Hayao Miyazaki Quotes & Sayings

[pitching the proposal for Mononoke-hime (1997)] There cannot be a happy ending to the fight between the raging gods and humans. However, even in the middle of hatred and killings, there are things worth living for. A wonderful meeting, or a beautiful thing can exist. We depict hatred, but it is to depict that there are more important things. We depict a curse, to depict the joy of liberation. What we should depict is, how the boy understands the girl, and the process in which the girl opens her heart to the boy. At the end, the girl will say to the boy, "I love you, Ashitaka. But I cannot forgive humans." Smiling, the boy should say, "That is fine. Live with me. — Hayao Miyazaki

There are so many ships in the animation sea that are computer driven, that I think we can have at least one that's just a log raft that we can row by hand. — Hayao Miyazaki

I think 2-D animation disappeared from Disney because they made so many uninteresting films. They became very conservative in the way they created them. It's too bad. I thought 2-D and 3-D could coexist happily. — Hayao Miyazaki

Some people spend their lives interested only in themselves. — Hayao Miyazaki

Personally I am very pessimistic. But when, for instance, one of my staff has a baby you can't help but bless them for a good future. Because I can't tell that child, 'Oh, you shouldn't have come into this life.' And yet I know the world is heading in a bad direction. So with those conflicting thoughts in mind, I think about what kind of films I should be making. — Hayao Miyazaki

We live in an age when it is cheaper to buy the rights to movies than to make them. — Hayao Miyazaki

All my films are all my children. — Hayao Miyazaki

The single difference between films for children and films for adults is that in films for children, there is always the option to start again, to create a new beginning. In films for adults, there are no ways to change things. What happened, happened. — Hayao Miyazaki

Since I am a person who starts work without clear knowledge of a storyline, every single scene is a pivotal scene. — Hayao Miyazaki

I think it's really good for a family or children to have a dog, cat, bird or whatever to grow up with. — Hayao Miyazaki

[ ... ] it would be false to say that because we're on the side of justice, we can go ahead and destroy our opponents and the world will be at peace. [ ... ] Now, I know that there are such things as good and evil in the world, and that people do good things. But people who do good things are not necessarily good people, they just happen to be people who have done good things. The next instant they might wind up doing something bad, and if we don't take that into account in our view of humans, we'll constantly make mistakes when making political decisions or decisions about ourselves. — Hayao Miyazaki

In fact, I am a pessimist. But when I'm making a film, I don't want to transfer my pessimism onto children. I keep it at bay. I don't believe that adults should impose their vision of the world on children, children are very much capable of forming their own visions. There's no need to force our own visions onto them. — Hayao Miyazaki

I try to dig deep into the well of my subconscious. At a certain moment in that process, the lid is opened and very different ideas and visions are liberated. With those I can start making a film. But maybe it's better that you don't open that lid completely, because if you release your subconscious it becomes really hard to live a social or family life. — Hayao Miyazaki

Problems begin the moment we're born. We're born with infinite possibilities, only to give up on one after another. To choose one thing means to give up another. That's inevitable. But what can you do? That's what it is to live. — Hayao Miyazaki

Animators can only draw from their own experiences of pain and shock and emotions. — Hayao Miyazaki

The villains are all parts of me. For years I've been wondering what it would be like if all those negative elements were forced onto the main character's side. I can understand a character with that kind of anger. — Hayao Miyazaki

What you mean by 'peace' is nothing more than the endless repetition of human folly. — Hayao Miyazaki

Reality is for people that lack imagination. — Hayao Miyazaki

There are so many things we can't do anything about if we think about generalities. Things won't go well because there is a huge gap between the generalities and the particulars. If we see generalities from the top of a mountain or from a plane, we feel it's hopeless, but if we go down, there is a nice road running about fifty meters, we feel this is a nice road, and if the weather is fine and shining, we feel we can go on ... Since the people in the community are cleaning up the river in my neighborhood, I join them when I have the time. A human can often be satisfied with the particulars. That's what I like best these days. — Hayao Miyazaki

