Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki is a legendary Japanese director and animator, internationally famous for movies such as My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and Spirited Away. Along with Isao Takahata, he cofounded Studio Ghibli. He tends to both write and direct his movies, and relies predominantly on traditional art rather than digital.

Miyazaki is most noted for including stunning detail in his work and the very realistic motions and gestures that he incorporates with his characters. Even in scenes that are shown only for a split second, he spares no effort. Howl’s Moving Castle is a good example of this, as the castle’s exterior is ridiculously intricate. Regarding the human-like motions he utilizes, an example that comes to my mind is in Spirited Away, when the main character, Chihiro, puts on her shoes. She doesn’t just put them on, but she pulls on the backs of them and taps the toe of one of her shoes to make sure it’s on right. Another example is in My Neighbor Totoro, as the two girls Satsuki and Mei inspect the porch of their new home.

Many of Miyazaki’s movies include strong environmentalist themes. Examples include Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, which is about a post-apocalyptic world where the dwindling human population is in enmity not only with each other but with a toxic fungal forest and its insect inhabitants, and Princess Mononoke, a movie about the conflict between humans in Muromachi-period Japan and neighboring forest spirits. There is also a strong feminist element to many of his movies; most of his main protagonists are strong female characters, and even the side characters fail to fit into the damsel-in-distress classification.  As an example, though San in Princess Mononoke is not the
main hero of the movie, she is very tough and
headstrong.