WAY TO THE WOODS BASED ON STUDIO GHIBLI FULL

As Miyazaki has become more familiar to audiences in the West over the past two decades, the scholarship has developed alongside it. Miyazaki has been the subject of much scholarly analysis in the past few decades by a number of the leading animation scholars, but there has been relatively little written on this figure’s creative philosophy. At the center of this creative philosophy is Miyazaki’s interpretation and presentation of the Romantic sublime: in all its many forms.

Miyazaki’s films are characterized by a distinct creative philosophy, expressed not only through the characters or narrative, but also through Studio Ghibli’s unique style of animation ( Napier, Anime from Akira 153). What sets the films of Studio Ghibli apart from other animated works is the underlying ideology. Fronting the Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli from 1985, Miyazaki has been involved with some of the most critically acclaimed animated films in history. Among the pantheon of animators, few figures command as much popular and scholarly attention as Hayao Miyazaki. One of the most pertinent examples of this enduring legacy of the Romantic sublime is in the works of animator Hayao Miyazaki (1941-). When the sublime is invoked in modern art forms, it is the Romantic incarnation that holds sway.

WAY TO THE WOODS BASED ON STUDIO GHIBLI FULL

While existing in many different incarnations across various cultures and periods, it was only under the Romantics that the full transcendental phenomenon of the sublime was defined and articulated. Dating back to the Greco-Roman tradition, the sublime has endured over the centuries as it encapsulates a range of emotional experiences inherent to the human condition. The sublime, as both an esthetic and philosophical notion, is one of the defining aspects of European Romanticism. In studying these films through a conceptual framework of the Romantic sublime, this article provides a deeper insight into Hayao Miyazaki’s creative philosophy. This engagement with Romantic ideals is illustrated in this article by analyzing the thematic and visual elements of Miyazaki’s films, highlighting how these particular films reflect, and embody, particular Romantic ideals.

Miyazaki’s engagement with Romanticism can be characterized by his interpretation of the Romantic sublime, a concept inherently linked to the traditions of the Romantic hero, the magical imagination, and the natural realm. The films of Hayao Miyazaki are characterized by a consistent creative philosophy, a philosophy that this article contends is profoundly shaped by the esthetic, philosophical, and artistic traditions of the European Romantic movement. Fronting the Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli from 1985, Miyazaki has developed into an auteur figure with his films attracting considerable attention from scholars. This article explores how the concept of the Romantic sublime is presented within the filmography of acclaimed animator Hayao Miyazaki (1941-).

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