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Earlier Films
By Hayao Miyazaki & Isao Takahata
From the Main FAQ by Ryoko Toyama

Covered films:

 

Q: What is the first anime Miyazaki worked on?

[Gulliver image]The first job for Hayao Miyazaki as an animator was in-betweening in Wan Wan Chushingura (Watchdog Bow Wow), in 1963. However, the first movie Miyazaki showed his creative brilliance in was Gariba no Uchu Ryokou (Gulliver's Space Travels) in 1965. He was still a lowly in-betweener, but he proposed changes in the script, and animated the changed scenes. At the end of the story, Gulliver was supposed to rescue a robot princess of the Robot Country. Miyazaki changed it so that the shell of the princess cracked open, and a human princess appeared from it . This changed the whole meaning of the movie. Now, the robots were people trapped in robot bodies, and they regained their humanity with Gulliver's help.


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Q: What is "Horus: Prince of the Sun"?

Taiyo no Ouji Horus no Daibouken (Prince of the Sun: The Great Adventure of Horus; also known as "Little Norse Prince Valiant") is one of the classic masterpiece anime in Japan. Released in theaters in 1968 by Toei Doga (Toei Animation Studio), it was epoch making in many senses.

[Horus image] "Horus" was the first movie Isao Takahata ever directed, and Miyazaki worked as a key animator. It was made by young idealistic staff members, who wanted to make something totally different from Disney and previous "Toei Kid's stuff". It was made during the height of a huge labor dispute at Toei Doga, and the story and the production process reflected the situation. The theme of the movie is "the unity among people". The staff members tried to make "Horus" in a "democratic" way, meaning many ideas from all the staff members, including Miyazaki, were incorporated. In fact, Miyazaki's contribution was so great that they had to create a new job title, "Scene Design" just for him.

[Horus image] It took more than three years to complete "Horus", way beyond the initial schedule of eight months. Although it was highly acclaimed critically and many organizations recommended it, Toei only ran it for 10 days (!). As a result, "Horus" was the lowest grossed anime in the Toei history. Takahata was demoted because of this, and was never again allowed to direct a movie at Toei Doga. However, it was embraced enthusiastically by many young Japanese, such as university students (considering that anime, or manga movies as they were called, were considered "kid's stuff" more than now, this is really something). The theme of this movie, "the importance of being united," really appealed to those who were in the student/union movement.

[Horus image] "Horus" is the origin of Miyazaki anime in many senses. The beginning of the movie is very similar to "Conan", Miyazaki's first TV series. With his incredible strength and strong love towards the heroine, Horus is definitely the prototype of Conan, and Pazu from "Laputa". The heroine, Hilda, is the archetype of Miyazaki heroines. Hilda is probably one of the most complex heroines in Japanese animation history. She is very strong, though unfortunately, her strength was mostly shown through her evil side. She carries both good and evil inside of her, and in Miyazaki's later works, she is reincarnated as pairs of heroines: Nausicaa and Kushana in "Nausicaa", Lana and Monsley in "Conan", Clarisse and Fujiko in "Cagliostro", etc.

Some people have asked where the names in "Horus" came from, so we passed along that inquiry to Mr. Kanoh of the Takahata Miyazaki Research Lab, a well-respected fan organization in Japan. He in turn passed the question on to Yasuo Ohtsuka, who was the supervising animator of "Horus".

Here is Ohtsuka's answer, through Kanoh:

"Horus" has been dubbed into English and shown on Turner Broadcast Systems in the United States back in the early to mid 1980s, titled as "Little Norse Prince Valiant".


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Q: What is "Puss in Boots"?

[Puss image] Based on Charles Perot's book, "Nagagutsu wo Haita Neko" (Puss in Boots) was made in 1969 by Toei Doga. It is considered a masterpiece of comedy anime in Japan. Miyazaki did key animation for it, and provided numerous ideas for it. The last 20 minutes of it is considered to be the prototype of "Cagliostro".

[Puss image] Since "Puss" was so popular, Toei Doga made two more sequels, but Miyazaki was not involved. The main character, Pero the cat, eventually became the mascot character of Toei Doga. You can still see him on posters and other merchandise from Toei Doga.

"Puss" received "The Most Entertaining Movie" award at the Moscow Movie Festival, Children's Movie Division.


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Q: What is "The Flying Ghost Shop"?

[Ghost Ship image]"Sora Tobu Yuureisen" (The Flying Ghost Ship) is a movie made in 1969 by Toei Doga. Miyazaki did key animation. Miyazaki proposed to put scenes in which tanks march and shoot in the middle of Tokyo, and he animated them. He wanted to show what would happen if a military power started using its force in the middle of a town. This motif was also used in "Lupin III: Farewell Beloved Lupin".


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Q: What is "Animal Treasure Island"?

[Treasure Island image][Treasure Island image]"Doubutsu Takarajima" (Animal Treasure Island) is an animated feature film by Toei Doga made in 1971, for which Miyazaki worked as a key animator. Based on Stevenson's "Treasure Island", most of the characters appear as animals, except Jim, the boy and Kathy, who is a typical Miyazaki heroine. It's a fun, slapstick adventure film.

Captain John Silver is a mean-looking pig, and he might be a distant ancestor of Porco.


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Q: What is "Panda Kopanda"?

[Panda image] "Panda Kopanda" (Panda, Kid Panda) is a 30 minute movie made in 1972. Miyazaki did the original idea, script, layouts, and key animation, and Takahata directed it. The story is about a little girl, Mimiko, who was left alone while her Grandma was away. But soon, a big, fuzzy, warm Papa Panda (Papanda-San is his name) with a cute, little baby Panda (kopanda in Japanese) came to Mimiko's house. Since the house had a beautiful bamboo forest (Pandas eat bamboo), they decided to live with her. The three became a family and did a lot of things together and lived happily ever after.

[Panda image] This movie is considered a "Totoro" prototype. Miyazaki said it was the first anime he made specifically for children (especially his own), and he made "Totoro" since he wanted to make such a movie again. Papa Panda really looks like Totoro with its round design and its big smile. Mimiko sort of looks like Mei with her pig tails. But she is older than Mei, and like Satsuki, Mimiko is independent and resourceful, and takes good care of Kopanda (Pan-Chan is his name) just as Satsuki takes care of Mei. With its gentle storyline, cute round characters, even a song which sounds like the Totoro song, it is definitely the origin of Totoro.

It was made when Japan was swept by "Panda fever" (Two Pandas came to Japan from China). There is also a sequel, "Panda Kopanda: Amefuri Sakasu no Maki" (Panda, Panda Cub: Rainy Day Circus) made by the same staff members in 1973.


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