Starting Point: 1979-1996

What’s funny about this is that at the time some theorists tried to rationalize what was going on. Some even claimed that we were in a new age, one of “limited animation,” where too much emphasis on making drawings move only hindered story development. They started saying that use of the tome-e, still images employed for effect, was a “new form of

Rick (Richard) Corben is currently one of the leading comic book artists in America. Rowlf, which he created and self-published in 1971, was one of his first works, but it is also, without a doubt, one of his most famous. With Rowlf, Corben has created a true modern fairy tale.

It may sound trite when I say that I make animation to entertain children, but it is not trite at all. I certainly do not make animated films just so they will be popular with children. I try to create what I wanted to see when I was a child, or what I believe my own children want to see. We have all heard folktales. You can tell when you read them

For the past few years, I have put forth ideas for film projects with the following ethos: “To offer a sense of liberation to present-day young people who, in this suffocating, overprotective, and managed society, find their path to self-reliant independence blocked and have become neurotic.”

Every day children are born and every day children grow up around us, whether or not we animation creators come up with a motive for our characters. And the challenges they confront haven’t decreased in the slightest. They may no longer identify with and be encouraged by champions of justice as in the past, but they still want to be encouraged, sti

This definitely happens, and when it does, you may realize that although you had intended to have a character smile or laugh at a particular juncture in the story, that he or she would definitely not laugh there. What also often happens is that you realize that in the initial scenario a character does not reappear at a particular place, but that in

If there were clouds, I’m sure that everyone would like to fly through them. But I think that the solemn and inspiring flying scenes you see of light shining between gaps in the clouds only exist at an altitude of around ten thousand meters. I don’t think there are any particularly awesome scenes once you get into outer space. I think that a lot of

With so many books and magazines, not only is the worth of each volume devalued, but we also end up not looking at each one carefully—which leads us to miss what we should be taking in. I think it is important to be able to discern what is truly essential.

She must have been able to feel the tough shell of the baby ohmu against Nausicaä’s body, even its temperature. I think the excellence of Futaki-san’s animation lies in her effort to express not only the visual but also the tactile effect.