This is my feminist love letter to Hayao Miyazaki. I love you Hayao Miyazaki, for being brilliant, making me think, and getting me to care about characters if they are done by someone else I would hate them. I write this in a feminist community blog because A) Miyazaki has been described as a feminist ( I am unsure if this definition is self imposed) B) His work touches on issues of feminism. Most commonly that female strength comes in many varying shapes and sizes, showing women to be three demensional leading characters ( not 3-D animation lol Maiyazaki still draws by hand which I respect).
All of Miyazaki's films have three things in common.
1) Feminist ideals (embodied by strong female lead characters)
2) Environmental consciousness
3) Flight (someone is always flying in Miyazaki films)
A list of my favorite Miyasaki films are
1)Castle of Cagliostro (my fav, only because I am a lupin the third fan: a feminist guilty pleasure. Though this is my favorite, non sexist version of Lupin and Fujiko I have ever seen)
2) Naucica: of the valley of the wind
3) Princess Mononoke
4) Howl's Moving Castle ( my wife's fav)
5) Spirited Away
6) Kiki's delivery service
7) My neighbor Totoro
There are others I have yet to see: The Cat Returns or Porco Roso but they are on our Netflix
Miyazaki never ceases to amaze me how well he blends these themes together even to the point of showing the strength in differing female chracters that are in opposition to each other. (e.g. Princess mononoke, Spirited Away, and Howls Moving Castle)
I also write this post because Miyazaki's new film Ponyo: of the cliffs by the sea. Is going t o be released inthe US Aug 16 and from the trailers it not only looks breathtaking but continuting Miyazaki's feminist themes
My only problem with Miyazaki films is its US distributing company... DISNEY. I have harbored a lot of feminist hatred for Disney ( because I not only find their films and corporate actions (e.g sweatshops) not only sexist, but racist and Ableist (against persons with disabilities)). I don't know why a feminist like miyazaki would allow his frims to be distributed by such a company, maybe he doesn't know. But the Irony of a feminist filmmaker's work being distributed by a company who's actions are completeley the opposite is not lost on me. But I assume that is common with a lost of feminist fims that get wide distribution.
Anyway, I just want to say Thank you Hayao Miyazaki for your films and your feminist brilliance. I look forward to being wowed by you again.
So what do you think? Is there anyone out there who loves Miyazaki films as much as we do?
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Oh I loooooooooooooove his films so very much. I watch a lot (and i mean A LOT) of anime and i do noticed that it tends to lean towards a male audience and also tends to be somewhat degrading towards women but Miyazaki has definitely shown that there can be more to it than that. His work amazes me so much mainly because of the fact that he still hand draws his movies and manages to create beautiful nature scenes full of life. Thank you for mentioning him on feministing because i think if anyone deserves to be acknowledged for their contribution to feminism, he is definitely one of them :)
do you have a favorite Miyazaki film ?
Everyone else please list
I can't decide between Spirited Away and Totoro. I actually saw Totoro when I was a little girl, so it's really nostalgic for me to watch again, but Spirited Away just amazes me.
Yeah, Princess Mononoke is one of my favorite movies too.
Also, have you read the Nausicaä manga series? :) I haven't seen the movie, but I heard it only covers a bit of the whole story.
The Cat Returns is my fave, although Howl's Moving Castle is a close second. Not that Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa weren't masterpieces in their own right, but I find The Cat Returns and Howl's Moving Castle a bit more light-hearted and comic.
You'll really like The Cat Returns. I know that I sure did.
My favorite is Spirited Away. Even my parents, who dislike most animation, loved that film.
Great post. I'd like to see some more in-depth feminist analysis of ALL of his films.
I love Miyazaki soooo much, and I'm really excited about Ponyo too.
There's one more excellent film that got kinda mangled in the English dub and isn't as well known, but is well worth seeing if you can find a better translated version. It's called "Pom Poko" (the English version is named "Racoon War").
The story is kinda funny actually, there's a mythical Japanese creature called a Tanuki, which looks kind of like a racoon with comically large testicles. The movie is largely about Tanuki. Needless to say, Disney wasn't thrilled about releasing this, so the official translation refers to them as "pouches."
Anyways, if you like the rest of Miyazaki's movies, you'll almost certainly like Pom Poko, so check it out.
Personally, Princess Mononoke is my favorite Miyazaki movie, although I like all the ones you listed.
In case any Canadians are curious about the movie, the Canadian release date is also Aug 16. ^^ I've only seen a handful of Miyazaki's movies but I've loved them all, so I look forward to seeing this one too.
I love Miyazaki films!
I used to watch some anime when I was younger, and have lost interest in it for the most part. But the Miyazaki films still stick with me, they're just so beautiful and creative.
