Turning Point: 1997-2008

Nowadays, when telling old fables, it almost seems as though the old fairy tales have been defanged; it’s almost as if Momotarō the Peach Boy goes to Onigashima Island to destroy the demons, and as soon as he lands the demons surrender. What do you think of this trend? MIYAZAKI: Right after the end of World War II, the old children’s fairy tales—su

Saint-Exupéry died because he was bound to die. I want to honor his way of living. It shouldn’t matter if one has setbacks, or dies from drink, or dies in an airplane. We all have the right to make that choice, and we should be entitled to it. There’s no need for all of us to live in a healthy way, always being positive. Poets in particular should

The history of aircraft is mercilessness itself. Despite this, I love stories about aviators. I won’t discuss my reasons as they would seem like justifications. It is most likely because I have a streak of brutality in me. I feel I would suffocate if all I had was my daily life.

Of the films we made at Ghibli, the first films, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, and Totoro weren’t able to recoup their production costs from the theatrical releases. We were finally able to make a profit from secondary rights. That switched with Kiki’s Delivery Service. So it wasn’t as if we had a warm, receptive audience f

To the generals, aircraft were reserves of military capacity, to the manufacturing industrialists they were pure profit, to engineers they were professional accomplishments, and to the young men who flew in them they were a chance for glorious fame and excitement.

EBERT: On the very first film, how did you decide to go to work on the first day to make your film? What was in your heart at that time? MIYAZAKI: Hmm. When I start a film, I think about the long journey ahead and, with a heavy heart, I start trudging along.

They well knew that a puff of air blown on a whim by the sky could destroy a mail plane. I wonder what kind of world they saw with their heightened senses amid such widespread danger.

I didn’t make this film to be a message about the natural environment. In fact, I meant to state my objection to the way environmental issues are treated. That is, I didn’t want to split off the global environment from human beings. I wanted to include the entire world of humans and other living creatures, as well as the global environment, water,

At Studio Ghibli, the old main staff is departing, and those in their early thirties will form the new core group. I will also retire from Ghibli and participate from the outside. I’m looking forward to seeing how the staff will react to me as I meddle in their work.

By the way, when a director makes a film, does he have in his mind a clear image of the completed work? MIYAZAKI: No, that’s not the case for me. It’s only after it is completed that I see what I have made. I don’t see the entirety at the initial planning stage. The part that can be explained in words and sentences is only the surface layer of what