Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished filmmakers in the history of animation.
Princess Mononoke is a 1997 Japanese animated epic historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network and Dentsu. The film stars the voices of Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yūko Tanaka, Kaoru Kobayashi, Masahiko Nishimura, Tsunehiko Kamijo, Akihiro Miwa, Mitsuko Mori, and Hisaya Morishige.
Spirited Away is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Tohokushinsha Film, and Mitsubishi and distributed by Toho. The film features the voices of Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Takeshi Naito, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Tsunehiko Kamijō, Takehiko Ono, and Bunta Sugawara.
Hideaki Anno is a Japanese animator, filmmaker and actor. His most celebrated creation, the Evangelion franchise, has had a significant influence on the anime television industry and Japanese popular culture, with many deeming Anno as one of the medium's first auteurs. Anno's style is defined by his postmodernist approach and the extensive portrayal of characters' thoughts and emotions, often through unconventional scenes presenting the mental deconstruction of those characters.
Satoshi Kon was a Japanese film director, animator, screenwriter and manga artist from Sapporo, Hokkaido, and a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association (JAniCA). He was a graduate of the Graphic Design department of the Musashino Art University. He is best known for his acclaimed anime films Perfect Blue (1997), Millennium Actress (2001), Tokyo Godfathers (2003), and Paprika (2006), and the TV series Paranoia Agent (2004). He died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 46 on August 24, 2010.
Makoto Niitsu, known as Makoto Shinkai, is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, author, and manga artist.
Millennium Actress is a 2001 Japanese animated drama film co-written and directed by Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse. Loosely based on the lives of actresses Setsuko Hara and Hideko Takamine, it tells the story of two documentary filmmakers investigating the life of a retired acting legend. As she tells them the story of her life, the borderline between cinema and reality gradually becomes blurred.
Yoshifumi Kondō was a Japanese animator who worked for Studio Ghibli in his last years. He was born in Gosen, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. He worked as an animation director on Anne of Green Gables, Sherlock Hound, Kiki's Delivery Service, Only Yesterday and Princess Mononoke. Kondō directed the animated film Whisper of the Heart, and was expected to become one of the top directors at Studio Ghibli, alongside Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and to become their eventual successor.
An animation director is either the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or television, and animated segment for a live action film or television show, or the animator in charge of correcting layouts and drawings. The difference between the two is largely the difference between the western and eastern animation industries.
Ponyo is a 2008 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It was animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Mitsubishi, and distributed by Toho. The film stars Yuria Nara, Hiroki Doi, Tomoko Yamaguchi, Kazushige Nagashima, Yūki Amami, George Tokoro, Rumi Hiiragi, Akiko Yano, Kazuko Yoshiyuki and Tomoko Naraoka. It is the eighth film Miyazaki directed for Studio Ghibli, and his tenth overall. The film tells the story of Ponyo, a goldfish who escapes from the ocean and is helped by a five-year-old human boy, Sōsuke, after she is washed ashore while trapped in a glass jar. As they bond with each other, Ponyo desires to become a human girl, against the devastating circumstances brought about by her acquisition and use of magic.
Kitarō Kōsaka is a Japanese animator and film director.
Hiromasa Yonebayashi, nicknamed Maro (麻呂), is a Japanese animator and director, formerly for Studio Ghibli. After his directorial debut with Studio Ghibli, he became the youngest director of a theatrical film produced by the studio. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2015 for his second film, When Marnie Was There.
Coquelicot-zaka kara is a Japanese manga series written by Tetsurō Sayama and illustrated by Chizuru Takahashi. It was originally serialized in 1979 in the manga magazine Nakayoshi. The series was adapted into the 2011 animated film From Up on Poppy Hill, animated by Studio Ghibli and directed by Gorō Miyazaki.
From Up on Poppy Hill is a 2011 Japanese animated drama film directed by Gorō Miyazaki, written by Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa, animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Walt Disney Japan, Mitsubishi, and Toho, and distributed by the latter company. It is based on the 1980 serialized manga of the same name illustrated by Chizuru Takahashi and written by Tetsurō Sayama. The film stars the voices of Masami Nagasawa, Junichi Okada, Keiko Takeshita, Yuriko Ishida, Jun Fubuki, Takashi Naito, Shunsuke Kazama, Nao Ōmori and Teruyuki Kagawa.
Your Name is a 2016 Japanese animated romantic fantasy film written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, produced by CoMix Wave Films and distributed by Toho. It depicts the story of high school students Taki Tachibana and Mitsuha Miyamizu, who suddenly begin to swap bodies despite having never met, unleashing chaos on each other's lives. The film was inspired by the frequency of natural disasters in Japan.
Sunao Katabuchi is a Japanese animation director, screenwriter, and storyboard artist. He is director of Contrail Co. Ltd. He has been a part-time lecturer at Nihon University College of Art since 2006, and a Project Professor at the college of Art of at the same university since 2018. He has also served as a part-time lecturer at the Graduate School of Tokyo University of the Arts since 2013. He is married to a fellow director of anime Chie Uratani.
Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo is a 2012 Japanese kaiju short film directed by Shinji Higuchi. A live-action prequel and spin-off of Hayao Miyazaki's 1984 anime film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, the film is a co-production between Studio Ghibli, Special Effects Laboratory Co., Ltd, and Khara, Inc. In the film, a woman from Tokyo recounts how her city was obliterated within hours by giant divine warriors.
The Boy and the Heron is a 2023 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Produced by Studio Ghibli, the Japanese title references the 1937 novel of the same name by Genzaburō Yoshino, which appears in the film, but the film has an original story that is not connected to the novel. The voice cast includes Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Ko Shibasaki, Aimyon, Yoshino Kimura, Takuya Kimura, Karou Kobayashi, and Shinobu Otake. Described as a "big fantastical film", it follows a boy named Mahito Maki (Santoki), who discovers an abandoned tower in his new town and enters a fantastical world with a talking grey heron.
Suzume is a 2022 Japanese animated coming-of-age fantasy adventure film written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, produced by CoMix Wave Films, and distributed by Toho. The film follows 17-year-old high school girl Suzume Iwato and young stranger Souta Munakata, who team up to prevent a series of disasters across Japan by sealing doors from the colossal, supernatural worm that causes earthquakes after being released.
