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Miyazaki's Colleagues: Who's Who
These are people who have worked
closely with Miyazaki at one point or another. While this isn't a comprehensive
list, you will find information about many of Miyazaki's closest colleagues here.
If you have more information about someone listed here or new info on someone else
who should be on this list, please let us know.
ANDOU, Masashi
Masashi
ANDOU is one of the young rising stars at Studio Ghibli. After joining
Ghibli in 1990 and working as an in-betweener for Only
Yesterday in 1991, he was quickly promoted to a key animator for
Porco Rosso (1992). He worked as as a key
animator on Yamada-kun, the supervising
animator on both On Your Mark and
Mononoke Hime, and an Animation Director on
Spirited Away.
ANNO, Hideaki
While doing work for
Studio Ghibli, Hideaki Anno was a key animator on Nausicaa
and Grave of the Fireflies. Some of the other
well-known shows on which he has worked (not at Ghibli) include the NHK TV series
Fushigi no Umi no Nadia
(Nadia of the Mysterious Seas) and the acclaimed TV and movie series
Shinseiki
Evangerion (Neon Genesis Evangelion).
Anno has worked in every area of
production, from layout and storyboards to directing, and has said he considers
Miyazaki his mentor. He is one of the founding members of the fan-created animation
studio Gainax.
HOSODA, Mamoru
HOSODA is
most well known for directing two Digimon movies:
Digimon Adventure
(1999) and Digimon
Adventure: Children's War Game (2000). He had been tapped to direct
Howl's Moving Castle but left the project
during the early production stages.
MOCHIZUKI, Tomomi
Born in 1958,
Tomomi Mochizuki is one of the prominent directors of the new generation, and is
famous for doing sensitive love stories. He has directed animation films and OVAs
such as Kimagure
Orange Road: I Want to Return to That Day (movie),
Maison Ikkoku (movie),
and Here is Greenwood
(OAV series). He is not a member of Ghibli, but was chosen to direct its first TV movie,
Umi ga Kikoeru (I Can Hear the Sea). The project was
for the young staff members, and Ghibli wanted a young director as well.
Mochizuki is a big fan of Saeko
HIMURO, the author of Umi, and he once proposed to make Umi into
anime when it had been serialized in Animage, a Japanese animation
magazine. His wish was later granted, although Ghibli's choice of him as director
was unrelated to his earlier proposal.
He was already committed to direct
the Here is Greenwood OAV series, but not wanting to pass up the opportunity,
he decided to take on both projects at the same time! During production, he was
hospitalized due to stress from overworking, but he somehow managed to finish the
jobs. Both Greenwood and Umi are considered masterpieces by many
fans.
MORITA, Hiroyuki
In 1999, Morita directed
Tenchi Muyou! 2: Haruka
naru Omoi. He also worked as a Key Animator on
My Neighbors the Yamadas and an In-Between
Animator on Kiki's Delivery Service.
OSHII, Mamoru
Mamoru Oshii is
the director of Urusei
Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer,
Angel's Egg,
both Patlabor movies, and
both Ghost in the Shell movies.
Born in 1951, Oshii is considered one of the leading directors of the younger
generation. Oshii's movies are darker and more cynical than Miyazaki's, yet Oshii
and Miyazaki are good friends. Oshii has been offered a director's job at Ghibli
several times, but the projects were never realized.
OHTSUKA, Yasuo
A long time
partner of Miyazaki, Ohtsuka worked as the animation director on
Horus: The Prince of the Sun,
Lupin III (the first TV series),
Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, and
Conan, The Boy of the Future.
Born in 1931, he is now
fostering young animators at Telecom Animation Film.
SUZUKI, Toshio
As a producer
and an executive managing director at Studio Ghibli, Toshio Suzuki has been a
driving force behind the studio's success. According to Miyazaki, "If it
were not for Mr. Suzuki, there wouldn't have been Studio Ghibli."
Born in 1948, he was an
editor at the animation magazine Animage, one of the committee members to
make Nausicaa, and he has since been involved
in all the Ghibli movies. He later became the chief editor at Animage, and
in 1989 he officially moved to Studio Ghibli. He has produced all the Ghibli
movies since that move. Suziki also co-produced
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence,
a film partially funded by Studio Ghibli.
TOKUMA, Yasuyoshi
Tokuma
became the president of Tokuma Shoten, the parent company of Studio Ghibli,
in 1954. Before becoming president, he had worked as a reporter for the Yomiuri
Shinbun and as the president of another printing house. Tokuma produced many
films while president, including all of the Studio Ghibli films except
Grave of the Fireflies.
Tokuma passed away at a Tokyo
hospital on Wednesday, September 20, 2000. He was 78 years old.
YASUDA, Michiyo
Michiyo
Yasuda is a color designer and the chief of the ink and paint division of Studio
Ghibli. She is an old colleague of Miyazaki and Takahata and has worked with
them since the start of their careers. She is responsible for choosing the
beautiful colors used in Ghibli movies.
Yasuda's work was highlighted
in the book Animeishon no Iro
Shokunin (The Color Artisan of Animation).
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