Rather than making that a good project, I like to make the kinds of films that children can understand in five minutes what the film is about. — Hayao Miyazaki

When I start creating a villain, I start liking the villain and so the villain is not really evil. — Hayao Miyazaki

I do believe in the power of story. I believe that stories have an important role to play in the formation of human beings, that they can stimulate, amaze and inspire their listeners. — Hayao Miyazaki

It is the fate of modern life that we repeatedly lose touch with nature, the environment, the planet. But we try to regain it again and again. It's like a circle. In children's hearts and souls when they're born into the world, nature already exists deep inside them. So what I want to do in my work is tap into their souls — Hayao Miyazaki

We are not trying to solve the world's problems ... However, even in the midst of hatred and killing, there are things worth living for. A wonderful encounter, or a thing of beauty can still exist. — Hayao Miyazaki

You always have to appeal to your audience. You always have to consider how well your project will do in terms of admissions. I abandoned many stories because of that. But I don't get too down about it. It's something I accepted from the time I decided to work in films. — Hayao Miyazaki

You may not like what's happening, but just accept it, and let's try to live together. Even if you feel angry, let's be patient and endure, let's try to live together. I've realized that this is the only way forward. — Hayao Miyazaki

I never read reviews. I'm not interested. But I value a lot the reactions of the spectators. — Hayao Miyazaki

The characters are born from repetition, from repeatedly thinking about them. I have their outline in my head. I become the character and as the character I visit the locations of the story many, many times. Only after that I start drawing the character, but again I do it many, many times, over and over. And I only finish just before the deadline. — Hayao Miyazaki

When I say I get inspiration from my real life, I think of my real life as extending about 300 meters radius around me. So what I see in that area is what inspires me. — Hayao Miyazaki

Do everything by hand, even when using the computer. — Hayao Miyazaki

The love of weaponry is often a manifestation of infantile traits in an adult. — Hayao Miyazaki

I don't like games. You're robbing the precious time of children to be children. They need to be in touch with the real world more. — Hayao Miyazaki

Whenever someone creates something with all of their heart, then that creation is given a soul. — Hayao Miyazaki

The concept of portraying evil and then destroying it - I know this is considered mainstream, but I think it is rotten. This idea that whenever something evil happens someone particular can be blamed and punished for it, in life and in politics is hopeless. — Hayao Miyazaki

Once you have met someone, you never really forget them. — Hayao Miyazaki

I'm not a collector. — Hayao Miyazaki

See with eyes unclouded by hate. — Hayao Miyazaki

Actually I think CGI has the potential to equal or even surpass what the human hand can do. — Hayao Miyazaki

If [hand-drawn animation] is a dying craft, we can't do anything about it. Civilization moves on. Where are all the fresco painters now? Where are the landscape artists? What are they doing now? The world is changing. I have been very fortunate to be able to do the same job for 40 years. That's rare in any era. — Hayao Miyazaki

If you're going to retire, retire early. — Hayao Miyazaki

I myself become terrified of death when I am in a negative state of mind. But the thought of death ceases to bother me once I become productive. — Hayao Miyazaki

I find it pointless sitting in my house not working, though I like to go on extended vacations from time to time. — Hayao Miyazaki

But remember this, Japanese boy ... airplanes are not tools for war. They are not for making money. Airplanes are beautiful dreams. Engineers turn dreams into reality. — Hayao Miyazaki

In order to grow your audience, you must betray their expectations. — Hayao Miyazaki

These days, there are angry ghosts all around us, dead from wars, sickness, starvation--and nobody cares. So you say you're under a curse? Well, so what? So's the whole damned world. — Hayao Miyazaki

You must see with eyes unclouded by hate. See the good in that which is evil, and the evil in that which is good. Pledge yourself to neither side, but vow instead to preserve the balance that exists between the two. — Hayao Miyazaki

Plants exist in the weather and light rays that surround them - waving in the wind, shimmering in the sunlight. I am always puzzling over how to draw such things. — Hayao Miyazaki

I've never studied psychology. — Hayao Miyazaki

I can't stand modern movies. The images are too weird and eccentric for me. — Hayao Miyazaki