So, I had a bit of a nostalgic moment and looked up some of the movies I had seen when I was younger. Whisper of the Heart is another movie (although not directed by Miyazaki, but released by Studio Ghibli) I really remember enjoying. I had to look through a bunch of YouTube trailers of Miyazaki and Studio Ghilbli movies to figure out which movie was in my head. Apparently, it's the prequel to Return of the Cat, which I have never seen. You may want to check it out :).
I've only seen a few but he does incredibly beautiful work.
While Spirited Away is my favourite, Whispers of the Heart is what really captured my heart. I think that is a movie that every young person should see before embarking on higher education or a career. Usually in shoujo, you have the girl wanting to be a support to the guy or making herself be worthy of the guy. I loved Whispers because it was about the girl being so impressed by the guy because he has a goal in life and is making his own way towards it and wanting to have one for herself too. It was this competition of sorts and I thought it was lovely.
I think Miyazaki's movies are feminist because whether a character is male or female, he treats them as a person. Any female character in his film could be replaced with a male charac and vice versa and it wouldn't jar the script. I think this si what also makes his male characters so attractive!
Yaaay for Miyazaki love! Thanks for posting this. I absolutely love his movies, and their popularity is proof that loads of people (little boys included!) have no problem enjoying exciting movies with strong female leads. My favorite film is probably Nausicaa, but Princess Mononoke is pretty high up there as well.
Also to be the nitpicky nerd, "The Cat Returns" is not directed by Miyazaki, but is by the same studio (Studio Ghibli). My favorite non-Miyazaki Ghibli films are "Pom Poko" and "Whisper of the Heart."
thanks for the correction on The Cat Returns I think we are going to eventually watch all of Studio Gibli's films.
Please keep the admoration and love of Miyazaki's films coming they are great to read and I hope if you haven't seen any of them you should check them out
I am so happy to see this post! I am about to start a PhD that I think will focus heavily on Studio Ghibli, and I have to say, I remain a huge fan no matter how many times I have to watch and analyze them. =) What I love is that the feminist overtones to the films reach to every level of the narrative - to a focus on non-violence, a sense of moral ambiguity (not the black-and-white situations you get in a lot of children's films), questioning modern society, caring for life that isn't human and/or is very different from us, etc... I find that far too often, films are considered 'feminist' only for having a strong female lead, while they fail to uphold feminist ideals (as I see them) on any deeper level. I love Miyazaki because his feminism doesn't just end at the heroines.
I definitely do think there are some problems in the films, particularly the nostalgic portrayals of Japan and this idyllic rural community feel, I think Ghibli does pretty fabulously in comparison with most other films out there in promoting positive ideals.
I recently saw Kiki's Delivery Service and loved it! My 11 year-old-brother was the one who recommended it to me. :) I really wish Pixar and Dreamworks and some of the other kids/animated movie makers here in the US would realise that male leads shouldn't be the default. This idea that boys won't watch movies with female leads, so we should only have male leads is ridiculous. As SaltyRiceCracker wrote above, the popularity of Mizayaki's films shows that both girls and boys can enjoy movies with strong female lead characters.
whoops! I meant to write Miyazaki, not Mizayaki.
I think everyone who watches Miyazaki films loves them...how could you not!? Last year I saw his latest film Ponyo in theaters in Japan. I was thrilled to see it, but super sad also...it was marketed as his last film! He said in interviews that he is too old to cell animate anymore and this would be is last movie as an animator/director. I hope to see a lot more great films from Studio Ghibli though.
Nausica is my favorite movie of his, btw. When I saw Spiderman 2 in theaters in Japan my Japanese father said that they had stolen the train scene where they all lift the injured Spiderman above their heads from Nausica. That made me go "awe" cause I didn't know my Japanese dad liked Miyazaki films. ^_^
I recently saw a thread on here about how Pixar has failed to make any movies with strong female leads...I think they should learn a little something from Miyazaki and get their act together.
I have never seen a Miyazaki film that I did not adore. He's not "just" a brilliant animator -- he's a brilliant director, as capable as anyone working in live-action film. The first of his that I saw, and still my favorite, was Kiki's Delivery Service.
Howl's Moving Castle just barely edges out Spirited Away for my favorite. As beautiful as Mononoke was, it just rips my heart out.
