three successful sequels in the 80s.

Hollywood filmmaker George Miller (image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

The franchise returned with a bang in 2015 with Mad Max: Fury Road starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron. Now, the Lorenzo’s Oil director has roped in one of Hollywood’s big draws Anya Taylor-Joy along with Chris Hemsworth for the upcoming Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Interestingly, this film has been in the making for many years , and was almost developed into an anime feature.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Was Envisioned Ages Ago

The 5th installment in the cult Mad Max series created and directed by...

In a candid interview with Total Film, producer Doug Mitchell disclosed an interesting titbit about the upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road prequel movie, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

In the interview, Mitchell revealed that the groundwork for Furiosa‘s narrative was laid 15 years ago. The script was even completed before the critically-acclaimed Fury Road.

But here’s the real kicker: the initial vision for Furiosa was wildly different. Originally titled The Peach, it was planned as an anime film to be directed by Mahiro Maeda, known for his contributions in a number of anime films, from Neon Genesis Evangelion to Studio Ghibli films such as Porco Rosso and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

However, the trajectory of Furiosa took a surprising turn, pivoting from its anime origins to emerge as a live-action film.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is an upcoming post-apocalyptic action adventure film co-produced and directed by George Miller,...

The Souzou Galleria figure series is dedicated to reproducing characters from Studio Ghibli works as detailed, posable figures. The latest entry in this series brings to life Kushana and the Torumekian guards from the 1984 film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind . Kushana appears in metallic armor with highly detailed, digitally printed facial features. Four different heads are available for a variety of different expressions, and her prosthetic left arm is attached with magnets and can be removed. Related: Cannes Film Festival Awards Studio Ghibli with Honorary Palme d'or The soldiers have 20 points of articulation and come with a variety of weaponry: Figures are available in two sets: Kushana and a soldier and two soldiers. Both sets are currently available for pre-order from Premium Bandai. Related: Howl’s Moving Castle-Inspired Ghibli Park 15-Second Promo Released Purchasing both sets will let you stage impressive scenes right out of the movie: Pre-orders...

by Cláudio Alves

NAUSICAÄ Of The Valley Of The Wind (1984) is the only Miyazaki film ever screened at Cannes.

In 1997, to mark the occasion of its 50th edition, the Cannes Film Festival awarded a special Palme des Palmes to Ingmar Bergman. Afterward, and since 2002, it has also attributed the Honorary Palme d'Or to film artists in honor of their esteemed careers. Until now, the prize has gone to directors, producers and actors such as Catherine Deneuve, Manoel de Oliveira, and Agnès Varda, among many others. This year, however, the festival will award its first Palme d'Or to animated cinema and a group rather than an individual. The honoree is Studio Ghibli, cofounded by Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki, and the dear departed Isao Takahata. This comes after The Boy and the Heron won the studio its second Oscar and breaks with American dominance over these Honorary awards in the past few years.

Studio Ghibli, the animation studio behind “My Neighbor Totoro” and the Oscar-winning animated feature “The Boy and the Heron,” is being awarded an Honorary Palme d’Or at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival. It marks the first time that the award will be given to a group.

The studio was co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki in 1984 following the release of Miyazaki’s “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.”

“I am truly honored and delighted that the studio is awarded the Honorary Palme d’Or,” Suzuki said in a statement. “I would like to thank the Festival de Cannes from the bottom of my heart. Forty years ago, Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and I established Studio Ghibli with the desire to bring high-level, high-quality animation to children and adults of all ages. Today, our films are watched by people all over the world, and many visitors come to the Ghibli Museum,...

Studio Ghibli, the acclaimed Japanese animation house known for Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and Oscar-winner The Boy And The Heron, is to receive an honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes – the first time the festival has bestowed the award on a group.

The honour is usually awarded to individuals, which has included Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas and Harrison Ford in recent years and will also be given to Star Wars creator George Lucas at the 77th edition of the festival, which runs May 14-25.

Studio Ghibli is synonymous with veteran directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, who are among...

Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation studio co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki, will be feted with the Honorary Palme d’Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. This marks the first time Cannes has handed its Honorary Palme d’Or to a collective.

“I am truly honored and delighted that the studio is awarded the Honorary Palme d’Or,” said Toshio Suzuki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli.

“I would like to thank the Festival de Cannes from the bottom of my heart. Forty years ago, Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and I established Studio Ghibli with the desire to bring high-level, high-quality animation to children and adults of all ages. Today, our films are watched by people all over the world, and many visitors come to the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka, and Ghibli Park to experience the world of our films for themselves.”

Suzuki added: “We have truly come a long way for Studio Ghibli...

Every anime fan in the world probably knows who Hayao Miyazaki is. The director of Studio Ghibli has made many films that have earned international recognition and even won Academy Awards. He is one of the legends in the anime world and many creators have been inspired by him.

Hayao Miyazaki at the Comic Con (via Flickr)

One such creator is Tatsuki Fujimoto, the mangaka of Chainsaw Man. During an interview with Shuiesha last year, Fujimoto was asked for his opinions about Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. He had a lot to say about the studio and Miyazaki and also talked about his films that have changed the entire scene of the anime industry.

However, while talking about Miyazaki, Fujimoto pointed out one particular trait of the creator that makes him different from other filmmakers and directors. Fujimoto also stated that he believes that this trait would no longer be found in others.

Max will continue to be the studio’s exclusive streaming home in the United States with tiles including “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Spirited Away,” and more.

Thanks in no small part to the prevalence of streaming media, anime has become an increasingly important part of the American entertainment landscape in recent years. When Warner Bros. Discovery launched the HBO Max streaming service in 2020, the iconic films of Studio Ghibili were included in the catalog. On Tuesday, Wbd announced that it had extended its deal with the Japanese studio and that the recent Oscar-winning film “The Boy and the Heron” will stream on HBO Max’s successive streaming service Max.

HBO Max became the first streaming service to carry Studio Ghibli titles when it launched in 2020. This new multi-year extension will keep the iconic Japanese studio’s films on Max in the United States. Recent Oscar winner “The Boy and the Heron...

Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron,” which just won the Oscar for animated feature film, is streaming to Max in the U.S.

Warner Bros. Discovery announced a multiyear agreement with independent distributor GKids to extend Max’s exclusive U.S. streaming rights for films from Studio Ghibli, Japan’s legendary animation house. The streamer has been the U.S. home to Studio Ghibli’s catalog since 2020, when the service originally launched as HBO Max.

Under the deal renewal, Max will be the future home of “The Boy and the Heron”; the streaming premiere date on Max will be announced later this year. The hand-drawn, semi-autobiographical film — Miyazaki’s first feature film in 10 years — was produced by Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki and features a musical score from Miyazaki’s longtime collaborator Joe Hisaishi.

The extension with GKids also will keep nearly two dozen Studio Ghibli films — including “My Neighbor Totoro,...

Given the weight and scope of Frank Herbert’s Dune, Denis Villeneuve’s decision to split his adaptation of the 1965 epic science-fiction novel into multiple parts not only makes sense, but it also allows for a clean division at the moment the story tips over from a narrative rooted in court intrigue and hostile power plays redolent of Old World Europe into one steeped in a lysergic blend of ecological fable and Islamic mysticism.

The first film ended with Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) escaping from a coup that left his ducal father dead and House Atreides’s hopes for control of the planet Arrakis shattered by their noble rivals, the Harkonnens. Left in Arrakis’s vast desert with his mother, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), Paul falls in with the indigenous Fremen people, who view him as their possible messiah in a fight to regain control of their colonized planet and its invaluable spice resource.

With their nearly 40-year history, one would think Hayao Miyazaki could no longer surprise composer Joe Hisaishi. However, the Japanese animation master did just that when he introduced “The Boy and the Heron” to his longtime musical collaborator.

It wasn’t because Miyazaki was coming out of retirement (once again). Rather, it was how the Studio Ghibli co-founder presented the film to Hisaishi.

“The most important part of the process of composing a film is meeting up with the director and trying to decide where the music should be going in which part of the scenes,” Hisaishi tells Variety via an interpreter. “But he skipped all of those meetings. We had none whatsoever.”

Hisaishi had no access to the storyboards or artwork; instead, he watched a nearly complete version of the film in July 2022. Miyazaki simply told him: “I leave it all up to you.”

