Oh, To Disappear into the World of Hayao Miyazaki! Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles will open its Hayao Miyazaki Exhibit on April 30, 2021...I am counting the days
When I think of my childhood, the magical world and characters’ of anime master, filmmaker and storytell, Hayao Miyazaki, play an important part of the memory. I have notebooks full of my attempts to draw Ponyo, Totoro, and countless others of his animated creations. My sister and I would reenact Ponyo and Sosuke at the beach, and in Central Park we would hunt endlessly in trees and bushes for Totoro, that big, soft, grey creature who loves naps.
What is anime? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: anime is a style of animation originating in Japan that is characterized by stark, colorful graphics depicting characters in action-filled plots often with fantastic and futuristic themes.
It is definitely not a Disney Pixar cartoon. Look at the difference between the two:
To me, one is no better than the other, they are simply different. One reason why, at the age of 18, I still watch Miyazaki’s movies over and over again is how the stories, the characters, their expressions and motivations, seem to mean something different to me every time I watch them. I find this same creative freedom and transformation when I visit art museums or walk through Central Park and stop to study a statue or sculpture. Miyazaki’s world presents possibilities, not answers.
What remains constant in Miyazaki’s vision is the theme of empowerment amidst an ever-changing and sometimes dangerous and scary world, for both children and adults.
“Many of my movies have strong female leads--brave, self-sufficient girls that don't think twice about fighting for what they believe with all their heart. They'll need a friend, or a supporter, but never a savior. Any woman is just as capable of being a hero as any man.” ― Hayao Miyazaki
Ponyo eating soup for the first time.
The 2021 retrospective in L.A. will be the first time Miyazaki’s work will be exhibited in North America. Visitors will be transported to Miyazaki’s world upon entering the museum through a tree-installation and galleries and into a special room with an animated sky.
Imageboard featuring Satsuki and Mei from “My Neighbor Totoro” by Hayao Miyazaki. (Hayao Miyazaki / © 1988 Studio Ghibli)
Academy Museum exhibition curator Jessica Niebel told the Los Angeles Times that she did not want to set up his work chronologically, but thematically: “He [Miyazaki] always says he wants to make movies that are both entertaining and also meaningful. He covers so many important themes and he creates such special moments that are interesting from an emotional and central point of view. Right away I knew that I wanted to approach it more thematically.”
Imageboard for “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” by Hayao Miyazaki. (Hayao Miyazaki / © 1984 Studio Ghibli)
His themes are not centered on romance or a quest to defeat evil, as many animated movies are, but instead he explores environmentalism, social justice, feminism and the human quest for self-understanding.
“I’ve become skeptical of the unwritten rule that just because a boy and girl appear in the same feature, a romance must ensue. Rather, I want to portray a slightly different relationship, one where the two mutually inspire each other to live - if I’m able to, then perhaps I’ll be closer to portraying a true expression of love.” ― Hayao Miyazaki
“I would like to make a film to tell children "it's good to be alive."