But yes--I love the complexities of Miyazaki's characters and the love that he has for them... in all the movies. Look at Howl: (spoilers) Both the Witch of the Waste and Suleiman could easily have been hyperbolic mega-bitches, but both of them are treated with respect and love: even as the Witch destroys the house, she does so out of regret and longing and not out of malice. Suleiman is seen as cool and evil, but not consumed by revenge or pettiness like other women of power are usually portrayed. And as far as Sophie is concerned, she begins the story as the "ideal" of femininity: young, beautiful, extremely shy and passive, and incredibly lonely. It isn't until she's cursed and she feels no one will ever be able to love her that she comes out of her shell, takes charge, takes no nonsense, and manages to win Howl's love despite looking like a 90-year-old woman. All of the characters are so believable because they are so complex and none of them just fulfill some black-and-white narrative stereotype.
Ah dammit, now I want to watch Spirited Away again.... :D
I enjoyed Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle, but I'm actually somewhat concerned on feminist grounds by some of the character changes he made when adapting the novel. Why is Howl's (female, more intimidating than the King, aggressively GOOD) teacher suddenly unimpressively evil and named for the (male, MIA) Wizard Sulliman? Why does feckless, womanizing Howl suddenly get to be a noble bishonen? Why does Sophie suddenly start worrying about how no one could love her because she's not pretty/been made old, and why were her abilities more or less erased? (I mean, sure, it's better that Howl's not a womanizer anymore, but it's kind of like he got promoted and Sophie got demoted, and that doesn't sit well with me) And I could rant about Lottie, too...
That's not to say that Miyazaki's movie isn't excellent when considered on its own, but when I compare it to the original novel I'm uncomfortable - especially since the original Sophie felt much more like a Miyazaki heroine than the movie version did.
As for Miyazaki partnering with Disney -- It appears to me that he's managed to maintain a great deal of control, and that Buena Vista entertainment is simply the distributor for his work. Think about it: if any of his movies had been "Disney" movies (as opposed to simply distributed by Disney), we would have Radish God plushies, Turnip Head spring-loaded action figures, and Princess Mononoke Sparkle Forest Castle playsets. You'd have McDonald's Tie in (get your Forest Walker burgers with Nago bacon strips and a side of kodama Happy Meal!)
Even with Disney backing his movies, they tend to stay pretty low-key... it's sort of the best of both worlds where you don't have to look too hard to find the movies but Disney didn't completely pervert the studio's works.
Personally, I prefer this arrangement to having his movies so select and hard to find I have to go to incredibly anti-feminist spaces to find them.
if any of his movies had been "Disney" movies (as opposed to simply distributed by Disney), we would have Radish God plushies, Turnip Head spring-loaded action figures, and Princess Mononoke Sparkle Forest Castle playsets
It's funny you should say that... the deal carefully avoided giving Disney any sort of merchandising rights. (Probably at least partly to avoid cutting into their own merchandise.)
Yup, a lot of that merch does exist -- in Japan. Let's not pretend that the amazingly talented possibly feminist Miyazaki is above opportunistic marketing!
The Studio Ghibli Museum in Tokyo is absolutely worth a visit if anyone is near that side of the world -- it really captures the childlike wonder you feel when you watch the movie without being excessively hokey.
That's fascinating, I'd love to see some of the merch. Disney's opportunistic marketing is beyond the pale -- think all the little cheap plastic crap they used to promote Wall-E.
Honestly, knowing this just makes me respect Miyazaki more because he's obviously an incredibly shrewd negotiator -- to be able to keep merch rights for his works when negotiating with a massive corporation like Disney.
Of course, I could be completely wrong and he doesn't have a lot of final say over actual product placement for the merchandising that takes place in Japan, and there could be Princess Naussica Dress-Up Sparkle Time kits. (Please tell me I'm not wrong!)
Oh I am sure that Japan would always win when it comes to the merchandising market over USA and Disney anyway. They have ti to an art form over there! My friend bought me this thing with Chihiro's picture in it. I don't know what it is!! It's made out of a flexible material and is about 4 x 2 inches. I think it's simply a collectible.
Considering where Pokemon started, I think you might have to re-think about merchandising in Japan. Studio Ghibli has a Museum near Tokyo! Imagine the stuff you'll get there!
I have a 5 y/o stepdaughter, and it's really hard to find stuff for her that has positive female role models and isn't male-centric (as most American tv shows and movies are). She loves Spirited Away and My neighbor Totoro but hasn't seen some of the others yet because they seem a tad bit old for her. But I totally agree with you about his female characters and story lines.
I have a 5 y/o stepdaughter, and it's really hard to find stuff for her that has positive female role models and isn't male-centric (as most American tv shows and movies are). She loves The Cat Returns and My neighbor Totoro but hasn't seen some of the others yet because they seem a tad bit old for her. But I totally agree with you about his female characters and story lines.
I'm going to look for these at the library next time I'm there..gotta love movies about strong, independent girls!!
He's absolutely amazing. Beautiful, inspiring, uplifting. Thanks for writing.