Who is Hayao Miyazaki, who gained a huge fan base with his animations?

The director, whose success has been recognized worldwide with the numerous awards he has received, has produced classic animated series such as Heidi and Anne of Green Gables, which are still being shown in many countries after many years. Mononoke Hime and Spirited Away are Miyazaki's best-known animated feature films.

He was born on January 5, 1941 in Tokyo, Japan. Miyazaki's father, the second of four sons in his family, was a manager at Miyazaki Airplanes, his brother's company that manufactures parts for warplanes. His mother, a smart and intellectual woman, was hospitalized for a disease called “Spinal tuberculosis” for 8 years between 1947-1955.

Attending Toyotama High School, Miyazaki watched the feature-length animated film Hakujaden at school and was quite impressed. Miyazaki, whose interest in animation started with this movie, decided to become a comic book illustrator. Realizing that he mainly drew warships and aircraft, Miyazaki seemed to be under the influence of the war years.

Miyazaki, who started to study international relations and economics at a private college called Gakushuin University in 1962, was influenced by Marxist thought while continuing his education at this university, which had close ties to the Japanese imperial family. Joining the children's literature study group at the school during this process, the artist started working as an animator at Toei Animation Company after his graduation. The animator, who excelled in his talent in a short time, had the opportunity to meet Takahata Isao, who was the director of the TV series Okami Shonen Ken in 1964. Two friends started working in the company union. With this partnership, a long-term working period was started. In the same year, Miyazaki fell in love with Ota Akemi, who was an animator like him and whom he would marry in the future.

In 1965, Takahata and animation director Otsuka Yasuo began work on the anime film "Taiyo no Oji Horus no Daiboken" (The Little Norse Prince Valiant). TV series were very popular at that time, and this had a bad effect on the movie industry. That's why Takahata wanted the project to be a collaborative effort of the whole team, aiming to be in the vision with a strong movie. For Miyazaki, working on a feature-length animated film was a great opportunity.

Miyazaki, who played a key role in the production of the film, got the chance to make his name known with this production, which was released in 1968 and tells the adventures of villagers trying to protect their families against a magician. However, the film was the lowest-grossing production in his company Toei's history, and Takahata was never again allowed to direct a film at Toei.

In 1969, Miyazaki took part in the movie Nagagutsu wo Haita Neko (Puss in Boots), an animated version of Charles Perrault's book Puss in Boots, which won an award at the Moscow Film Festival.

In 1971, the duo Miyazaki and Takahata left Toei to join a new animation company, A-pro. Here, the duo, who wanted to turn Astrid Lindgren's story Pippi Longstockings into an anime, did not succeed in purchasing the publishing rights of the book and made the movie Panda Kopanda (The Adventures of Panda and Friends) in 1972. Miyazaki and Takahata continued to work as a team, and in 1973 they moved from A-pro to Zuiyo Pictures together. The duo achieved great success with the anime series Alps no Shojo Haiji (Heidi), one of the most popular cartoons of all time, which was also shown on television all over the world. Heidi was the beginning of a project called Sekai Meisaku Gekijou (World Masterpiece Theater). Because within the framework of this project, TV animation series of many classic works from world children's literature were prepared, and Miyazaki took on various tasks such as stage design and stage organization in five of these series.

In 1978, Miyazaki made the TV series Mirai Shounen Konan (Future Boy Conan), which he wrote and directed himself. The movie was followed by a big box office success called Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro. In 1981, while preparing the TV series Meitantei Houzun (Sherlock Hound), the artist took a break from the project for 3 years due to the problem with the heirs of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of Sherlock Holmes. Miyazaki, who transferred the series to another team after the copyright issues were resolved, decided not to prepare a series for TV again.

Miyazaki's internationally famous production was Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa (Nausicaa of The Valley of The Wind) in 1984. In this multi-award winning film, Miyazaki chronicled the adventures of a princess struggling in a world where poisonous forests filled with giant insects are everywhere. Emphasizing that he believed that industrialization would bring the end of mankind, the director established his own animation studio, which they named Studio Ghibli, in 1985 with Takahata after Nausicaa. Miyazaki, who signed Tenku no Shiro Laputa (Laputa: Castle In The Sky), which was the studio's first film in 1986, directed the film Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro) in 1988, the story of which he wrote himself. Totoro didn't achieve as much box office success as Nausica, but it became one of the animation classics. In a poll by Japanese national broadcaster NHK, Totoro came in second in the category of the best-loved Japanese movies of all time, after Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai. The biggest box office hit in 1989 was Miyazaki's again: Majo no Takkyubin (Kiki's Delivery Service)

Returning after a three-year hiatus with Porco Rosso, which will become the highest-grossing Japanese animated movie of all time, Miyazaki tells the story of the pilot, Marco, who has turned into a pig for an unknown reason, and his fight against hijackers. Miyazaki, who reflects his knowledge of airplanes and flight techniques very well in the film, succeeded in making people feel the excitement of flying at Porco Rosso.

Miyazaki, who wrote the screenplay for Mimi wo Sumaseba (Whisper of The Heart) in 1995, broke the box office record in Japan with Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke), which was released in 1997. Because, with its $150 million box office revenue, it surpassed ET, which maintained its leadership at the box office until that year. Princess Mononoke ranked first among all domestic and foreign films. It contributed to the growing popularity of Japanese animations all over the world. He received many awards, including the Japanese Academy Award, which is considered the Oscar of Japan, and represented Japan in the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Miyazaki signed Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away) in 2001, which would take him to the top of his career. The director, who broke his own record again, was achieving a new success after Mononoke Hime. It was also a first in the history of the Berlin Film Festival. It was the first time that the grand prize was given to an animated film. The film, which also won the Best Animation Oscar given by the American Academy of Cinema, achieved great box office success all over the world.