Spanning categories ranging from Artists and Icons to Titans, Leaders, Innovators and Pioneers, the annual TIME100 list has TIME magazine putting together profiles of 100 of the most influential people in the world. Along with the nods are write-ups by other people of note. This year, esteemed Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki landed in the Icons section of the list, complete with a personal piece of praise from director Guillermo del Toro.Here’s what del Toro had to say about one of the most influential creators in the world:
I discovered Hayao Miyazaki’s Toei Animation films as a child—films like The Wonderful World of Puss ’n Boots and series like Heidi and Marco, in which his style and influence became increasingly identifiable. Encountering My Neighbor Totoro as an adult, my mind snapped back to those earlier works, and I recognized how much this man had shaped my childhood.
Miyazaki’s work provokes that rare emotion—the shiver of recognition of a type of beauty that is impossible in the real world and thus exists only in his films. Yet he is also a brutal realist regarding greed, war, and human rage. He knows that we shape and destroy the planet and that humans are the best and the worst of our world.
He is entirely genuine. A one-of-a-kind creator who exists fully in his art. He is the single most influential animation director in the history of the medium, and one of my top 10 favorite storytellers in any audiovisual medium. The Boy and the Heron is a subtle masterpiece that exerts a gravitational pull—and many of us feel that pull intensely.
This comes hot on the heels of Cannes Film Festival awarding Studio Ghibli with the prestigious Honorary Palm d’or, marking the first time for the award to go to a group rather than an individual. The latest film from Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki, The Boy and the Heron, has seen many accolades of its own since its premiere in Japan on July 14, 2023. The movie won Best Animated Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards on March 11, Best Animation of the Year at the 47th Japan Academy Film Prize Awards on March 8, Best Animated Film at the British Academy Film Awards on February 18, and Golden Globe for Best Animated Film on January 7, among other awards.Source: TIME
