Facts about Hayao Miyazaki
- 09
Between 1985 and 2013, Studio Ghibli produced 11 feature films directed by Miyazaki, generating over 200 billion yen in worldwide box office revenue.
- 08
At age 19, Miyazaki began his career as an in-between animator at Toei Animation in 1963, earning approximately 15,000 yen monthly while living in poverty.
- 07
The Wind Rises, Miyazaki's 2013 final directorial work, was inspired by the true story of Jiro Horikoshi, the Japanese aeronautical engineer who designed the Zero fighter aircraft during World War II.
- 06
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind took Miyazaki four years to complete between 1982 and 1986, establishing his reputation before Studio Ghibli's founding in 1985.
- 05
Miyazaki retired from directing in 2013 after completing The Wind Rises, citing his age and physical limitations, though he returned to filmmaking a decade later with The Boy and the Heron.
- 04
Studio Ghibli's 2008 film Ponyo required animators to draw approximately 1,500 frames per week, making it one of the most labor-intensive productions in Miyazaki's career.
- 03
Hayao Miyazaki hand-drew storyboards for all his feature films, including over 1,600 detailed sketches for Howl's Moving Castle before production began in 2003.
- 02
Spirited Away required approximately 1,450 hand-drawn frames per minute, taking Studio Ghibli's animators two years to complete the 125-minute film.
- 01
In 1997, Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke became the highest-grossing film in Japanese cinema history at that time, earning 19.3 billion yen.