We each need to find our own inspiration. Sometimes it is not easy. — Hayao Miyazaki

Chihiro, huh? Her real name's Chihiro? Can't beat the power of love. — Hayao Miyazaki

I like underwater life. — Hayao Miyazaki

Virtual reality is a denial of reality. We need to be open to the powers of imagination, which brings something useful to reality. Virtual reality can imprison people. — Hayao Miyazaki

In the past, humans hesitated when they took lives, even non-human lives. But society had changed, and they no longer felt that way. As humans grew stronger, I think that we became quite arrogant, losing the sorrow of 'we have no other choice.' I think that in the essence of human civilization, we have the desire to become rich without limit, by taking the lives of other creatures. — Hayao Miyazaki

In our work, the question is, how much you absorb from others. So for me, creativity, is really like a relay race. As children we are handed a baton. Rather than passing it onto the next generation as is, first we need to digest it and make it our own. — Hayao Miyazaki

I wish I was better at art. I love some of the great artists of the 19th century and, compared to them, I just feel I lack this technique that they had. They have so much skill. — Hayao Miyazaki

The greatness of a mind is determined by the depth of its suffering. — Hayao Miyazaki

To have a film where there's an evil figure and a good person fights against the evil figure and everything becomes a happy ending, that's one way to make a film. But then that means you have to draw, as an animator, the evil figure. And it's not very pleasant to draw evil figures — Hayao Miyazaki

I can't do a film after having debated it. I am unable to do a film while discussing it with my team. I issue directives. I do not achieve it otherwise. — Hayao Miyazaki

I am an animator. I feel like I'm the manager of a animation cinema factory. I am not an executive. I'm rather like a foreman, like the boss of a team of craftsmen. That is the spirit of how I work. — Hayao Miyazaki

You should despair and run away. — Hayao Miyazaki

Humans have both the urge to create and destroy. — Hayao Miyazaki

The principle I adhere to when directing, is that I make good use of everything my staff creates. Even if they make foregrounds that don't quite fit with my backgrounds, I never waste it and try to find the best use for it. — Hayao Miyazaki

In my grandparents' time, it was believed that spirits existed everywhere - in trees, rivers, insects, wells, anything. My generation does not believe this, but I like the idea that we should all treasure everything because spirits might exist there, and we should treasure everything because there is a kind of life to everything. — Hayao Miyazaki

I would like to make a film to tell children "it's good to be alive". — Hayao Miyazaki

I don't have the story finished and ready when we start work on a film. I usually don't have the time. So the story develops when I start drawing storyboards. I never know where the story will go but I just keeping working on the film as it develops. It's a dangerous way to make an animation film and I would like it to be different, but unfortunately, that's the way I work and everyone else is kind of forced to subject themselves to it. — Hayao Miyazaki

I make films as a business, not as a cultural endeavor. — Hayao Miyazaki

Many of my movies have strong female leads- brave, self-sufficient girls that don't think twice about fighting for what they believe with all their heart. They'll need a friend, or a supporter, but never a savior. Any woman is just as capable of being a hero as any man. — Hayao Miyazaki

Jiji: [after hearing that Kiki plans on leaving town for her witch training] I'm going to put my paws together and pray that you're not serious! — Hayao Miyazaki

I'd like more of the world go back to being wild. — Hayao Miyazaki

I don't intentionally make deep movies. — Hayao Miyazaki

In this world of ours, the sparrow must live like a hawk if he is to fly at all. — Hayao Miyazaki

I think Tokyo is going to sink under water soon. All those stupid high-rise buildings will sink and maybe all the traffic will be gone. And everything will be peaceful and quiet. — Hayao Miyazaki

People who design machines and airplanes {or buildings}, no matter how much they believe that what they do is good, the winds of time eventually turn them into tools of industrial civilization. They're cursed dreams. Animation, too. Beautiful yet cursed dreams. — Hayao Miyazaki

Always believe in yourself. Do this and no matter where you are, you will have nothing to fear. — Hayao Miyazaki

