Happy Birthday, Isao Takahata! Born today in 1935, this Japanese screenwriter, producer and film director was a co-founder of Studio Ghibl.
This was along with his long-time collaborative partner Hayao Miyazaki and Miyazaki's collaborators Toshio Suzuki and Yasuyoshi Tokuma in 1985.
Takahata was the youngest of seven siblings and third son in the family.
On June 29, 1945, when Takahata was nine years old, he and his family survived a major United States air raid on Okayama City.
Years later, Takahata graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1959 with a degree in French literature.
During this time at the school, he had seen the 1952 French animated drama/fantasy film 'Le Roi et l'Oiseau' ('The King and the Mockingbird'), which led him to become fascinated with animation.
Takahata was more interested in animation as a medium, and wanted to write and direct for animated works rather than create animations himself. A friend suggested he apply for a directing job at Japanese animation studio Toei Animation;
Upon doing so, Takahata passed their entrance exam, and was hired as an assistant director for several of Toei's animated television shows and films.
This included the studio's first Japanese black and white anime series Ōkami Shōnen Ken (Wolf Boy Ken) (1963–1965), on which he was mentored by Japanese animator Yasuo Ōtsuka.
Ōtsuka eventually asked Takahata to direct an animated feature film of his own.
His directorial debut was the 1968 Japanese Eastmancolor adventure anime film 'Taiyō no Ōji Horusu no Daibōken' ('The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun').
For the film, Ōtsuka served as Animation Director. This was while another employee named Hayao Miyazaki served as key animator.
Though it would later be recognized as one of the first defining works of modern Japanese animation, the film was a commercial failure, and Takahata was unfortunately demoted.
Unable to further improve his standing at Toei, Takahata left the studio in 1971, along with Miyazaki and Japanese animator and character designer Yōichi Kotabe.
Takahata and Miyazaki came up with the idea of creating an animated feature film based on the stories of Pippi Longstocking, the main character in Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays Astrid Lindgren's series of children's books of the same name.
Takahata and Miyazaki developed the idea along with "A Production", an animated studio formed by another former Japanese animator at Toei, Daikichirô Kusube (the company became Shin-Ei Animation).
Takahata and Miyazaki had developed a number of storyboards and had flown out to Sweden for location shots, to meet with Lindgren and secure the rights for the character.
However, thcould not reach an agreement with the rights holders, and were forced to drop the project.
Nonetheless, he and Miyazaki remained collaborators in several other animation projects through the 1970s.
Not long afterward, Takahata, Miyazaki and Kotabe were approached by the studio Zuiyo Enterprise to create an animated series.
This would be based on Swiss author Johanna Spyri's 1881 German children's literature novel Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning: A Story for Children and Those Who Love Children (best known as Heidi).
This later resulted in the 1974 Japanese animated adventure/drama television series 'Arupusu no Shōjo Haiji' ('Heidi, Girl of the Alps'), of which also incorporated some of their work from the Pippi Longstocking concept).
The animation production section of Zuiyo was established as a subsidiary company named Zuiyo Eizo, later becoming the Japanese animation studio Nippon Animation, of which Takahata and Miyazaki joined.
In 1979, Takahata continued to work at Nippon for about a decade; his work there included the Japanese anime television series staple World Masterpiece Theater.
This was an adaptation of Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery's 1908 children's literature fiction novel Anne of Green Gables. This was another project of which had thematic similarities with the Pippi Longstocking concept.
Later that same year, Miyazaki directed 1979 Japanese animated action-adventure comedy film 'Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro no Shiro' ('The Castle of Cagliostro').
Upon release, the film was a critical success. The film had also been co-written and directed by Miyazaki as his feature film debut.
Inspired by this, Miyazaki then began developing his own manga series entitled Kaze no Tani no Naushika ("Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind") (1982–1984).
Around 1981, Takahata left Nippon to join Telecom Animation Film Co., Ltd. (a subsidiary of Tokyo Movie Shinsha or TMS Entertainment).
While there, he led production of a comedy anime film based off of Japanese manga artist Etsumi Haruki's manga series Jarinko Chie (Chie the Brat) (1978–1997), and a subsequent television spinoff.
Around 1982, Telecom came up with the idea of an animated feature film, which adapted American cartoonist and animator Winsor McCay's Little Nemo comic series (1905–1926), which was to feature joint direction between Japanese and American animation techniques.
Miyazaki later directed its two-hour 1984 Japanese animated epic science fantasy adventure film adaption of the same name.
Upon release, the film was also a commercially and critical success. Miyazaki later approached Takahata with the idea of co-founding their own animation studio based on the success of 'Nausicaä'.
From this, Studio Ghibli was subsequently formed in 1985 by Miyazaki, Takahata, and Miyazaki's other two collaborators. The most recognized and beloved Japanese animation film studio the world over is based in Koganei, Tokyo, Japan.
The studio primarily released animated feature films that were directed by Miyazaki, with Takahata serving as producer or in other roles. Takahata did direct several Studio Ghibli films as well.
