Sublime

—The music was also particularly good in this film. Miyazaki: I had absolutely no involvement with the music at all. I even joked at one point that maybe we didn’t need any music in the film [laughs], but we couldn’t get away with that. So I left everything regarding music up to Takahata-san, because he knows much more about it. Jo Hisaishi had als

Miyazaki: Yes, I did make a storyboard of the return of the umbrella. But that would make Totoro understand things too much. There is no way he would understand lending and borrowing. And there is no way Totoro would have an aversion to getting wet in the rain. —Because he is an animal. Miyazaki: Right. And rain helps plants grow. Since he lives as

It may sound trite when I say that I make animation to entertain children, but it is not trite at all. I certainly do not make animated films just so they will be popular with children. I try to create what I wanted to see when I was a child, or what I believe my own children want to see. We have all heard folktales. You can tell when you read them

Some people also suffer from the misconception that Isao Takahata-san and I are both some sort of environmentalists, and that we will make a film out of anything as long as it has an ecological theme or message. Nothing could be further from the truth. Such a film would be like a big fat dried-up log, propped upright. What we need is a living thing

MIYAZAKI: Even if the buildings are interesting, the problem is what’s inside. No matter how resourcefully one builds a prison, it is, after all, a prison.