back in five iconic animated films

The Japanese Animation Studio co-founded by animation master Hayao Miyazaki receives an honorary Palme d’Or on Monday May 20 at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. A look back at five of his emblematic films which continue to delight young and old alike.

Founded in 1985 by master Hayao Miyazaki and his associate friend Isao Takahata, director of TTomb of the Fireflies, which disappeared in 2018, Studio Ghibli gave Japanese animation its letters of nobility. A driving force behind Japanese cultural exports around the world, the studio was awarded an honorary Palme d’Or on Monday May 20 at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Return in five cult films, all teeming with details, where narrative and visual fantasy but also Miyazaki’s humanism and enchanted vision of nature tirelessly flourish.

“The Castle in the Sky” (1986)

First Studio Ghibli project, The castle in the Sky was only released in France in 2003.

It follows the journey of two orphans in search of a legendary city in the clouds. Pursued by soldiers and air pirates, this quest peppered with numerous dangers already contains all the codes of Miyazaki mythology: the civilization of men disfigures an animist nature (Miyazaki was born in 1941, the year of Pearl Harbor) populated by beneficial creatures.

“My Neighbor Totoro” (1988)

Multi-awarded in Japan, this film is part, with Spirited away from the same Miyazaki of the list of 50 films to see before turning 14 established in 2005 speak British Film Institute. Having become the mascot of Studio Ghibli, the adorable Totoro is the most popular character of all those created by Miyazaki.

To get closer to their hospitalized mother, two sisters move in with their father in the countryside in a house where strange things happen. It is by falling to the bottom of a hole in the woods that they meet Totoro, an enormous marvelous creature invisible to the eyes of other humans, a sort of forest spirit, who will help them tame their fears. . The reference to Alice in Wonderland is evident in this learning story where children and adults alike use their imagination to navigate between the fear and wonder that the unknown provokes.

“Princess Mononoke” (1997)

Huge commercial success in Japan, Princess Mononoke brings Miyazaki out of his near anonymity in the West thanks to a partnership with Disney which will distribute it around the world. It was released in France in 2000.

Haunted by the destruction of nature by industrial Japan, Miyazaki revisits the founding myths of his country in this feature film imbued with Shinto references which takes place in the Muromachi period (between 1336 and 1573). It centers on Ashitaka, a young archer warrior, and San (Princess Mononoke), a supernatural girl who lives with the wolves and savagely defends the forest. Soon Ashitaka will understand that humans, by dint of disfiguring nature with their drilling, are at the origin of all the mysterious disturbances. Contrary to My Neighbor Totorothis film is only recommended for ages 12 and up.

“Spirited Away” (2001)

Personal interpretation ofAlice in Wonderland, Spirited away attracts 23 million spectators in Japan, wins the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and the Oscar for best animated film in 2003. Twenty years later, Miyazaki will receive a second Oscar for his (latest) opus The Boy and the Heron (2023).

Chihiro is a new heroine captured at the moment of her transition to adolescence. While she is in the middle of moving to a suburb, the 10-year-old girl enters the spirit world and loses her parents who were transformed into pigs by the witch Yubaba. A dizzying initiatory quest full of phantasmagoria follows to find his parents. Miyazaki develops several of his favorite themes: collective work, Shinto and the dangers of industrialized society for nature and the ancestral values ​​of his country.

“Howl’s Moving Castle” (2004)

With this film, which was his favorite and earned him a second Oscar nomination, Hayao Miyazaki wanted to send a pacifist message.

Sophie, a young milliner, meets the handsome Hauru, a magician. But, jealous, the witch of the moors transforms her into a 90-year-old old lady. To break the curse, Sophie takes refuge in a mysterious citadel, the moving castle of Hauru. There she meets her young apprentice Marco and a fire demon named Calcifer. She will make a deal with the latter: he will break the spell if she agrees to break her link with Hauru. It is also about a war between two kingdoms and an enchanted ring in this dizzying film where all the characters play on appearances.

“The Wind Rises” (2013)

Fond of European culture, Miyazaki borrows this title from a poem by Paul Valéry (The marine cemetery), “The wind is rising, we must try to live!” for this biography freely inspired by the life of Jiro Horikoshi, aeronautical engineer and designer of Japanese fighter bombers.

The universe is less dreamlike and more realistic than in most of Miyazaki’s previous productions, who announced that it was his last production before reversing his decision and directing The Boy and the Heronreleased in 2023.