David Farnor | On 30, Jan 2014

There are few film-makers in the world who can leave you with a childlike smile on your face after watching their work. There are even fewer who can do it with every single movie.

Hayao Miyazaki is one of them.

The Japanese director retired from feature films in 2013, following the release of The Wind Rises. In 2014, Studio Ghibli celebrated him with their first ever box set in the UK: all 11 of his films released together on Blu-ray.

In 2020, Studio Ghibli is going one step further with all of its films (except for Grave of the Fireflies) being released on Netflix UK.

There is something special about Miyazaki’s movies that is almost impossible to define, but it inspires an almost universal happiness and wonder – and a longing to treasure it all in whatever format possible. Ask anyone to describe the director’s films and the same word crops up again and again: magic.

And so we look back over the master of animation’s contribution to cinema.

Across 11 articles, we will return to a different film by the director in an attempt to recapture just what makes Hayao’s animation so enchanting – beginning with a retrospective feature of the man’s career.

The man, the work, the beard. We proudly present… The Magic of Miyazaki:

 

Astonishment and empathy: The magic of Hayao Miyazaki

by Nathanael Smith

Auteur for hire: The real world of Kiki’s Delivery Service

by Simon Kinnear

Available now on Netflix UK

Nature and Shintoism: The universal religion of My Neighbour Totoro

by Clarisse Loughrey

Available now on Netflix UK

The fantasy of flight: Porco Rosso and Miyazaki’s lifelong obsession

by Matthew Turner

Available now on Netflix UK

Tension and balance: Environmental optimism and Laputa: Castle in the Sky

by Nathanael Smith

Available now on Netflix UK

Adulthood and imagination: The secret to Spirited Away’s success

by Neil Alcock

Available now on Netflix UK

The Disaster Artist: Hayao Miyazaki and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

by Chris Blohm

Available now on Netflix UK

The Sound of Studio Ghibli: Joe Hisaishi and Princess Mononoke

by Ivan Radford

Available now on Netflix UK

Narratives of war: The conflicting adaptation of Howl’s Moving Castle

by Alex Clements

Available now on Netflix UK

Simple, not simplistic: The joy of childhood in Ponyo

by Philip Bayles

Available now on Netflix UK

Miyazaki’s Motto: Living for art as The Wind Rises

by Ivan Radford

Available now on Netflix UK

Pick up and play? The Castle of Cagliostro: Studio Ghibli’s first video game

by Ivan Radford

Available to buy and rent online from iTunes.

 

Note: These articles were originally published in 2014 to accompany the Blu-ray box set.

 

Photo: My Neighbour Totoro (© 1988 Nibariki – G)

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