Hayao Miyazaki

Many people regard animation as simple children’s entertainment, with little purpose other than to amuse and provide morals, which often lack deep meaning. The animators who create this form of amusement are often viewed in a similar manner- their only goal is to entertain the masses and earn their pay for it. The exceptions to this case are the inspirational, creative animators whose strong morals shine through their work. One of these exceptions includes Hayao Miyazaki of modern Japan. His home country, though once stricken with the casualties of World War II, inspired much of Miyazaki’s work, which has now begun to inspire Japan as well. His movies and the messages portrayed within them are widely recognized, though often taken for granted. Miyazaki can be considered a hero because of his actions throughout his life and the messages he brings to everyone, even to those who do not follow his animation closely.

In the span of his life, Hayao Miyazaki’s motivations and heroic traits are present, especially before he began his line of work as an animator. Born on January 5th, 1941, Miyazaki grew up in Tokyo, in the midst of World War II. Although very young at this time, the war had a great impact on his life. His father’s company manufactured fighter jets, and his family evacuated Tokyo from 1944 to 1947. His mother remained bedridden with spinal tuberculosis for eight years while he was still young, which also left an impression upon him. During college, he studied politics and economics, but eventually turned this away to animate children’s films. With a friend, he eventually went on to create his own studio, known as Studio Ghibli, which became a turning point for his success. His call to fame started in the 1984 with the film “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”. Since then, his popularity has increased rapidly and continues to flourish today, with many of his movies reflecting the evils of warfare and the virtue of peace and innocence. He remains in Japan, still working with Studio Ghibli to this day, at 69 years old. As well as a cultural icon, Miyazaki has proved himself an admirable hero in the eyes of many.

Miyazaki used the memories of World War II and his mother’s illness as an inspiration to animate, which was something he loved, and added to his heroic nature. Referring back towards his earlier life, Catherine Donaldson states, “…since young Miyazaki was born during WWII, the war had quite an effect on him, especially since his family’s company built fighter airplanes… Miyazaki’s mother discovered she had spinal tuberculosis, something that kept her in bed for 8 years. During these years she had a strong influence over Miyazaki” (Donaldson). His turbulent past, which would be distressing for many, inspired him greatly, and shows in his work- often his movies include scenes of airplanes and aerial attacks, or a strong mother figure to guide a character. This suggests that he does not see his past as a dark memory, but as an inspiration for later actions, which is a difficult task for most to accomplish who share a similar past. In addition, Miyazaki made a decision during his college life that ultimately affected his near future: “Miyazaki… [was] trained as an economist but retained his love of animation. In his twenties, he joined an animation studio as an in-betweener—adding drawings that go “between” the main ones to complete the action—and never looked back” (Lee). His decision to leave behind a promising career of economics and turning to a life of amateur animation was risky at the time. Choosing his career based only upon a strong desire for the subject shows how devoted Miyazaki was to becoming an animator, even if it meant leaving behind his studies. The decisions and actions he made throughout his life affected his direct line of work and added to his admirable, heroic character.

Miyazaki shows his strong morals through his movies, as they offer strong, inspirational, and colorful main protagonists that are often considered minorities, such as young women or children. According to the article, “Hayao Miyazaki: The Transnational Fantasy of Post-WWII Japan”, these main female characters have been described as “strong, independent, courageous, and brave, and usually a paragon of innocence and virtue” (Barnewolt). Miyazaki’s protagonists reflect his beliefs of how a role model should be. The inspirational characters are portrayed as young girls, and this shows that Miyazaki feels that the most heroic figures can be found in people whom most people overlook in society. Because of this, he provides a positive figure in his movies that people can respect, while simultaneously beginning to respect the lesser-acknowledged people in life. Closing in on a specific case, Miyazaki’s first movie presented his first strong female lead: “In the early 1980s Miyazaki began writing an epic manga series about Nausicaä, a fearless princess who defends her peaceful valley from a toxic jungle and inevitable war. …Nausicaä struggles to defend her people's way of life as well as respect the dangerous environment she has come to understand” (Encyclopedia of World Biography). Within this character, Miyazaki’s own beliefs begin to shine through: the beliefs that courage and peaceful intentions ultimately bring the world to order, and that nature was meant to live in harmony among men. The movie allows the viewers to see these morals and inspire the people to act upon them- if a young woman named Nausicaä could accomplish so much, there was little reason to doubt that they could do so as well. Miyazaki proves his heroism by providing his followers with positive, inspirational role models, encouraging them to do good in the world, just as his characters did.

The ideals that Hayao Miyazaki includes in his movies- peace, love of nature, innocence, and anti-war- are influential and have begun to define Japan’s modern culture. Reflecting upon Miyazaki as an animator, Chris Barnewolt states: “Miyazaki plays the role of a creator – his fantasies and imaginations resonate internationally in their universal ideals of peace and harmony, beauty and innocence, and also among many Japanese who look to the creation of a new Japanese national and cultural identity in response to the old, seen as irredeemably discredited by the still-lingering horror of war” (Barnewolt). Miyazaki’s insightful views on how the world should be are present in his animation, in plain sight to anyone who watches his movies. These ideals are ones that Japan has looked upon with distinct fondness, and has begun to model its culture after them, eager to erase its unpleasant past of World War II.

Going into further detail regarding Miyazaki’s ideas, Barnewolt also adds, “Complementing his hatred of war, violence, and militarism, Miyazaki’s films are famous for breathtaking settings of wondrous natural beauty, and Miyazaki’s love for all living things is evidenced by the strong pro-nature, pro-environmentalist and conservationist themes in his stories” (Barnewolt). Environmentalism and pacifism, in this day, are often respected and acted upon by many, as an attempt to create a better world and undo the damages of human carelessness. Miyazaki incorporates these into his complex films, which inspires many to try and change the world to make it as how Miyazaki feels it should be. Overall, Hayao Miyazaki is a role model to those who support his ideals of a strong, harmonious world, he provides additional role models throughout his inspirational movies, and he proves himself a hero through his actions and intentions.