Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki was born on January 5th, 1941, native of Tokyo, Japan. He is quite known for directing anime/animated movies that reflect how human kind is in constant destruction of nature and how that generates problems to our kind; he's also very connected to the Shintoism, which concentrates in the acknowledgement and respect for the spiritual world; and last, but not least, Miyazaki is also well known for his strong use of Feminism in his films, portraying women of independece and strong character. Some believe that he reflects his mother's spirit with his feminine characters, for she was quite a reader and who often questioned the way of life, norms.

In Princess Mononoke, his heroine is a strong woman, independent, just the type of women that inspire his creations. This movie caused sensation when it was shown in Japan and was only defeated afters Titanic came out to theaters a few months later, but it won a Japanese Academy Award for Best Picture. Though, he is still not very well known to the Occidental culture, his film Spirited Away gave the world something to talk about. He won an Oscar for this film.

Among his works, we can find:
-Future Boy Conan (1978); the animated series
-My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
-Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
-Princess Mononoke (1997)
-Spirited Away (2001)
-Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
-Ponyo (2008)

Ponyo (2008)


Information obtained from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki