Hayao Miyazaki

Animated film director. Born on January 5, 1941 in Tokyo, Japan. After graduating in 1963 from the Faculty of Politics and Economics at Gakushuin University, Miyazaki joined Toei Doga where he was involved in a number of animations and was the key animator and scenic designer for The Adventures of Hols, Prince of the Sun (1968). He then moved to A Pro, where he did the art design, scenic design, screenplay, and key animation for Panda Kopanda (Panda! Go Panda!, 1972). In 1973, he and Isao Takahata went to Zuiyo Eizo. Later, after working at Nippon Animation and Telecom Animation Film, he participated in the establishment of Studio Ghibli in 1985. In the interval, he did scenic design and scene organization for the TV series Heidi, Girl of the Alps (1974), directed Conan, The Boy in Future (1978), and directed his first feature film Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979). Miyazaki released the animated film Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind in 1984, for which he did the storyboards, screenplay, and direction. Nausicaa was based on the manga of the same title that he serialized in the magazine Animage. He has subsequently written, directed, and produced many other animated feature films from Studio Ghibli including Laputa: The Castle in the Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), Porco Rosso (1992), and Princess Mononoke (1997). Miyazaki's latest film, "Spirited Away" was released in July 2001. Miyazaki has also written several books including My Neighbor Totoro, The Journey of Shuna, Nani ga Eiga Ka ("What Are Movies?"), Kurosawa Akira to no Taidan Shu ("Collection of Conversations with Akira Kurosawa"), Princess Mononoke, and Shuppatsu Ten ("Starting Point"), all published by Tokuma Shoten.