Unit 5 Essay Anastasios-Odyssefs Ntinopoulos

8/2/2019 Unit 5 Essay Anastasios-Odyssefs Ntinopoulos

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CG Arts and Animation

Unit 5: AnimationEssay

26/4/2012Anastasios-Odyssefs Ntinopoulos


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Introduction:

This essay will explore Hayao Miyazakis career and work as an animator. Also his effect oncontemporary animation and in the industry of animation will be explored and analyzed. Hisearly career and his achievements in the animation industry will be discussed. A variety ofsources will be used.

Main Essay

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese manga artist, film director and an animator of many popularanime films. Hayao Miyazaki is one of the best animation directors of all times. He has beencharacterized as the Walt Disney of Japan and his movies have won many awards globally.Miyazaki was influenced from Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka was a manga artist. Miyazaki from hisyoung age loved Tezukas manga. Tezukas manga were a great inspiration for Miyazaki eventhe fact that it was really hard for him to write his own manga. Yuri Norstein was an influence forMiyazaki, Yuri was a Russian animator who directed Tale of Tales (1979). Hayao Miyazakiwas also influenced and inspired by many novelists and writers. Also the early short films ofDisney influenced him even the fact that Miyazaki doesnt like Disney in terms ofstorytelling.

Figure 1: Hayao Miyazakis picture.

His work has pioneered and inspired many animators. He was born in Tokyo on January 5 in1941. He started his career as an animator at the Toei Douga studio. By this time he wasinvolved in many early classic Japanese animations. Hayao Miyazaki in 1958 before beinginvolved in the animation industry became interested in animated movies, his imagination wasstirred by Hakujaden(Legend of the White Snake), a motion picture that was produced by ToeiAnimation and was Japan's first color feature-length anime. In 1963 Hayao became an animatorfor Toei Animation. In 1968 there was the year in which Hayao played his first major role in ananimation called Prince of the Sunwhich was released in 1968.

Figure 2: Prince of the Sun(1968) animation.


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His collaboration was with the chief animator Yasuo Otsuka and the director Isao Takahata.Takahata would later serve as the producer for some of Miyazaki's movies. By his earlyinvolvement in the industry of animation films he drew attention with his great drawing skills andwith the endless ideas of movies he had. In 1973 he was involved in World Masterpiece TheaterTV animation. In 1978 he directed his first TV series, "Future Boy Conan"(1978).

Figure 3: The main characters from Future Boy Conan(1978).

The Future Boy Conan(1978) which was directed by Hayao Miyazaki is set in the future afterWorld War 3 where adventures happen between the people who have survived. The charactersand the storyboard of the anime shows the creativity and the inspirational ideas of HayaoMiyazaki in terms of direction. A fantasy anime with many sci-fi places and adventures whereeverything is made up adequately to make a good example of how animes should be. Theproduction values, while dated, are superb, and succeed in showcasing the series in all its glory.Its also coincidentally the prototype for all of Miyazakis later work, and elements of every singlemovie hes worked on since can be found here, wonderfully utilized to move this wonderfuladventure along. (THEM Anime Reviews, 2003-2004). In 1979 he moved to Tky MovieShinsha animation studios where he directed his first movie The Castle of Cagliostro(1979).By then he had established himself as an outstanding background-scene artist for both motionpictures and television animation. In the early 1980s he began one of his most

popular manga series, based on the character Nausica, a princess living in a future wherehumanity is in peril of extinction. In 1984 he released Nausica of the Valley of theWindwhich was based on the manga he had started it two years earlier. Miyazaki wrote thescreenplay and painted the scenes and the characters that would be used by the animatorsteam. Nausica of the Valley of the Wind(1984) was a success which led to the establishmentof an animation studio, studio Ghibli. In the animation studio Ghibli Hayao Miyazaki directed andanimated many films which were very successful and won many awards. Hayao Miyazaki in thestudio Ghibli worked together with his friend and colleague Takahata. In 1988 Miyazaki in studioGhibli released the movie My Neighbor Totoro. It has been rated as one of the greatestchildren's motion pictures ever made.