“It was a very different approach from our previous collaborations,...

The Animated World is a regular feature spotlighting animation from around the globe.The Boy and the Heron.“And what about you? What will you create? You take many things from the world, but I wonder what you will give back in return?”—Genzaburo Yoshino, How Do You Live? Part of the genius of Hayao Miyazaki is his ability to captivate his audience so deeply with his films that they don’t realize he is asking an essential question: how do you live? Yet, his films do. Each of them demands that we think, reflect, and change. Visually, they burst like a star in our mind’s eye while the stories slowly lead us toward realization. They warm our hearts while showing us how complex and contradictory people are—by turns selfish and selfless. From Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) to The Wind Rises (2013), Miyazaki’s stunning, hand-drawn aesthetic and stirring,...

Whether referring to an A.I.-driven animation demo as “an insult to life itself,” walking out of a movie directed by his own son (“It feels like I was sitting there for about three hours”), or insisting to anyone who will listen that “filmmaking only brings suffering,” legendary director and living meme factory Hayao Miyazaki has long provided the likes of David Cronenberg and Ridley Scott with serious competition as modern cinema’s most reliable crank. And yet, in spite of Miyazaki’s curmudgeonly demeanor and his work’s consistent emphasis on the toxic effects of human civilization in a world cursed by our very existence, there may not be any other auteur whose movies have brought more joy to more people over the last 45 years, or are so widely beloved by children.

It’s a contradiction that’s hard to explain, even if evidence of the magic behind...

Adapted from an adventurous platform game, the story of Scarygirl has been recently made into an animated fantasy film. The original graphic novel was woven by Nathan Jurevicius, an Australian artist. The directors Ricard Cussó and Tania Vincent introduce us to yet another sci-fi film delving into the matter of a futuristic theme with an evil scientist trying to destroy the world. Some other adventure animations that share a similar essence with that of this film include Wall-e, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Happy Feet, and others. The plot revolves around the quest of a little girl to save her father and the world from the clutches of an evil scientist. Will Arkie be able to save her father and the world? Let’s find out!

Spoilers Ahead

What Were Dr. Maybee’s Intentions?

The bounty hunters of the evil Dr. Maybee is out on the search for a giant octopus.

Studio Ghibli, the famed Japanese animation studio of Hayao Miyazaki, will become a subsidiary of Nippon Television Network Corp., both sides said Thursday.

Succession worries had been a priority at Ghibli, as Miyazaki has turned 82, and producer Toshio Suzuki is 75, the companies said in a joint statement.

The boards of both companies agreed at meetings Thursday that the major commercial broadcast network will become Studio Ghibli’s top shareholder, with a 42.3 percent stake. Financial details were not given.

Nippon TV said it will send executives to support Ghibli’s management, while honoring its creative independence so it can focus on animation and other artistic projects.

The deal was first discussed last year at an “onsen” hot springs, the companies said, when Suzuki asked Nippon TV executive Yoshikuni Sugiyama for help in managing Ghibli. Sugiyama promised to give support.

Miyazaki’s son Goro is also an animation director and has been mentioned as a possible successor.

Studio Ghibli, the iconic Japanese cartoon firm behind Miyazaki Hayao’s recent “The Boy and the Heron,” is selling a controlling stake to Japanese broadcaster Nippon Television (Ntv). The companies said that Studio Ghibli will become a “subsidiary.”

Nippon Television is to buy shares in Studio Ghibli and become its largest shareholder with 42.3% of voting rights. Executives from Ntv are expected to join Studio Ghibli’s management, the pair said on Thursday. Terms of the deal, including its valuation and timetable, were not disclosed.

“At Studio Ghibli, director Miyazaki Hayao is now 82 years old, and producer Suzuki Toshio is also 75 years old, and the issue of succession has been a problem for a long time,” Studio Ghibli said in a statement. “Miyazaki Goro, the eldest son of founder Miyazaki Hayao and an animation film director himself, has been mentioned several times as the successor to Studio Ghibli. However, Miyazaki Goro himself firmly declined,...

