alt-disney: animation for a global market?

The influence of Japanese film product on a ‘global’ Hollywood, while not as marked perhaps as that of other national cinemas, has intensified in a contemporary environment. Japanese Animation, Anime, is a significant portion of Japanese film product. When respected anime producers like Hayao Miyazaki are received globally, in a sense so too is the Japanese industry. It is evident that Anime is increasingly being adopted by the global market, but with varying degrees of modification. What is interesting to observe is why some Anime, like Miyazaki’s ‘Spirited Away’ survives in tact, while other products may not. Does Miyazaki represent a new product? What are the effects of these adaptations? How does all this influence the global Hollywood market?

Japanese animation began in the 1910s, as one-reelers produced by film hobbyists inspired by early American and European animators. As anime developed artists learned from imitating other nations cartoons, eventually began to focus on dramatizing Oriental folk stories, but were also encouraged during wartime to delve into propaganda cartoons. In 1955 came the first colour animation, but anime just did not match the standards of the more refined Western cartoons. Soon emerged the notion that to be successful, Japanese animators would need to mirror the model of the Western studio system. In the late fifties the popularity of Western cartoons on Japanese television was noted by Osamu Tezuka, as was an apparent gap in the market. With the popularity of his comic books, like ‘Astro Boy’, he felt that he could fill the demand for “modern, fast-paced fantasy which the animation establishment, with its narrow focus on fairy tales in antique storybook settings, was completely ignoring.” Subsequently he set up the first Television animation studio in Japan, Mushi Productions. The popularity of animation in soared in Japan, more so than in other markets, at least in part due to Tezuka. Tezuka has also been credited for making animation an acceptable way of storytelling for audiences of all age groups. He may be considered the father of anime as we now know it. [1]

While Anime grew, and remains, increasingly popular in its home market, little recognition for the product reached into other nation’s markets until the seventies. ‘Astro Boy’ became a hit in the U.S. at this time.[2] While television had predominately been the main means of distribution, in the eighties with the emergence of a home video market came ‘Original Anime Video’ or OAV, sitting somewhere between television quality and theatrical release quality. Animation began being made (and still is made) specifically for this medium. Distribution grew in the Japanese market. Of distribution outside of Japan, Jerry Beck notes that as “late as 1988, the only way you could see state-of-the-art Japanese animation in the US was through bootleg video dealers, usually found at comic book conventions”. [3] Western television only allowed for a narrow distribution of marketable anime genres.

One of the biggest challenges for distribution was the attitude that cartoons are simply for children. ‘Astro Boy’ was successful, but was a focused more on children. It was difficult, especially for American audiences to accept that Anime has many genres, some for more mature audiences. When Jerry Beck approached Hollywood studios to release ‘Akira’ in the U.S., for instance, he was repeatedly turned down by on the basis that the ‘cartoon’ was not suitable for children. [4] Despite an early struggle, Anime has indeed made it into a global market, arguably due to an ever-increasing fan base. Animation represents “one third of the box office earnings of the Japanese film industry, and more animation films are exported from Japan than films of the ordinary cinematographic genre.”[5] Animated television series are also are also increasing in their export value.

The Pokemon series, which was shown in 45 countries, grossed ¥38 billion in overseas box office revenue, about double the domestic amount. In the April-December period of last year the sales of Toei Animation Co. in Asia reached ¥780 million, up by around 50% over the same period of the previous year.[6]

It has been put forward that, “the most influential form of filmmaking to come out of Japan has been Anime.” [7] Examining recent examples of Anime on western screens gives weight to this claim. Anime has indeed entered the global market, albeit on occasion with amendments, and is making an impression.

When Anime was breaking into the video market, so too was Hayao Miyazaki breaking into the market of Anime . Miyazaki began his career in 1963, joining the Toei Animation Company, where he gained the position of key animator, in television and theatrical projects. This is also where he met Isao Takahata, with whom he still works. Unfulfilled at Toei, Miyazaki began to produce manga, but in the seventies both he and Takahata left to pursue other animation jobs. During the period 1972 to 1982 created some of Tokyo Movie Shinsha studios major works, directing, writing, designing and storyboarding the projects himself. This included ‘Holmes, the Great Detective’. The “children's TV funny-animal series” based on the story of Sherlock Holmes, featured dogs as the main characters and actually achieved U.S. release as ‘Sherlock Hound’.[8] The series was advertised as the “latest masterwork by Miyazaki”, but was in fact his final television project.[9] In 1983 Tokuma Shoten (Tokuma Publishing, Co., Ltd) resolved to produce a film version of a Miyazaki manga, ‘Nausicaa’ they had been serializing. With the success of ‘Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind’, Tokuma (as the parent company with distribution rights) and Miyazaki established Studio Ghibli to produce the film ‘Laputa’. It is at Studio Ghibli that Miyazaki has remained, and where he has produced his most notable works. [10]

At Studio Ghibli Miyazaki directed five feature-length films and was producer on three between 1986 and 1997. The films achieved critical success, and at brought in just enough at the box office to keep the studio going. The Studio managed to secure itself financially by ‘resorting’ to merchandising: the cute character of Totoro, from ‘My Neighbour Totoro’ was belatedly turned into a popular plush toy, almost on demand from fans, in the nineties.[11] Not just succeeding in keeping his studio going, Miyazaki was indeed further establishing himself as an important figure of anime. The director was, perhaps, even working to change the perception of anime as an art form. Notably it was remarked that the “animation film genre was at one time not so highly praised from an artistic point of view, but after Miyazaki's My Neighbor TOTORO won several Japanese film awards in 1988, the genre can no longer be artistically overlooked.”[12] There was clearly a quality about the films coming from the studio that was capturing audiences and critics.

Studio Ghibli does not run the way a typical Japanese animation studio does, due most likely to Miyazaki’s history and personality. At the outset it is unusual for a studio to focus on theatrical feature releases; most studios depend on the television and OAV markets. The aforementioned merchandising thus far has covered any deficits, thereby allowing the company to focus on first and foremost producing ‘good’ pictures for theatrical release, but has also allowed for an advertising arm within the company.[13] By 1993 Ghibli “had grown into a studio that had all the departments from animation, art, tracing/painting, all the way to photography” which was “completely the opposite direction the Japanese animation industry was moving toward”, that is “extreme separation of departments”.[14] The reasoning behind this was the idea “that working closely under one roof with a common objective was important in achieving high quality work”.[15] This is also notably not like the American system, that remains departmentalized and separate.

While it is true that the Japanese film industry is shaped around (and often promoted through) the director rather than the producer, as in Hollywood, Miyazaki’s input far exceeds an ordinary director.[16] Miyazaki supervises “almost all the key animation, and often redraws cels when he thinks they aren't good enough or characters aren't ‘acting right’”, believing a “hands-on approach is the only way for him to make the films he wants to make”.[17] As the company grew, Miyazaki planned to double his animators’ salaries (he felt they were underpaid) and to recruit more frequently. He also drew up plans for a new studio himself, while making the film ‘Porco Rosso’. Both projects were completed at approximately the same time.[18] With the advent of digital technology the studio did also acquire computers to utilise digital effects, albeit minimally as Miyazaki prefers a hand drawn look, to keep up to date.[19] Miyazaki’s command of his studio and the products it puts out is clearly high, yet he acknowledges the importance of developing an artistic vision as a group and obviously attentive to his staff. The attention to detail and care Miyazaki takes is quite possibly what separates his works from most animation and undoubtedly what has allowed him to create films that reach audiences across nations.

It seems appropriate that Miyazaki lists Disney as an inspiration, amongst others, as he has been compared to the American great. What is ironic, however, is that while Miyazaki found Disney amusing, he disliked the storytelling a says the cartoons “didn't make me feel anything.” [20] Comparing his idea of what Japanese Animation should be to what Disney cartoons are, Miyazaki says:

The entrance should be low and wide so that anyone can be invited in, but the exit should be high and purified. It shouldn't be something that admits, emphasizes, or enlarges the lowness. I don't like Disney movies. The entrance and the exit are lined up at the same low height and width. I can't help but feel that it looks down on the audience. [21]

Emotion in films is clearly important to Miyazaki; he wants to “create films that will make people happy.”[22] Moreover, when Miyazaki speaks about the characters in his films it is evident how real they are to him. From a storytelling point of view, a sense of one’s character is integral. This clearly contributes to the strength of Miyazaki’s films. Commenting on the state of Japanese animation, however, he voices a concern for loss of motivation, both in story and character, in animated works. [23] Furthermore, he notes a tendency for less dedicated producers to “insist, ‘This is the trend... This is likely to be a hit...’”. [24] This is not what Studio Ghibli not Miyazaki are about. “Works of art are created by those who are prepared to go the limit. We're not interested in anything else.”[25]

Along with his artistic ideal comes strong themes of nature and humanity, themes that translate easily across nations. It has been suggested that it is because of this “his works have won acclaim in foreign countries among a wide range of viewers, from children to adults”.[26] Clearly there is also an optimism about Miyazaki’s films, even if accompanied by darker themes or violence. Of his works for children Miyazaki writes:

I want to express before anything else the themes: ‘The world is profound, manifold and beautiful,’ and ‘You children are fortunate to have been born into this world… Although the world's beset with lots of seemingly intractable problems… it's nevertheless a wonderful thing to live.’[27]

While Miyazaki may come across as an idealist, perhaps even a control freak, it cannot be argued that his films have been successful. In no small part is this due to his dedication and determination to not be Hollywood, to not look down upon the audience as Disney has done, to not follow tradition. Paradoxically, despite this approach (or perhaps because of it) his films have become immensely popular in the U.S. and indeed a global market.

In 1997 came “Mononoke-hime”, translated to English as “Princess Mononoke”. With this film Miyazaki managed to truly break into the global market. It won the Japan Academy Award for Best Film and at the time was the highest-grossing (approximately $150 million US) Japanese film in history. The film continued the themes of Miyazaki’s earlier works and “was thought to be a sort of definitive expression of the motif of conflict between man and nature”.[28] It has also been suggested by some critics that the violence in the film was too extreme. What is considered to be extreme violence by American audiences is more accepted by Japanese audiences, especially in anime. Nevertheless media about the film is filled with descriptions such as this:

Mononoke is no Disney-style film. The story, an intricate myth-allegory about the twilight of the gods in medieval Japan, is morally ambiguous and extremely violent - especially the title character, a knife-carrying, wolf-raised girl who wars on humans and would eat Disney's cutie-pie heroines for breakfast. [29]

The violence in “Princess Mononoke” is not so much explicit as simply not made into an issue. It is there to serve a purpose in the story. Miyazaki’s films do not present the typical ‘good vs. evil’ scenario therefore violence is not justified nor punished as it might be in something like Disney.

Regardless of the violence Disney, rather ironically, picked up global distribution rights for "Mononoke Hime", through Miramax, and further sought the video rights for other Ghibli movies. [30] The contract was clearly made so that no changes could be made to the “Princess Mononoke” for distribution aside from an apparently acceptable English dub. On that note Miyazaki, perhaps somewhat drolly remarks "English has been dubbed into Japanese for years."[31] The deal also allows for further expansion into other mediums, such as merchandising or games, at a later time.[32] Miramax hired quite big names to do the English dub, including Claire Danes and Minnie Driver. Despite this and the fact that “Princess Mononoke” received glowing reviews it only earned a fraction of the amount in the U.S. ($3 million US) as it did in Japan (approximately $160 million US). It is suggested that this may be to do with the nature of the film. Interestingly enough, despite being handed to Buena Vista for distribution in the UK, ‘Princess Mononoke’ has yet to see a release there. The company apparently believes there is not enough of a market. [33] All the same, the film did officially bring Miyazaki to the attention of the world.

Where ‘Princess Mononoke’ left off, ‘Spirited Away’ picked up; here truly is a success story for Japanese animation and the nation’s film industry as a whole. The Japanese film industry had been on a decline up until 2001. The box-office soared “to $1.5 billion in 2001, for a 17% year-on gain”, admissions went up 20.6%, the highest in 15 years, and the development of multiplexes continued, increasing the number of screens from 61 to 2585. [34] The success at the box office, at least, has been attributed widely to ‘Spirited Away’.[35] It had become “Japan's highest-earning film ever following its release in July of 2001”.[36] By March it “had grossed $226 million and recorded 23 million admissions, in a country with one-tenth the number of screens of the United States.”[37] The film left foreign companies “scrambling to close deals for the theatrical distribution rights, including Disney for North America, Rai Cinema for Italy, Central Partnership for Russia and Pathe for Switzerland and the UK.”[38] There were some early concerns about the strong Japanese history in this film, but Disney did successfully distribute the film, largely with the help of John Lasseter, a friend of Miyazaki’s, from Pixar. As an indication of the success in relocation from one nation to another, ‘Spirited Away’ collected the 2003 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival. This is first time a Japanese film has won since 1963 and the first time an animation has won at one of the three major festivals (Cannes, Berlin and Venice) at all.[39] What is it about this film, an animation no less, that made it a success globally? What makes it so easy successfully adapt?

Miyazaki found inspiration for ‘Spirited Away’ in his granddaughter and her friends. The ten year old girls were unaware of their culture historically speaking, more interested in popular culture and then only passively. As a result he wanted to “introduce them to their heritage and encourage them to develop a sense of self-reliance and responsibility”.[40] So we are presented with the tale of Chihiro, ‘spirited away’ to a strange world full of ghosts and mysticism, separated from her parents, presented with responsibility and experiences to force her to grow as a person. Miyazaki wanted Chihiro to find through all this, "her hidden adaptability and patience… [s]he will realize for the first time she has the power of life for good judgment and acting." [41] The themes and indeed the story itself are not culturally specific. The imagery and setting is entirely Japanese, but Chihiro could be any girl from any country. Another take on the themes is that ‘Spirited Away’ is also “one of the best films made about entering the work force”. For older members of the audience, there may be memories stirred up by “Chihiro’s bathhouse posture… back bent over, sleeves rolled up, arms up to the elbow in other peoples’ muck”. This is a large part of what makes this film travel: audiences, of many ages and nations, can relate. [42] Subsequently we see again the themes of humanity and optimism in the face of adversity and that ever important strong sense of character and motivation.

While there has been some criticism of this film in that Chihiro is “less dynamic” than Miyazaki’s other heroines, Chris Lanier negates this by suggesting that her “her denial of self, more than any precociousness or bravado, that allows her to succeed”. [43] He goes even further to suggest that it is “something so culturally alien to mainstream American entertainment, it comes across as revelatory: a heroine who ascends into the world on steps of renunciation.”[44] It has also been suggested that the film lacks focus at the conclusion, but it does leave the viewer with a sense of contentedness. Miyazaki has indeed made a film that makes the audience happy. He has stated this as an objective and in doing so has established a ‘body of work’. Lanier explains:

More than Miyazaki’s visual motifs and thematic preoccupations, what makes his films a “body of work” is their deep-seated humaneness. Repeatedly, his movies present a somewhat threatening world that the protagonists penetrate bit by bit, and the more they understand its intricacies, the less malevolent it appears. [45]

Thus, it is also this “eminently kind” [46] worldview that his films display is that makes them so translatable. As ‘Spirited Away’ is credited as his finest work to date, it is a perfect example of how this process of translation has been achieved successfully.

Great care was taken with the adaptation of ‘Spirited Away’, and may not have run so smoothly without the attention of John Lasseter. Miyazaki himself seems indifferent to his films being released outside of Japan, and it has been made clear that studio Ghibli does not intend to produce films for purpose of multinational release. They are not intent on targeting a world market, creating films solely for Japanese audiences, but “if situation allows…will then look toward the rest of the world.[47] Miyazaki in fact attributes the North American release entirely to the determination of Lasseter. The trust between the two seems implicit, with Miyazaki stating the “fact of the matter is that I so deeply trust John Lasseter that I don't need to watch the film." [48] Lasseter of Pixar sees Miyazaki as his sensei, a tutor and a source of inspiration. He worked as executive producer for the English version “with the goal of preserving Miyazaki’s vision while making it relatable to North American audiences”. [49] That is precisely what he has done.

The fate of ‘Spirited Away was sealed after a viewing in the screening room at Pixar, which left the audience “blown-away”. Lasseter gave Disney the final push to pick up the distribution rights. Disney had the concern that the film would not translate. Lasseter reassured them that the “way the story is told, it works as an introduction to a fascinating, rich culture whether it is the viewer's own ethnic heritage or not" and would be particularly accessible to audiences because of Chihiro’s characterisation.[50] The English dub was prepared vary carefully, with actors allowed to watch the film first in Japanese to get a sense of character and how they should act. Usually voice actors are lead by the director and not shown the original film first. The poor translation of character personalities was one of the criticisms of the English dub for “Princess Mononoke”.[51] Fan reviews have labeled this dubbing the best Disney has ever done, and remarkably close to the original Japanese version. [52] Clearly, the original Lasseter had to work with was good enough that it was worth pushing to stay true to it. This is something of a rarity when Anime is brought over to Western markets.

While Miyazaki’s contemporary works have generally been received very well, in the past anime has received less respectful treatment. In fact, some of Miyazaki’s earlier work, ‘Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind’, was very poorly translated and released without his knowledge in the U.S. This is understandably why he is so stringent about his films not being altered in foreign releases, despite the issues it created for distributors.[53] Other examples of ‘butchering’ include television programs like ‘Sailor Moon’ and even the ever popular and marketable ‘Pokemon’. Both programs have had episodes cut, deemed unsuitable for children. Cross-dressing has been excised from ‘Pokemon’ and executives went so far as to dub a male character in ‘Sailor Moon’ as female to cover up his ambiguous gender and a gay relationship.[54] While these themes are common in anime (especially ‘shoujo’, or girls, anime/manga) they do not apparently sit well with Hollywood executives. These changes have been made to fit what Hollywood perceives as its target market.[55] As a positive, it is increasing the DVD market as fans pay to acquire uncut versions of their favourite series. Notably, aside from the issue of violence, Miyazaki does not delve into other themes that may upset conservative Hollywood.

What we have here is an anime film, being produced by a respected, dedicated and unique director. Miyazaki plays by his own rules, to make the films he wishes to make and he does it well. It so happens that in the case of ‘Spirited Away’ he has produced, while not specifically for the purpose, a film that can be translated successfully into a global market. Miyazaki himself states:

If we make an animated cartoon that Japanese children find really enjoyable, and that cartoon is also recognized and accepted in foreign countries, then we can say that its images have been elevated to a universal level.[56]

There it is: the themes and story in the film are recognised universally and can therefore be viewed globally. The fact that ‘Spirited Away’ also received what is almost ‘special treatment’ from John Lasseter, also has to have contributed to its success in the North American market. His determination to maintain artistic integrity, and the demand that his films are not to be altered are an important factor in that it actually happens. For a foreign director to be allowed to have that kind of control over distribution of his films over seas surely says something of his influence.

The staff at Pixar are given Miyazaki films to study while working on their own productions and his keen storytelling has been praised time and again by creative staff of series like ‘Batman Beyond’.[57] The increased dramatic element in this series owes something to anime and artists like Miyazaki, as can the “use of ongoing story-arcs” be tracked back to “anime's often heavily-plotted sagas”.[58] Miyazaki's influence can also be seen directly in Disney's Tarzan where “the saucer-eyed anime look was being borrowed by Disney to increase expressiveness”.[59] Miyazaki even acknowledges that “the use of animation techniques in traditional filming is growing.”[60] Andrew Osmond from this puts forward that “anime’s biggest plausible impact is indirect, influencing projects that combine anime qualities with a U.S. style”.[61] We are definitely seeing an increased influence of anime on our screens. Recently ‘The Matrix’ has borrowed the visual style of anime to achieve stunning visuals, and more directly we have seen a fully animated sequence in Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill’. With the release of ‘The Animatrix’ we have seen the influence of anime come to a crux. The whole project was based around the collaboration of U.S. and Japanese filmmakers.

What is important with these projects is that they are being distributed and promoted appropriately for having anime elements within them. Whereas audiences may still have trouble with coping with mature themes in ‘Sailor Moon’, in a Tarantino film, it is allowable more likely expected. ‘The Animatrix’ was sold on the success of ‘The Matrix’, which itself made its anime-influenced style acceptable through its genre and sci-fi story line. ‘Spirited Away’, with its universal themes and strong storytelling, is accessible for a wide audience. Once again it was not produced as such, but it was adapted and promoted in the global market as such. Miyazaki’s films and the projects combining anime qualities with western styles, represent anime in the global market. Moreover they represent successful adoption into the global market, because they have been prepared for that market. Films are becoming less nationally specific as filmmakers borrow and influence across cultures. Stefan Lovgren says that anime “reflects the culture out of which it grew, like Hollywood movies reflect American beliefs and values" [62] but if we trace anime back to its earliest days, we see that yes it developed in Japanese culture but it also stemmed somewhat from American and European influences. It seems appropriate then that anime is in turn influencing the western market.