Three years later, Takahata wrote and directed the film of which he is best known. This was the 1988 Japanese animated war tragedy film 'Hotaru no Haka' ('Grave of the Fireflies').
The film was based off of Japanese novelist, singer, and lyricist Akiyuki Nosaka's 1967 semi-autobiographical historical fiction book of the same name.
Takahata was also partially inspired by his own experiences from the bombing of Okayama City.
A devastating meditation on the human cost of war, this animated tale follows Seita (Tsutomu Tatsumi), a teenager charged with the care of his younger sister, Setsuko (Ayano Shiraishi), after an American firebombing during World War II separates the two children from their parents.
Their tale of survival is as heartbreaking as it is true to life. The siblings rely completely on each other and struggle against all odds to stay together and stay alive.
'Grave of the Fireflies' later received critical acclaim for its emotional impact and anti-war themes, and is considered the film that established the international esteem of Studio Ghibli.
Upon release, the film received universal critical acclaim. Roger Ebert considered it to be one of the best and most powerful war films.
One excerpt of 'Grave of the Fireflies' from his March 2000 article reads: "The characters are typical of much modern Japanese animation, with their enormous eyes, childlike bodies and features of great plasticity (mouths are tiny when closed, but enormous when opened in a child’s cry--we even see Setsuko’s tonsils).
This film proves, if it needs proving, that animation produces emotional effects not by reproducing reality, but by heightening and simplifying it, so that many of the sequences are about ideas, not experiences."
He concluded by writing: "Yes, it’s a cartoon, and the kids have eyes like saucers, but it belongs on any list of the greatest war films ever made."
Later that same year, Ebert included 'Grave of the Fireflies' on his list of great films.
'Grave of the Fireflies' later ranked in at #12 on the list for British film magazine Total Film as the 50 Greatest Animated Films. It also ranked in at #10 on the list for Time Out as "The 50 Greatest World War II Movies" list.
Empire ranked the film in at #6 in its list of "The Top 10 Depressing Movies". The film also ranked in at #19 on the Wizard's Anime Magazine for their "Top 50 Anime released in North America" list.
The following year, the 1989 Japanese-American animated musical adventure fantasy film 'Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland' was released in Japan as simply 'Nimo' ['Nemo']).
While both Takahata and Miyazaki were originally involved, they opted to leave the project and Telecom itself due to discord between the Japanese and American project directions.
Other notable Studio Ghibli films of which Takahata had directed included 'Omoide Poro Poro' ('Only Yesterday' or "Memories Come Tumbling Down" (1991), 'Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko', (lit. 'Heisei-era Raccoon Dog War Ponpoko' or 'Pom Poko').
In addition to directing and producing, Takahata also served as music director for Miyazaki's 1989 Japanese e animated coming-of-age drama/fantasy film 'Majo no Takkyūbin' ('Witch's Delivery Service', or 'Kiki's Delivery Service').
In the early 2010s, Takahata announced that he would direct one last film for Studio Ghibli. This would be the 2013 Japanese animated drama/fantasy film 'Kaguya-hime no Monogatari' (stylized as 'The Tale of the Princess Kaguya').
This was around the same time that Miyazaki also announced his plans to retire from the studio.
"Someday we should make a Japanese Heidi", Takahata and Miyazaki had both agreed after making Heidi noting its similarities to the Princess Kaguya story.
Heidi's carefree depiction, Takahata had told one journalist, "stems from my ideal image of what a child should be like".
When the film arrived in Western markets the following year, it was nominated for an Oscar for the Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. However, it did not win. This occurred at the 87th Academy Awards in late February 2015.
Three years later, Takahata had been diagnosed with lung cancer. He passed at a hospital in Tokyo, Japan on April 5, 2018. Takahata was 82.
One month later, a farewell ceremony for Takahata was held at the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo.
Miyazaki publicly spoke for the first time about Takahata's death, saying "I was convinced that Paku-san [Takahata's nickname] would live to be ninety-five years old, but he unfortunately passed away. It makes me think my time is also limited...Thank you, Paku-san."
According to Takahata's influences and style, this included the works of French animator Paul Grimault; one of the most important French animators.
This also included Jean-Luc Godard and French-born Canadian artist and director of short animated films Frédéric Back.
Takahata felt that it was important to be able to achieve trompe-l'œil, or the illusion of three dimensions using a two-dimensional medium.
Takahata's films had a major influence on Miyazaki, prompting Japanese animator Yasuo Ōtsuka to suggest that Miyazaki learned his sense of social responsibility from Takahata and that without him, Miyazaki would probably have been interested in comic book material.
As with Miyazaki, Takahata and French writer, designer, storyboard artist and director of animated films and television programs Michel Ocelot were great admirers of each other's work.
Ocelot names Takahata's 'Grave of the Fireflies' and 'Pom Poko' among his favorite films.
Although Miyazaki has become a visionary legend, the unsung genius of the risk-taking realist Takahata had truly portrayed a relentless experimentation just as remarkable.
Takahata had been active from 1961–2018.
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