(reflections on the creative process)

“If a tank’s form and function is drawn with a plastic model perspective, no matter how much detail is used, it’s simply not possible to imagine the lives of the actual humans inside. They are real men in a hot steel box filled with the stench of burning oil and explosive gasses, surrounded by roaring sounds and vibrations – men who peer out from the limited perspective of their filthy periscopes at the enemy in kill-or-be-killed situations. And it’s even harder to imagine the lives of the humans outside, crushed by tank treads as they advance.¹”
(Hayao Miyazaki)

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese man most well-known as the co-founder of Studio Ghibli. Time and time again, his animated films strike the hearts of children and adults alike. Essentially, anime is a form of storytelling. Miyazaki’s stories communicate hope to viewers in a manner which resonates beyond time and culture. The quote above is from an essay he wrote in 1980 about animation, specifically his essay spoke about movement through vehicles in the story. While I am no animator, I picked up the collection of his essays to learn more about Miyazaki’s approach to creating immersive worlds that connect deeply to the human condition.

Communicating Connection

“The other [way of thinking] is almost instinctive for a creative person – I want to create something captivating.²“

I was first introduced to Miyazaki the summer between elementary and middle school. A couple friends coordinated an anime group to watch and discuss films. Unfortunately, we were all going to separate middle schools and coordinating a group without phones or transportation grew to be difficult. After we disbanded, there was a long gap until my next interaction with anime. When I was in late high school, my brother shared some of his favorite anime shows with me, which led into the second touch point with the artform. However, I had no community who enjoyed anime, apart from him, so my interest faded to the background again. College-life rolled around and enveloped me with all the highs and lows. During this time, anime colored in my experience due to the relatability of ambitious characters working their hardest towards a goal, and the interest finally stuck.

Miyazaki shares his thoughts on why young adults are most interested in anime through an essay written in 1979. He writes, “Personally, I was never more passionate about manga than when preparing for my college entrance exams. It’s a period of life where young people appear to have a great deal of freedom but are in many ways actually very oppressed. Just when they find themselves powerfully attracted by members of the opposite sex, they have to really crack the books. To escape from this depressing situation, they often find themselves wishing they could live in a world of their own – a world they can say is truly theirs, a world unknown even to their parents. To young people, anime is something they can incorporate into this private world. I often refer to this feeling as one of yearning for a lost world. It’s a sense that although you may currently be living in a world of constraints, if you were free from those constraints, you would be able to do all sorts of things.“³

Everyone has their own private world to escape a present reality. During those college years when anime comforted me, I related to the young adult experience Miyazaki wrote about “…this feeling as one of yearning for a lost world.” Humanity longs with gentle, sometimes desperate, hope for their ideals to be actualized right now. But, building the life we want to live takes time. Our spirits need to be bolstered, comforted, or encouraged along the way. Although life circumstances may bind us, stories free us.

Communicating Empathy

Any great piece of art (especially stories) communicates the human condition in a relatable manner to a specific audience. Miyazaki intentionally creates characters children can relate to and see themselves in, which connects to adults as they reflect on the internal child.

“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… My foundation is this: I want to send a message of cheer to all those wandering aimlessly through life.⁴”

The character-driven plots in the midst of beautiful settings transport the audience into a world far enough away from the present that Miyazaki is able to speak directly into our lives. Ultimately, those who watch a Miyazaki film express feeling comforted and encouraged, which is exactly what he set out to do.

Up until this point, I have largely spoken about being on the receiving end of anime/art, but Miyazaki’s audience in the essays and lectures are not to the viewer, he is speaking to aspiring animators. Beyond his technical advice, Miyazaki is sharing the need to be intentional in our work. Animators, writers, artists, etc. tell stories by observing their environment carefully and infusing intentionality into ordinary experiences. Details without empathetic connection will fall short because one cannot create a story by setting alone. Creators are called to understand and communicate the human experience – people we agree with and those we disagree with. Every detail is meant to reflect back to the characters, and the characters slowly inform the exterior world.

Art magnifies the ordinary into the extraordinary. Drama becomes heightened to highlight a point, which would be exhausting at the same intensity in real life. However, for an hour or two, the character’s experience informs my own. Writing, for me, is a way to make sense of the world at times when life feels uncertain or confusing. I am the first one to benefit from my story, which hopefully makes space for introspection and self-reflection in anyone who interacts with the final product. While creating is naturally fun, it is also a responsibility. It is full of the hardest work a person can do, sometimes with no recognition (especially in terms of a long project like an animated film).

Communicating Hope

“The question then becomes, what is hope? And the conclusion I’d have to venture is that hope involves working and struggling along with people who are important to you. In fact, I’ve gotten to the point where I think this is what it means to be alive.⁵“

Miyazaki is one of the most famous animators of our time, it did not happen overnight, and it did not happen by accident. He worked hard at his craft, observed the world around him empathetically, and gave his everything to make the invisible, visible (as it says in Romans⁶). Art requires nothing less than all of us, which is why art is ultimately a reflection of hope. While we give our whole selves to a project, we are not alone. Hope invites us to co-labor with others in endeavors that are important to us. Miyazaki dedicates himself to each project he set out to do with patience and faithfulness⁷. What starts as an idea in his head is slowly worked out piece by piece, each stage has a new problem to encounter, until finally the film is finished and given to the world as a gift.

Conclusion

Miyazaki inspires me.

His hard work and dedication results in films that draw me in and make me believe there is really a place out there with magicians, curses, talking animals, and more. He also makes me believe in the friendships around me, hope in my life experiences, and joy found in a life well-lived. Experiencing his films connects me to my humanity and challenges me to dream bigger. In my opinion, this is what art is all about.

1. Starting Point, Hayao Miyazaki (1996), p 45-46 – Essay from July 1980 ↩︎
2. Starting Point, Hayao Miyazaki (1996), p 47 – Lecture from June 1982 ↩︎
3. Starting Point, Hayao Miyazaki (1996), p. 19 – Essay from March 1979 ↩︎
4. Starting Point, Hayao Miyazaki (1996), p. 50-51 – Lecture from June 1982 ↩︎
5. Starting Point, Hayao Miyazaki (1996), p. 170 – Essay from July 1994 ↩︎
6. Reminds me of Romans 8:24-25 – “For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see? But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently.” ↩︎
7. Reminds me of Hebrews 11:1 – “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” ↩︎