Hayao Miyazaki has long been hailed as one of the greatest directors to ever exist, and he is by far the most famous animator and a household name. He has stunned fans with his beautiful watercolor scenes, his ability to convey the complicated feelings that surround childhood and coming of age, and his proficiency at tapping into the cozy factor.

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There are many reasons why Hayao Miyazaki is so beloved, from his incredible art style and direction to his ability to address important topics. He can do all of this while still maintaining a sense of childhood innocence and wonder using his relatable and lovable protagonists. Fans revere Miyazaki for his teachings as well as his attention to detail.

10 When He Used Nausicaä To Warn The World About Nuclear Disaster Right Before Two World Crises

Asbel and Nausicaa look at a dead Ohmu in a destroyed city

Inspired by the advent of nuclear weapons, Hayao Miyazaki wrote Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, about a post-apocalyptic world in which the land had been poised by the fallout from war and destruction. Miyazaki's story warned about the future of a world marred by nuclear war, and it was efficacious in its commentary. However, he was more right than people could have imagined.

Not long after Nausicaä's initial release, the events at Chernobyl took place, and decades later so would the meltdown at the Fukushima Daichi plant.

9 When He Told Dark Fairy Tales That Still Touched Fans In My Neighbor Totoro

Totoro

On its surface, My Neighbor Totoro is a charming movie, but it deals with heavy themes such as death and illness. Yet, Miyazaki navigates these sad subjects with whimsy and beauty. Fans can chalk it up to his amazing art style and the innocent perspective of his children protagonists who are the only ones who can see the spirits, but Miyazaki is known for his ability to make a fairy tale that is dark and heartwarming at once.

There have been a lot of fan theories that surround the film, including ones that suggest the children are dead and Totoro is a shinigami. However, even without such a dark undertone, the show appropriately depicts sadness and loss while maintaining its levity.

8 When He Wrapped Up Everyone's Feelings About Childhood In One Package In Kiki's Delivery Service

kiki with jiji

Kiki's Delivery Service is a magical Bildungsroman that captures what it is like to come of age while also including a sense of wonder, fantasy, and whimsy. Kiki goes off to become a full-fledged witch in another city, but there is a certain sadness many fans can relate to that goes along with leaving home and starting on one's own.

While it is strange that other witches in the story do not report any loss of magic like Kiki, suggesting she is alone in her feelings, viewers can certainly relate to the bittersweetness of the trials she faces.

7 When He Balanced Fear & Coziness Using The Characters In Spirited Away

Spirited Away Train

Spirited Away is a film that was so successful for its ability to keep that same trademark coziness and sense of wonder and levity that is characteristic of Studio Ghibli's films while introducing moments that could even be described as scary. From No Face's rampage in the bathhouse to Yubaba's iron fist, the movie has uncanny moments that put viewers off.

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Yet, the film is still enjoyable and beautiful while dealing with darker themes of kidnap, loss, and forced servitude.

6 When He Warned About The Destruction Of Nature In Princess Mononoke

Prince Ashitaka And Princess Mononoke

Nausicaä is not the only film about the perils of destroying the earth that Miyazaki produced. Princess Mononoke is a film that rails against the human tendency toward deforestation, polluting, and over-mining resources. In the tale, spirits of the forest become enraged at the blatant disrespect the humans have toward nature, and they attack their settlements in mass.

Princess Mononoke continues to be one of Studio Ghibli's most popular films. While it still has frightening imagery when the spirits are corrupted, its tone is much less bleak than that of Nausicaä.

5 When He Showed Fans The Importance Of Accepting Oneself In Howl's Moving Castle

howls moving castle breakfast scene

The eccentric and immature Howl is a character many Studio Ghibli fans are attached to. He embodies the universal fear of adulting, but he has to deal with accepting that. Meanwhile, Sophie is a character who cannot accept herself, and she is cursed to become an old woman.

The film teaches viewers to accept their movement into adulthood. While the characters fight to maintain their youth, both figuratively and literally, each character has to learn to accept themselves for who they are and for how they will change as life goes on. In the end, love is what keeps the characters young, even if it will only be in the metaphorical sense.

4 When He Taught Fans To Embrace Curiosity & Accepting Others In Ponyo

Ponyo

Ponyo is a story about a magical fish-girl who takes a human form and befriends Sosuke. Like many of Miyazaki's films, this one is also concerned with the relationship between humans and nature, in this case, the ocean. However, the story is far beyond any retelling of The Little Mermaid.

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The story supports its curious protagonist, and it encourages love and acceptance between Sosuke and Ponyo, just as it encourages a love of the ocean and the human world via Ponyo's father and his final acceptance of Ponyo returning to land.

3 When He Visually Stunned Audiences With Porco Rosso's Setting

Porco Rosso

Everyone's favorite anti-fascist, plane piloting pig, Porco Rosso, is the titular protagonist of Miyazaki's film of the same name. While Porco Rosso is not one of Miyazaki's most famous works, it is certainly laudable for its amazing setting (a post-World War I Italy) and its charismatic characters.

Miyazaki is well-known for his masterfully crafted settings, most of which take place in a fantasy world or some iteration of Japan. However, Porco Rosso is so interesting for its placement both within history and on the map.

2 When He Captured The Complicated Feelings Of Loss & Longing In The Wind Rises

Jiro and his wife Nahoko talk in bed in The Wind Rises.

Many Miyazaki films deal with transformation, growing up, or loss in some way. Many films deal with a combination. However, The Wind Rises is one of the heartwrenching tales that Miyazaki directed. The story is a fictional retelling of Jiro Horikoshi's life, a plane designer. In the tale, as his career in aviation soars, his love interest and wife falls ill and passes away.

The story beautifully captures what it means to fall in love and lose that love, and it also details the love some have with their dreams and careers.

1 When He Harkened Back To Literary Giants In Castle In The Sky

Laputa before the spell of destruction

Castle in the Sky is one of Miyazaki's earlier films, coming out after Nausicaä. Like Nausicaä, the tale includes a fantastical world that has been at odds with nature and therefore has a sort of dystopian feel. The castle in the sky was Laputa, named after a fictional flying city in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

Like the book, Castle in the Sky deals with themes of exploitation, domination, and the destruction of nature via military power. Miyazaki's tale differs in its futuristic and magical aesthetic, its inclusion of children (Sheeta and Pazu) as protagonists, and its dystopian feel, all of which made it interesting to viewers of Miyazaki's time.

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