Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata: Masters of Animation
June 3–30, 2005

Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata are celebrated for their feature-length animations. Miyazaki’s films revolve around complex legends, often with children navigating magical and precarious terrains; Takahata explores ordinary life with a hardheaded objectivity. Despite an underlying sense of darkness, their remarkable films impart a sense of hope for new beginnings. The two filmmakers, who became friends in the late 1960s while working at Toei Animation, collaborated on a number of projects, including Little Norse Prince Valiant (1968) and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), before joining with Toshio Suzuki to create Studio Ghibli, now an independent production company. This exhibition features thirteen films from 1968 to the present, including the North American premiere of Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle (2004).

Organized by Barbara London, Associate Curator, Department of Film and Media. The exhibition is supported by Walt Disney Studios, The Japan Foundation, and The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art. Special thanks to Fabienne Stephan, Andrew Maerkle, and Anri Yasuda.

Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind). 1984. Japan. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Nausicaä hails from the Valley of the Wind, where a community of post-apocalyptic survivors wears gas masks to breathe. She must protect the Valley from giant mutated insects from the Jungle of Decay. Miyazaki’s film confronts such themes as environmental responsibility, community spirit, and humans’ relationship to science. 116 min.
Friday, June 3, 6:00. T1; Thursday, June 16, 7:00. T2

Ho-hokkeyo tonari no Yamada-kun (My Neighbors the Yamadas). 1999. Japan. Written and directed by Isao Takahata. Based on Ishii Hisaihi’s long-running manga, this film centers on salaryman Takashi Yaada. His wife hates housework, his teenage son refuses to study, his small daughter speaks too loudly, and his sharp-tongued mother butts in…. Here’s the kind of traditional family that may be disappearing in an increasingly modernized Japan. In Japanese, English subtitles. 104 min.
Friday, June 3, 8:30; Wednesday, June 29, 8:15. T1

Heisei tanuki gassen Ponpoko (Pom Poko). 1994. Japan. Written and directed by Isao Takahata. Raccoonlike creatures are threatened with the destruction of their forest. 118 min.
Saturday, June 4, 2:00; Wednesday, June 29, 6:00. T1

Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro). 1988. Japan. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Two young girls move to the countryside to care for their ailing mother. They befriend the magical Totoro, who takes them on the ride of their lives. 86 min.
Saturday, June 4, 4:00. T1; Saturday, June 25, 4:30. T2

Kurenai no Buta (Porco rosso). 1992. Japan. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Porco is a champion Italian aviator-for-hire. His suave and noble ways define him as a hero, despite his porcine appearance. Antifascist overtones and the romance of a more heroic era add complexity to this work, which is set in the Adriatic region during the 1920s. The technologies of aviation and motion pictures, a hallmark of Futurism, play prominent roles in the film. 93 min.
Saturday, June 4, 8:15; Thursday, June 23, 6:00. T1

Majo no takkyûbin (Kiki’s Delivery Service). 1989. Japan. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Kiki is a thirteen-year-old witch who, following the customs of her clan, sets off into the world to establish herself as a full witch. With sidekick Jiji, a black cat, Kiki begins life in a sleepy seaside town, where she overcomes loneliness and gains independence with the support of her new friends and family. 102 min.
Sunday, June 5, 2:00; Thursday, June 23, 8:15. T1

Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies). 1988. Japan. Written and directed by Isao Takahata. Two orphans, Seita and his younger sister Setsuko, struggle to survive World War II in this often graphic, heartrending film. Fourteen-year-old Seita’s self-sacrificing devotion to Setsuko is contrasted with the selfish behavior of adults desperate to save themselves from death. 88 min.
Sunday, June 5, 5:00. T1

Howl no ugoku shiro (Howl’s Moving Castle). 2004. Japan. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. A North American premiere. Sophie works diligently in a hat shop while her countrymen go off to war in the fervent spirit of imperial conquest. After befriending the mysterious boy Howl, Sophie is transformed by magic into an old woman. The ensuing madcap adventures in Howl’s moving sky-castle remind her that her joy can never be fully suppressed. 118 min.
Monday, June 6, 8:30. T1

Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke). 1997. Japan. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. With a haunting theme song sung by countertenor Mera Yoshikazu, this film about a girl warrior’s struggle for peace unfolds in a medieval age of discord and rapid change. 133 min.
Friday, June 17, 7:00. T2; Thursday, June 30, 8:30. T1

Heidi—A Girl of the Alps. 1974. Japan. Directed by Isao Takahata. Scene design and layout by Hayao Miyazaki. In this made-for-TV series based on the original story by Johanna Spyri, young Heidi is sent to live with her grandfather in his alpine cabin. The first Takahata-Miyazaki collaboration with creative direction over every aspect of production, the project demonstrates the remarkable working methods that came to define the future Studio Ghibli. Four episodes, 92 min.
Sunday, June 19, 1:00; Saturday, June 25, 6:15. T2

Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away). 2001. Japan. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Young Chihiro is moving to the countryside with her parents. While in a forest en route to their new home, her parents are turned by a curse into pigs. Chihiro enters a mythical realm where she undergoes various trials to rescue her family. 124 min.
Sunday, June 19, 2:45; Saturday, June 25, 8:15. T2

Omoide poroporo (Only Yesterday). 1991. Japan. Directed by Isao Takahata. A young Tokyo office worker, on vacation at a farm owned by relatives of her brother-in-law, looks back on her childhood and recalls the events that shaped her life. 119 min.
Friday, June 24, 5:15. T1

Tenku no Shiro Laputa (Laputa Castle in the Sky). 1986. Japan. Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. An airship glides through clouds in the silvery light of the full moon. Muska, a government agent, is escorting a girl, Sheeta, to the Tedis Fortress. Suddenly the ship is attacked by sky pirates. 124 min.

Saturday, June 25, 2:00. T2

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