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They call him the Japanese Walt Disney; captivating young audiences everywhere with the delights of action, adventure, and the wonders of flight. Hayao Miyazaki is an award winning director of anime (Japanese animation) and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, best known here for his films Spirited Away (2001) and Howl’s Moving Castle (2004).
Throughout his illustrious career, Miyazaki has created a large range of quality action-packed children’s adventures with his practised skills. These films educate children through recurring themes such as environmentalism, pacifism and feminism, as well as dazzling them with the beauty of his technique and artwork. Avoiding simplistic characters and plots, Miyazaki addresses a broad range of contemporary themes, but it is his fascination with flight that has found the most frequent expression in his films. This passion for flight has flourished throughout his work, stemming from the time when his father was director of the aviation company, Miyazaki Airplane.1 Miyazaki believes flight to be a form of freedom and maintains this in his films by using flight in pivotal points of his movies.2
Howl’s Moving Castle is one of Miyazaki’s films to use flight in this way and it is deemed to be one of the most successful Japanese films of all time. The film tells the story of teenage girl, Sophie, whose life is turned upside down by a wicked witch. It then develops into a magical journey on a moving castle with the mysterious wizard Howl.
Visually, it is a stunning piece with a strong contrast between characters and scenery. The characters have simple lines, colouring and shades, while backgrounds are richly detailed and flourished with a mix of vibrant and intense colours... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline