Within the anime industry, Studio Ghibli has the most unique animation style that adds a realistic feeling to the story. For many years Ghibli’s animation blended perfectly with Hayao Miyazaki’s artistic approach and produced some of the greatest anime films of all time. It has remained consistent for most of the time, but there have been a few exceptions that fans might not have noticed.
One of those exceptions was seen when Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro came out in 1988. The film was animated by Studio Ghibli, and the key animation at the time was handled by Yoshinori Kanada, one of the most influential Japanese animators of all time. Kanada had worked on a lot of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli projects as the key animator.
Kanada had a special bond with Miyazaki, which led to the filmmaker making an exception for him. It was recently revealed by Shinsaku Kozuma, one of the greatest action animators in Japan who worked closely with both Miyazaki and Kanada in his initial days.
Yoshinori Kanada’s Contribution to My Neighbor Totoro
Full Frontal released a special interview with action animator Kozuma which featured his journey in the anime industry. During the interview, Kozuma was asked about his experience with Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki’s relationship with Kanada. While talking about his contribution to My Neighbor Totoro, Kozuma explained Miyazaki’s bond with Kanada.
Kozuma stated:
I think things were still good on Totoro. Kanada wanted to draw the soot sprites, and he had that opportunity. He was happy about it because he just had to draw circles, and the in-betweener would do the rest. So, I’d say that at this point, he was still enjoying himself, but he was reaching his limit.
Kanada became an important part of Studio Ghibli during the 80s and the 90s. He contributed to some of the most important films of the time like Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Princess Mononoke, where he worked closely with Miyazaki.
Hayao Miyazaki and Kanada had an exceptional bond. Miyazaki believed in Kanada which is why he allowed him to freely work on films like My Neighbor Totoro. However, this led to a lot of changes in the production.
Hayao Miyazaki Broke His Own Rule For Yoshinori Kanada
While talking about Miyazaki and Kanada, Kozuma made a startling revelation about how Miyazaki bent one of his most important rules for the Japanese animator. According to Kozuma, Miyazaki allowed Kanada to use the storyboards of the film as layouts for his animation, which was essentially forbidden in Studio Ghibli.
Kozuma stated:
The thing is, Miyazaki enlarged his own storyboards and had Kanada use them as layouts, which is usually pretty much forbidden at Ghibli. The layout is something you have to draw by yourself. But Miyazaki made an exception this time: he knew he’d have to redraw everything afterward, so he just did it.
This was a big change that worked in the favor of the film but it was for a very short term. Things transformed completely after the next release of Studio Ghibli: Kiki’s Delivery Service, as it was probably one of the last Studio Ghibli production which involved Kanada.
The animation style of Studio Ghibli changed a lot and while these changes were not noticeable, it essentially affected the overall production.
