The Carton King of Japan

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The Carton King of Japan

Television cartoons are big business in Japan, where around 40 new animated TV series are produced every week. One of the country’s most popular animators, Hayao Miyazaki, has produced some of the great classics of Japanese TV animation. Nevertheless,he finds television too restrictive, and prefers to make full-length animated movies.

  Though he is not well-known outside Asia, Hayao Miyazaki is a household name in his homeland. His amazing drawing skills, entertaining plots, and well-rounded characters have made timeless masterpieces out of films such as “Princess Mononoke” and “My Neighbor Totoro.” He is widely respected by Japanese of all ages, and has won the admiration of animators and filmmakers around the world.

  Hayao Miyazaki was born in Tokyo in 1941. His family owned a factory that built airplanes, and he fell in love with planes and flying at an early age. Anyone familiar with his films has seen the often breathtaking flying scenes that are his personal trademark.

Miyazaki’s career as an animator began in 1963 when he joined Toei Animation to work on a TV series called “Wolf Boy Ken.” While there, he fell in love with a fellow animator, Akemi Ota, who later became his wife.

At Toei, he also teamed up with Isao Takahata, beginning a partnership that would last many years and lead to some of the great success stories of Japanese animated film. Miyazaki and Takahata changed studios several times and worked on a number of successful TV series in the 60s and 70s. Both men were, however, more interested in the challenge of producing feature-length animated movies.

In 1984, Miyazaki released a film based on his own manga series, “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.” It was a huge success, enabling Miyazaki and Takahata to set up their own company, Studio Ghibli. They were finally free to concentrate on doing what they liked best: making high-quality animated feature films.

Studio Ghibli got its name from an Italian word meaning “a hot wind that blows through the Sahara Desert.” It was used by Italian pilots during World War II in reference to their planes, and Miyazaki, who loves both flying and Italy, felt the name captured the spirit of his work.

  Since it opened in 1985, Studio Ghibli has gone from strength to strength. “Princess Mononoke” is the second-biggest box-office hit in Japanese movie history, and “My Neighbor Totoro,” as well as attracting huge audiences, was successful in another way. Sales of stuffed toys based on its odd central character helped the studio build a sound financial base.

Throughout his career, Miyazaki has traveled widely in search of inspiration. Now, he is firmly established as a figure who provides inspiration to others. Skilled animators at the Disney Corporation,with whom Ghibli recently set up a partnership, have acknowledged their debt to Hayao Miyazaki. He has, without a doubt, earned his place in the animators’ hall of fame.

动画大师宫崎骏

  在日本，电视卡通是个大生意，每个星期会制作出大约40部新的电视动画系列剧。宫崎骏是日本最受欢迎的漫画家之一，他曾制作了多部日本电视动画的经典巨作。然而，他发现电视创作太受限制，因而更喜欢创作正片长度的动画电影。

  尽管他在非亚洲国家的名气并不响，但在他的国家，宫崎骏可是家喻户晓。他令人惊叹的绘画技巧、引人入胜的故事情节和充满活力的人物使其多部作品成为影坛上不朽佳作，如《魔法公主》和《龙猫》。在日本他广受各年龄段人的喜爱，也赢得全世界漫画家与制片人的一致赞赏。

  1941年宫崎骏出生于日本东京。他的家族拥有一座制造飞机的工厂，他早年也曾醉心于飞机及飞行。熟悉宫崎骏电影的人，都很熟悉他影片中经常出现的常令人叹为观止的飞行场景，那正是宫崎骏动画的一大特色。

  宫崎骏于1963年加入东映动画社，开始了他的动漫画家生涯，他参与了创作电视卡通系列片《狼少年》。在那儿他与同为漫画家的大田明美相恋并结为夫妻。

  在东映工作时，宫崎骏和高畑勋搭档，开始了他们多年的合作关系，也因此创造了日本动画电影史上数部超级卖座片。宫崎骏与高畑勋先后换了好几家工作室并在60和70年代参与制作了好几部极为成功的电视卡通片。然而更让他们感兴趣的挑战则是制作正片长度的动画电影。

  1984年，宫崎骏发行了一部根据他自己的漫画集改编而成的电影—《风之谷》。这部影片获得了空前的成功，使宫崎骏与高畑勋得以自行筹组公司—吉卜力工作室。他们终于能够自由地全身心地投入到他们最爱的事业中—制作高质量的正片长度的动画电影。

  吉卜力工作室的名称源于一个意大利词，意为“吹过撒哈拉沙漠的热风”。二战期间意大利飞行员用这个名字给他们的飞机命名；喜欢飞行和意大利的宫崎骏，觉得这个名字最能抓住他作品的精髓。

  自1985年开业以来，吉卜力工作室的事业蒸蒸日上。《魔法公主》高居日本电影史上卖座片的第二名；而《龙猫》不仅吸引了大批观众，而且还在另一个领域取得巨大成功。根据该片主角奇特造型制作的填充玩具的销售额为工作室奠立了稳定的财力基础。

  在其动漫画家生涯里，宫崎骏曾远赴各地旅行寻找灵感。如今，作为一位启发他人灵感的人，宫崎骏已确立了其不可动摇的地位。最近迪斯尼公司与吉卜力工作室建立了合作关系，该公司技术高超的漫画家对宫崎骏的贡献也感叹不已。毫无疑问，宫崎骏已在漫画家的名人堂中赢得一席之地。