While it seems to this author that anime has come a long way since its early beginnings, it is also evident that is still has a ways to go. In the global Hollywood market it seems that anime feeds from other cinematic forms and vice versa. For now, that is its influence. When audiences, and Hollywood executives, can accept the notion of Japanese cartoons with adult themes, and promote anime more appropriately, things may progress even more. Miyazaki, dubbed the Walt Disney of Japan is anything but, yet has managed to break into the global market. The success of his films, arriving on our screens in tact, is a rarity, his influence on animation in Hollywood is marked, but it has only happened through years of hard work and experience. Miyazaki is in a sense producing a new product, in that he chooses to make films in way unique to both Japan and the U.S., and it certainly has more meat than a typical Disney production. Anime is clearly one of the biggest influences from Japanese film culture upon other cinemas, and is heartening the soup of global Hollywood.

[1] Beck, Jerry. (1996) “Anime: Hollywood's Invisible Animation Genre” http://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.5/articles/beck1.5.html

[2] 2002 “Miyazaki Film Wins Top Prize in Berlin.” http://www.fpcj.jp/e/shiryo/jb/0209.html

[3] Beck, Jerry. (1996) “Anime: Hollywood's Invisible Animation Genre” http://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.5/articles/beck1.5.html

[4] Beck, Jerry. (1996) “Anime: Hollywood's Invisible Animation Genre” http://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.5/articles/beck1.5.html

[5] “Animation Films.”

http://www.jinjapan.org/access/culture/animation.html

[6] (2002) “Miyazaki Film Wins Top Prize in Berlin.” http://www.fpcj.jp/e/shiryo/jb/0209.html

[7] “The Yukio Mishima Web Page.” http://members.tripod.com/dennismichaeliannuzz/JapanCinema.html

[8] Patten, Fred. (2002) “Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Trip to the U.S.” http://mag.awn.com/index.php?article_no=1547

[9] Patten, Fred. (2002) “Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Trip to the U.S.” http://mag.awn.com/index.php?article_no=1547

[10] (1996) “Ghibli 101: Past, Present, and Future of Studio Ghibli.” http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/ghibli/ghibli101.html

[11] Patten, Fred. (2002) “Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Trip to the U.S.” http://mag.awn.com/index.php?article_no=1547

[12] “Animation Films.”

http://www.jinjapan.org/access/culture/animation.html

[13] Suzuki, Toshi. (1996) “10 years of Ghibli.” http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/ghibli/history/

[14] Suzuki, Toshi. (1996) “10 years of Ghibli.” http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/ghibli/history/

[15] Suzuki, Toshi. (1996) “10 years of Ghibli.” http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/ghibli/history/

[16] “The Yukio Mishima Web Page.” http://members.tripod.com/dennismichaeliannuzz/JapanCinema.html

[17] (1996) “Ghibli 101: Past, Present, and Future of Studio Ghibli.” http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/ghibli/ghibli101.html

[18] Suzuki, Toshi. (1996) “10 years of Ghibli.” http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/ghibli/history/

[19] Sito, Tom. (2001) “The Ghibli Museum: Miyazaki's Genius On Display.” http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=search&sval=Hayao+Miyazaki&article_no=224

[20] (2002) “Miyazaki on Spirited Away and Influences” http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/vogue.html

[21] Miyazaki, Hayao. (1998) “About Japanese animation”

http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/aboutanime.html

[22] (2002) “Miyazaki on Spirited Away and Influences” http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/vogue.html

[23] Miyazaki, Hayao. (1998) “About Japanese animation”

http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/aboutanime.html

[24] Miyazaki, Hayao. (1992) “Money can't buy creativity.” http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/creativity.html

[25] Miyazaki, Hayao. (1992) “Money can't buy creativity.” http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/creativity.html

[26] 2002 “Miyazaki Film Wins Top Prize in Berlin.” http://www.fpcj.jp/e/shiryo/jb/0209.html

[27] Miyazaki, Hayao. (1992) “Money can't buy creativity.” http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/creativity.html

[28] “Animation Films.”

http://www.jinjapan.org/access/culture/animation.html

[29] Osmond, Andrew. (2000) “Beauty and the beastly.” http://gauk.net/film/reviews/pmguardian.html

[30] (1996) “Ghibli 101: Past, Present, and Future of Studio Ghibli.” http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/ghibli/ghibli101.html

[31] Ebert, Roger. “Princess Mononoke.” http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1999/10/102904.html

[32] (1996) “Ghibli 101: Past, Present, and Future of Studio Ghibli.” http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/ghibli/ghibli101.html

[33] Osmond, Andrew. (2000) “Beauty and the beastly.” http://gauk.net/film/reviews/pmguardian.html

[34] Shilling, Mark. (2003) “Japanese Film Industry Report 2001.”