Studio Ghibli films by Hayao Miyazaki are known for their incredible complexity in both the plot and animation. The studio still creates hand-drawn animations that take years to create, and one such popular film is Howl’s Moving Castle.
After its release, the movie became the third highest-grossing film at the time and won several accolades. It was also nominated in the Best Animated Feature Film category of the 78th Academy Awards. However, the creation process of such movies is extremely back-breaking, and testimony from a Studio Ghibli animator proves it even more.
Studio Ghibli Animator Confesses the Hard Work that Went into Miyazaki Movies
Akihiko Miyazaki is a Studio Ghibli animator who is famous for his works in Howl’s Moving Castle, Giant Robo, and other anime projects. Yamashita first worked as a key animator on Spirited Away and as an assistant supervising animator on Ponyo, The Wind Rises, and Ghibli’s latest production, The Boy and the Heron.
In an interview with Variety, the animator claimed that he has no idea of how many pages of cells they had to draw during the production of Howl’s Moving Castle. He also reminisced how there was no concept of work-life balance at the time.
Yamashita recalled working 14 hours a day on the movie during the last six months of the project. He also claimed that there were no off days during the week or on Sundays. However, he did receive three months of leave after the film was completed.
I realized that I could only do this because I was in my 30s in those days. I wouldn’t be able to do that now at all.
-Akihiko Yamashita
Studio Ghibli has historically paid its animators better than its rivals. But the workload during its initial years was no less than any other studio. The manual process obviously lent a big hand to the tedious production schedule. On the other hand, working for months with no off days is definitely torturous unless one is extremely dedicated to the project.
Studio Ghibli Animator Explains How Hayao Miyazaki Films Differ from Other Animated Projects
Yamashita stated that Hayao Miyazaki is somebody who actually draws himself, from the layout to the storyboards and everything in between. If he doesn’t like the work of a key animator, he would change it and create a rough drawing which is finalized by animators.
Other animation directors use animation to tell a story, but he tells the story through the animation.
-Akihiko Yamashita
Yamashita then described Miyazaki’s method of working. Apparently, the director presents rough sketches of the overall image of the story and film, which includes characters, costumes, facial expressions, and much more. Then, the animators need to figure out how to animate those images. Yamashita himself drew 20 pages for a character and how it should be expressed.
The animator confessed that despite having worked with Miyazaki for several years, he only has a workplace relationship with the man, as it’s extremely hard to get close to Miyazaki. But they did have conversations about local and inconsequential things.
Howl’s Moving Castle is currently available to stream on Max.