Figure 4: Picture from the movie: My Neighbor Totoro(1988).


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The movie tells the story of two young girls who find a magic forest with magic Totorocreatures. The movie has a deep ecological theme. Hayao Miyazaki always express hisconcerns about nature and life in his films. ''My Neighbor Totoro'' is based on experience,situation and exploration--not on conflict and threat. (Ebert, 2001)Because of the bad pairing ofthe movie with Takahata's Grave of theFireflies Japanese audience stayed away from bothfilms.Even the fact that the movie when it came to the public wasnt a great success the filmhas remained one of the best family animations. The movie gives you a warm experience aboutfamily and takes you into the magical adventures of the two girls. Hayao Miyazakis work isamazing. In his animation film ''My Neighbor Totoro'' he uses the old traditional way of frameby frame for animating the characters of the animation. Miyazaki is the ''Japanese Disney,'' it'ssaid, although that is a little unfair, since Walt Disney was more producer and visionary thananimator, and Miyazaki rolls up his sleeves and draws his films himself. (Ebert, 2001) Hisdrawing and painting skills are amazing. Hayao Miyazaki used to work in this traditional wayuntil his very recent films. Characters from the movie served as Studio Ghiblis logo.

Figure 5: Studio Ghiblis logo from the animation ''My Neighbor Totoro''(1988).

In 1997 Hayao Miyazaki directed and wrote the screenplay of the animation movie PrincessMononoke. Although he was criticized in the Japanese press Miyazaki with this animationmovie became widely popular. This movie differs from others Miyazakis movie. Its more darkerand more intense than his other classic movies for children. It was a very big success in Japanand set a record of grossing over 150$. The movie out grossed Titanic (1999) in Japan. WithPrincess Mononoke (1997) Miyazaki achieved to attract a large amount of the Americanaudience. One of Miyazakis favorite motif that has been used in Princess of Mononoke (1997)is to involve the human protagonist in entering strange places and forbidden lands, which heuses with Princess of Mononoke (1997) with the forbidden forests.

Figure 6: Picture of the forest from the movie Princess of Mononoke(1997).

The main story of the animation is that a young warrior is trying to save his life by a deadlycurse while protecting his village. He goes into a magic journey full of adventures and battles toachieve it. All the action is set in lush Japanese landscapes whose bright blue skies andgorgeous sunsets evoke a paradisiacal garden of earthly delights.(Holden, 1993)Miyazakioften uses in his animation young characters and especially children to express his thoughts.Miyazakis great painted backgrounds in combination with Pauls McCarthys great illustrationscreate a great setting. In Hayao Miyazakis Princess of Mononoke he express his


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environmental concerns about nature as he does in every film he produces. The movie isgreatly illustrated and animated. The film features a superb blend of hand-drawn cells and fluidcomputer-generated motion, but its look is alsogratifyingly understated. (Maslin, 1999)Miyazakis Princes of Mononokeused computer-generated motion to achieve its results. Thiswas one of the movies Miyazaki used computers. Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft, whose''Mulan'' shows strong evidence of Mr. Miyazaki's influence, are on the record with ''Miyazaki is

like a god to us.'' (Maslin, 1999)Miyazakis work has influenced many animators and many ofhis motifs on his movies has been elaborated and inspired by other artists in their movies. In2001 Hayao Miyazaki directed and produced Spirited Away. The movie broke all Japanesebox-office records and was a popular success around the globe.