It's hard to believe that yesterday somehow wasn't a national holiday, given that a new Hayao Miyazaki film screened at the Toronto Film Festival last night. The director's widely-praised collaboration with Studio Ghibli definitely counts as a reason to celebrate, particularly when so much of the hype around "The Boy and the Heron" has focused on the possibility that it would be the esteemed filmmaker's last movie ever. Thankfully, those reports have been debunked and it appears Miyazaki is once again pulling his patented "unretired" routine that anime fans know all too well. But even with that extra layer of context now removed, critics have already begun to weigh in on their emotional experience watching this latest project.

Nobody would be surprised to hear that the man behind such classics as "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind," "Castle in the Sky," "My Neighbor Totoro," and "The Wind Rises" --...

Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. Gkids releases the film in theaters on Friday, December 8.

How does someone follow one of the greatest and most profoundly summative farewells the movies have ever seen? By definition, they don’t. They retire, or they die. Or they retire and then they die. In some rare cases, it even seems like they die because they retired.

And then there’s 82-year-old filmmaker and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, always in a category of his own, who’s formally or informally quit the business no fewer than seven times of the course of his illustrious career, most recently after the 2013 release of his magnum opus “The Wind Rises.” A fictionalized biopic about aeronautical engineer Jiro Horikoshi, whose most visionary designs were built with forced Korean labor and deployed at the wasteful mercy of Japan’s World War II campaign,...

After many years of anticipation, Hayao Miyazaki’s long-awaited How Do You Live? finally premiered in Japanese cinemas last Friday following a purposefully non-existent marketing campaign. While we finally got the first plot details and reactions, it looks like the approach worked as the film pulled in around $11.3M million, the second-highest opening weekend gross in the history of Studio Ghibli. Following the Gkids announcement the animation will make its way to U.S. theaters later this year under the title of The Boy and the Heron, the theme song has now been released.

Written and performed by Japanese musician Kenshi Yonezu, the song’s title is “Chikyugi” and is translated to “Spinning Globe.” Yonezu has been inspired by Miyazaki since seeing Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away at a movie theater when he was in elementary school. He even used the manga version of Nausicaä of the Valley of the...

Gkids, the acclaimed animation producer and distributor, has announced its acquisition of the North American distribution rights to “The Boy and the Heron,” the latest release from Hayao Miyazaki, the Oscar-winning director of “Spirited Away” and “The Wind Rises” and the co-founder of legendary Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli. A North American release is planned for later this year, meaning it will qualify for next year’s Academy Awards.

The film, which is being released in Japan without any trailers, TV spots or even official synopses (the Japanese title is “How Do You Live”), will be produced by Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki and features a musical score by longtime collaborator Joe Hisaishi.

According to the official release: “In an unprecedented decision by Studio Ghibli, no images, trailers, synopses, advertisements, or other information about the film have been made available to the public prior to its release in theaters in Japan.

As fans eagerly await the release of Hayao Miyazaki’s next — and purportedly last — film, many have wondered what it’s about, who proves voices and, honestly, what does its own director think of it? Now, Miyazaki has weighed in on the unorthodox release approach of his final film, How Do You Live?

As per World of Reel, Hayao Miyazaki is quite skeptical of how Studio Ghibli is handling How Do You Live?’s release, saying, “I wonder if it’ll be okay without publicity. I am beginning to worry […] I’m concerned, that’s all.”

Such concerns come after it was announced that How Do You Live? would not be released with traditional marketing…or any at all, really, with producer Toshio Suzuki — whose working relationship officially began with 1984’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind — saying, there would be “no trailers or TV commercials at all. No newspaper ads either.

Studio Ghibli and producer Toshio Suzuki announced that there will be no advertisements or trailers for Hayao Miyazaki’s “How Do You Live?” in Japan prior to its July 14 release, per a recent interview with Japanese magazine Bungei Shunji (translated by The Hollywood Reporter). All we’ve seen so far is a hand-drawn poster (below).

While the U.S. and international release dates have yet to be announced, Studio Ghibli producer and general manager Suzuki said that the distribution company sought to “do something different” with the rollout of “How Do You Live?”

“As part of company operations, over the years Ghibli has wanted people to come see the movies we’ve made,” Suzuki said. “So we’ve thought about that and done a lot of different things for that purpose — but this time we were like, ‘Eh, we don’t need to do that.’ Doing the same thing you’ve done before,...