I perfectly remember the first time I watched Princess Mononoke on the cinema screen. Joy when Spirited Away got a well-deserved Oscar, the first trip to Laputa: Castle in the Sky, and above all my first (and then another and another) summer spent with Satsuki and Mei, when we looked together under one umbrella at Totoro waiting at the bus stop. So yes, I am definitely biased in my opinion, because Studio Ghibli films are an important part of my world, to which I come back whenever I can and I infect even the greatest animation malcontents. So when the blue cover of Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art appeared in the package with foreign books, I immediately reached out for a copy.
I was not disappointed, because Susan Napier’s book is written in depth, but pleasant, light style. A bit of the biography of Hayao Miyazaki, a bit of a study of the master’s individual films, starting with the titles that were released in the pre-Ghibli era, and ending with the The Wind Rises (so the book does not contain any works by Isao Takahata, Goro Miyazaki or Hiromasa Yonebayashi, although they are of course mentioned). The author is a huge admirer of the Studio (and what is more pleasant than sharing one’s favorite work?), but she does not run away from presenting Hayao Miyazaki as an ordinary person – with advantages and disadvantages, as with all of us. An animator with extraordinary talent, a cartoonist with a characteristic line, an author with an exceptional eye for capturing everyday moments in the frame, a demanding boss, workaholic, sometimes a madman.
Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art is a book that should be read by those of you who have already watched Studio Ghibli films (Note! Spoilers may appear in the text) and would like to learn more about their creation, expand the interpretation with threads that maybe escaped your attention. And then it is even more exciting to come back to your favorite scenes.
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