Figure 7: Chihiro with Haku from the movie Spirited Away2001

The movie features Miyazakis love for children and nature. Spirited Away has beencharacterized the greatest animated motion picture ever made and widely deemed one of thebest motion pictures of any kind. The story is about a magic world where a little girl enters withher parents. Never remotely didactic, the film is ultimately a self-fulfillment drama that toucheson religious, ethical, ecological and psychological issues. (Adams, 2006) Miyazakis motifs inhis movies remains the same but still his movies are exceptional. The great production and thestoryboard has made the film one of the best animations ever. Hayao Miyazaki with his workand with his inspiring ideas for his films has inspired many artists. Mark Osborn, director ofDreamWorksKung Fu Panda, has credited Miyazakis influence on him (D. Greydanus, 2010)

Miyazakis style and art has as I said before inspired many artists. JamesCamerons Avatar has elicited various comparisons to Miyazaki, and Cameron hasacknowledged that he is a big fan of Miyazaki as well as of animein general.(D. Greydanus,2010)Avatars story has taken many influences from Miyazakis work. Also Walt Disneysanimations have many influences from Miyazakis work. Another animator of Disney GlenKeane who has worked in many popular Disneys films such as Aladdin (1992), Beauty andthe Beast (1991), The Little Mermaid (1989) has stated that Miyazakis influence plays a verybig role on his work and on Disney.

Conclusion:

Hayaos Miyazakis is one notable animator who has inspired many other animators. His work

and his movies have been great and have received many awards. His stories are reallypioneering in the animation industry along with his animation style. As I said before he has beencharacterized as the Walt Disney of Japan. His movies have out grossed many popularAmerican movies and many of his movies have been voted as the best of their genre. He hasbeen widely known in Europe and his work is very important in the animation movies industry.


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Illustration List:

Figure 1: Hayao Miyazakis picture. [online image]http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjcyNjk2OTkwNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTk0MTQ3Mg@@._V1._SY314_CR17,0,214,314_.jpg

(Accessed: 26/4/2012)

Figure 2: Prince of the Sun (1968) animation. [online image]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EXgDI8DeN_E/SnX26yALyVI/AAAAAAAAEqk/_Lvb3p5tiso/s400/horus.jpg(Accessed: 26/4/2012)

Figure 3: The main characters from Future Boy Conan (1978). [online image]http://www.highharbor.net/~daffy/conanpix/fbcb.gif(Accessed: 26/4/2012)

Figure 4: Figure 4: Picture from the movie: My Neighbor Totoro (1988). [online image]

https://reader009.{domain}/reader009/html5/0502/5ae9c10a4c398/5ae9c110509ce.jpg(Accessed: 26/4/2012)

Figure 5: Studio Ghiblis logo from the animation ''My Neighbor Totoro'' (1988). [online image]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/el/7/75/Studioghibli.gif(Accessed: 26/4/2012)

Figure 6: : Picture of the forest from the movie Princess of Mononoke (1997). [online image]http://www.susancohangardens.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/033_forest_leaves-300x184.jpg(Accessed: 26/4/2012)

Figure 7: Chihiro with Haku from the movie Spirited Away 2001 [online image]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zAoyoHwC5IQ/S91xCg27VRI/AAAAAAAAIa4/UKnnYxxWbsk/s1600/Spirited+Away+(2001)+2.jpg(Accessed: 26/4/2012)

Bibliography:

ThemAnime.org (2003-2004), Film Reviewhttp://www.themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=810(Accessed: 26/4/2012)

Stephen, Holden (1993) Film Review

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F0CE7DC1430F937A25756C0A965958260&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes(Accessed: 26/4/2012)

Janet, Maslin (1999) Film Reviewhttp://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C01E2DF1E3FF934A1575AC0A96F958260(Accessed: 26/4/2012)

Derek, Adams (2006) Film Review
http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjcyNjk2OTkwNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTk0MTQ3Mg@@._V1._SY314_CR17,0,214,314_.jpghttp://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjcyNjk2OTkwNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTk0MTQ3Mg@@._V1._SY314_CR17,0,214,314_.jpghttp://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjcyNjk2OTkwNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTk0MTQ3Mg@@._V1._SY314_CR17,0,214,314_.jpghttp://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjcyNjk2OTkwNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTk0MTQ3Mg@@._V1._SY314_CR17,0,214,314_.jpghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EXgDI8DeN_E/SnX26yALyVI/AAAAAAAAEqk/_Lvb3p5tiso/s400/horus.jpghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EXgDI8DeN_E/SnX26yALyVI/AAAAAAAAEqk/_Lvb3p5tiso/s400/horus.jpghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EXgDI8DeN_E/SnX26yALyVI/AAAAAAAAEqk/_Lvb3p5tiso/s400/horus.jpghttp://www.highharbor.net/~daffy/conanpix/fbcb.gifhttp://www.highharbor.net/~daffy/conanpix/fbcb.gifhttp://www.anonlineuniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/totoro-image-5.jpghttp://www.anonlineuniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/totoro-image-5.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/el/7/75/Studioghibli.gifhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/el/7/75/Studioghibli.gifhttp://www.susancohangardens.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/033_forest_leaves-300x184.jpghttp://www.susancohangardens.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/033_forest_leaves-300x184.jpghttp://www.susancohangardens.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/033_forest_leaves-300x184.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zAoyoHwC5IQ/S91xCg27VRI/AAAAAAAAIa4/UKnnYxxWbsk/s1600/Spirited+Away+(2001)+2.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zAoyoHwC5IQ/S91xCg27VRI/AAAAAAAAIa4/UKnnYxxWbsk/s1600/Spirited+Away+(2001)+2.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zAoyoHwC5IQ/S91xCg27VRI/AAAAAAAAIa4/UKnnYxxWbsk/s1600/Spirited+Away+(2001)+2.jpghttp://www.themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=810http://www.themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=810http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F0CE7DC1430F937A25756C0A965958260&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoeshttp://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F0CE7DC1430F937A25756C0A965958260&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoeshttp://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F0CE7DC1430F937A25756C0A965958260&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoeshttp://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C01E2DF1E3FF934A1575AC0A96F958260http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C01E2DF1E3FF934A1575AC0A96F958260http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C01E2DF1E3FF934A1575AC0A96F958260http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F0CE7DC1430F937A25756C0A965958260&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoeshttp://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F0CE7DC1430F937A25756C0A965958260&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoeshttp://www.themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=810http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zAoyoHwC5IQ/S91xCg27VRI/AAAAAAAAIa4/UKnnYxxWbsk/s1600/Spirited+Away+(2001)+2.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zAoyoHwC5IQ/S91xCg27VRI/AAAAAAAAIa4/UKnnYxxWbsk/s1600/Spirited+Away+(2001)+2.jpghttp://www.susancohangardens.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/033_forest_leaves-300x184.jpghttp://www.susancohangardens.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/033_forest_leaves-300x184.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/el/7/75/Studioghibli.gifhttp://www.anonlineuniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/totoro-image-5.jpghttp://www.highharbor.net/~daffy/conanpix/fbcb.gifhttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EXgDI8DeN_E/SnX26yALyVI/AAAAAAAAEqk/_Lvb3p5tiso/s400/horus.jpghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_EXgDI8DeN_E/SnX26yALyVI/AAAAAAAAEqk/_Lvb3p5tiso/s400/horus.jpghttp://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjcyNjk2OTkwNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTk0MTQ3Mg@@._V1._SY314_CR17,0,214,314_.jpghttp://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjcyNjk2OTkwNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTk0MTQ3Mg@@._V1._SY314_CR17,0,214,314_.jpghttp://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjcyNjk2OTkwNF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTk0MTQ3Mg@@._V1._SY314_CR17,0,214,314_.jpg


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http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/75161/spirited_away.html(Accessed: 26/4/2012)

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(Accessed: 26/4/2012)
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Unit 5 Essay Anastasios-Odyssefs Ntinopoulos