Personally, I was never more passionate about manga than when preparing for my college entrance exams. It's a period of life when young people appear to have a great deal of freedom, but are in many ways actually opressed. Just when they find themselves powerfully attracted to members of opposite sex, they have to really crack the books. To escape from this depressing situation, they often find themselves wishing they could live in a world of their own - a world they can say is truly theirs, a world unknown even to their parents. To young people, anime is something they incorporate into this private world.
I often refer to this feeling as one yearning for a lost world. It's a sense that although you may currently be living in a world of constraints, if you were free from those constraints, you would be able to do all sorts of things. And it's that feeling, I believe, that makes mid-teens so passionate about anime. — Hayao Miyazaki

Is someone different at age 18 or 60? I believe one stays the same. — Hayao Miyazaki

I believe that fantasy in the meaning of imagination is very important. We shouldn't stick too close to everyday reality but give room to the reality of the heart, of the mind, and of the imagination. — Hayao Miyazaki

I managed to work for more than 50 years with just paper, pencils and film. My son's generation and the one coming up after can't work with just paper and pencils any more. I managed to avoid using a computer. I don't even have a cellphone. I feel lucky I managed to live like that. — Hayao Miyazaki

I do all my work by storyboard, so as I draw the storyboard, the world gets more and more complex, and as a result, my North, South, East, West directions kind of shift and go off base, but it seems like my staff as well as the audience, doesn't quite realize that this has happened. Don't tell them about it. — Hayao Miyazaki

Airplanes are the most beautiful when they are in the air. — Hayao Miyazaki

Utopia exists only in one's childhood life. — Hayao Miyazaki

Cut off a wolf's head and it still has the power to bite. — Hayao Miyazaki

I believe nostalgia has many appearances and that it's not just the privilege of adults. I think children too can have nostalgia. It's one of mankind's most shared emotions. It's one of the things that makes us human. When you live, you lose things. It's a fact of life. So it's natural for everyone to have nostalgia. — Hayao Miyazaki

I'm not going to make movies that tell children, "You should despair and run away". — Hayao Miyazaki

It's disgusting. On trains, the number of those people doing that strange masturbation-like gesture is multiplying. — Hayao Miyazaki

See the good in that which is evil, and the evil in that which is good. — Hayao Miyazaki

Sometimes I test myself saying, 'If I get a death sentence if I don't make this movie, would I still make this movie?' — Hayao Miyazaki

When a man is shooting a handgun, it's just like he is shooting because that's his job, and he has no other choice. It's no good. When a girl is shooting a handgun, it's really something. — Hayao Miyazaki

Watching John Lasseter's films, I think I can understand better than anyone that what he's doing, is going straight ahead with his vision and working really hard to get that vision into film form. And I feel that my understanding this of him is my friendship towards him. — Hayao Miyazaki

People in Japan have experienced many tsunamis and various earthquakes throughout the ages. — Hayao Miyazaki

My process is thinking, thinking and thinking - thinking about my stories for a long time. — Hayao Miyazaki

Currently computer graphics are used a great deal, but it can be excessive. — Hayao Miyazaki

I think we should stop using nuclear power plants because it's an old system that we can't control. — Hayao Miyazaki

We depict hatred, but it is to depict that there are more important things. We depict a curse, to depict the joy of liberation. — Hayao Miyazaki

At the time, sword and sorcery stories were quite popular. There were female warriors waving swords around as well, but the genre is populated entirely with people who have absolutely no responsibility to anyone, so I knew my story would have to be completely different from any of these. — Hayao Miyazaki

Yet, even amidst the hatred and carnage, life is still worth living. It is possible for wonderful encounters and beautiful things to exist. — Hayao Miyazaki

I wanted to convey the message to children that this life is worth living, — Hayao Miyazaki

Those are shrines. Some people believe spirits live in them. — Hayao Miyazaki

You never know how a film will play, whether it will be successful or not, or whether it will touch the audience. I always said to myself that whatever happens, big audience or small, that I would not let the results have an impact on my way of working. But it would be a bit silly for me to change my methods when I have a big success. That means my methods work well. — Hayao Miyazaki