THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART PRESENTS FIRST U.S. RETROSPECTIVE OF ACCLAIMED JAPANESE ANIMATION STUDIO
Series Includes Ten Works
From One of the World's Foremost Producers of Animated Features
Studio Ghibli, Japan
September 16-26, 1999
The Roy and Niuta Titus 1
One of the world's preeminent producers of animated films receives its first U.S. retrospective with The Museum of Modern Art's program Studio Ghibli, Japan. Running from September 16 to 26 in the Museum's Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1, the series will present a comprehensive survey of ten of Studio Ghibli's animated features.
Studio Ghibli was founded in Japan in 1984 by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and, in the decade and a half since then, has become the country's preeminent maker of feature-length animated films. Ghibli, an Italian word for a strong Sahara wind, describes the overwhelming effect this small but potent studio has had on Japanese culture—its films have consistently been cited by critics and are frequently among the most popular Japanese movies of the year. Its recent animated epic Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke, Hayao Miyazaki, 1997) has been seen by more Japanese than any other domestic film, and its newest film, Hoh-Ho-Kekkyo Tonari no Yamada-Kun (My Neighbors the Yamadas, Isao Takahata, 1999) opened in Japan this summer to critical and popular acclaim.
Miyazaki (born 1941) has drawn manga (cartoon narrative publications) and made anime (animated films) for all his professional life. He and Takahata (born 1935) first met in the animation department of Toei Studios in the mid-1960s, and later both joined A-Pro and then Zuiyo, two animation production companies. In 1984, Takahata, who himself had directed a number of animated films, produced a feature directed by Miyazaki based on Miyazaki's manga character, Nausicaä, a brave young woman who becomes a warrior. The success of Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Miyazaki, 1984) led to the formation of Ghibli, which has since produced ten remarkable animated feature films.
"Ghibli's films are uncommonly intense. The animation, fluid, lush, and striking, creates imaginative universes that are self-contained and rich in surprising detail," notes Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator, Department of Film and Video, who organized the exhibition. "The truly adventurous aspects of a Ghibli animated drama, however, stem from the sensibilities of the characters. Change, loss, the irresistible impressions of memory, and the emotional price of experience are recurring themes, and it is for these as much as the beauty of the animation itself that the films of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata are celebrated."
MoMA's retrospective opens with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, the Miyazaki-Takahata collaboration whose success led to the formation of Studio Ghibli, and includes the studio's first production, Tenku no Shiro Laputa (Castle in the Sky, Miyazaki, 1986), as well as eight of the company's subsequent nine films.
Studio Ghibli, Japan is presented in cooperation with Buena Vista Home Entertainment and Miramax Films, and was organized for The Museum of Modern Art by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator, Department of Film and Video.
