In 1965, Hayao Miyazaki was working as an animator at Toei, and his contribution to Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon earned him recognition within the company. During the same year, he married Akemi Ota, who was also an animator. Two years later, on January 21, 1967, Akemi gave birth to their first son, Goro Miyazaki. During the early years of Goro's life, Hayao's career was beginning to take off. He worked as chief animator on the 1968 film Hols: Prince of the Sun, the first feature film directed by Isao Takahata. Soon after, he provided animation, storyboards, and ideas for Puss in Boots (1969), The Flying Ghost Ship (1969), Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves (1971), and Animal Treasure Island (1971). In 1971, Miyazaki left Toei with Takahata and Yoichi Kotabe, and together they joined A Productions, where Miyazaki and Takahata co-directed several episodes of the first Lupin III series. The pair also worked on the Panda Go Panda! short films around the same time. In 1973, Miyazaki moved again, this time to Nippon Animation, where he worked on World Masterpiece Theater. He directed the Future Boy Conan anime series in 1978, then left for Tokyo Movie Shinsha to direct The Castle of Cagliostro. 1984 saw the successful release of Nausicaa, and Miyazaki founded Studio Ghibli the following year. Miyazaki's constant work kept him heavily occupied. After Akemi gave birth to their second son Keisuke in 1970, and her husband's workload increased after moving to A Productions, she had no choice but to quit being an animator so that she could take care of the family. Hayao engrossed himself entirely in his work, leaving him no time for the children or housework. He would return home late at night and still be asleep when the boys left for school. Even on weekends, he would be at work. Goro strongly felt the effects of his father's absence, and he would later consider Hayao as having failed as a parent. Still, Goro loved his father. He enjoyed the occasional opportunities when his father would play with him, and he admired his father for his brilliance at teaching things to children. He also grew to admire Hayao as an animator and director. Because the two rarely talked, young Goro could not learn about his father directly, so he eagerly watched his films as a means of understanding him. By the time Goro graduated from high school, he had decided against entering the field of animation. He felt that if he did, he could never surpass his father and would always be in his shadow. But more importantly, he also felt it would've disappointed his mother. Since he was a child, Akemi had told him not to become an animator. Her own experience, with Hayao being constantly away from the family and she being forced to give up her own job to raise the children alone, had led her to discourage her son from following down the same path. With these things in mind, Goro elected to stay far away from animation, and he entered Shinshu University studying agriculture. After graduation, Goro worked for a design office. After eight years, he received a sudden invitation from Toshio Suzuki, producer and president of Studio Ghibli. Suzuki asked him to help in setting up the Ghibli Museum. Goro decided to accept, believing that the museum was still far enough removed from the world of animation. He served as director of the museum for several years. Although Goro's decision to work for the Ghibli Museum became his later entryway into the world of animation, he had already started down that path unknowingly. Goro acknowledged that many of his activities seemed like a substitute for the world he was avoiding. While at Shinshu, he joined a kenkyuukai (similar to an academic society) related to children's culture, through which he performed puppet shows for children. His work with the design office allowed him to create landscapes that people could enjoy. And finally, his involvement with the Ghibli museum gave him another opportunity to build a place for people's delight. His natural interest in animation had manifested itself in different creative outlets wherever Goro went. Earthsea and Ghibli
Three years before Goro Miyazaki was born, on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Ursula K. Le Guin first introduced the realm of Earthsea in a short story called "The Word of Unbinding." The story was published in the January 1964 issue of Fantastic, a magazine devoted to fantasy literature. Later that year, Le Guin followed up with "The Rule of Names," another short story set in Earthsea. But it wasn't until 1968 that Le Guin completed A Wizard of Earthsea, the first in the series of novels that truly made Earthsea famous. Earthsea's popularity grew worldwide, and it eventually caught the attention of Hayao Miyazaki. In the early '80s, Miyazaki wrote a picture story titled "The Journey of Shuna," which was heavily influenced by Le Guin's work. He also expressed interest in making a film based on Earthsea, and he wrote to Le Guin about it. At the time, she had not seen any of his works. Familiar only with Disney-style animation and not very fond of it, she refused his proposal. Around the turn of the century, one of Le Guin's friends introduced her to My Neighbor Totoro. She instantly became a Miyazaki fan. A few years later, she discovered that Masako Shimizu, the Japanese translator for her Earthsea books, knew Miyazaki personally. She asked Shimizu to inform Miyazaki that she was willing to discuss a film if he was still interested. This put her in correspondence with Toshio Suzuki to discuss the possibility. In August 2005, Suzuki and Miyazaki visited Le Guin. Her son Theo, who controls the trust that owns the Earthsea copyrights, was also present. To the Le Guins' disappointment, they were informed that Hayao would not be in charge of directing the film. They were assured, however, that it would still be subject to Miyazaki's approval. Work on the project progressed quickly after that. Ghibli made the official announcement for the film in December. But contrary to Le Guin's expectations, Hayao had no direct involvement with the film's production. In fact, he and Goro were no longer on speaking terms by that point. Father against son
In the fall of 2003, as the Earthsea film was starting to become a serious possibility, Suzuki approached Goro Miyazaki about getting involved in the project. He felt that as director of the Ghibli Museum, Goro should also have an interest in the future of the studio itself. Goro instantly accepted. Hayao, on the other hand, was strongly opposed to his involvement from the start. When Suzuki decided to name Goro as the director, Hayao was furious. He complained that Goro knew nothing of animation and couldn't even draw. (In fact, Goro had no experience in animation, but as he tried drawing, he naturally discovered he could only draw like his father. Others who saw his work, such as Yasuo Otsuka and Hideaki Anno, commented on the strong resemblance.) So to convince the elder Miyazaki, Suzuki showed him Goro's artwork for the poster. He was speechless. Still, despite yielding to Suzuki's decision, Hayao openly disapproved of Goro. Before actual production began, Goro spoke at a meeting to kick off the project. He declared that he would do his best, but he planned to return to the Ghibli Museum after the film was done. When Hayao heard about it, he called his son in and accused him of being halfhearted, leading to a heated argument. After that, they stopped talking and began avoiding each other. The connection between Goro and Ged
Being director was not at all easy for Goro. His father opposed him while his mother disapproved of him becoming an animator. He lacked experience, and he faced the weight of expectations as Hayao's son and as a Ghibli filmmaker. So why had he even accepted the position? It was the combination of having finally realized his love of animation and being able to work with the Earthsea stories. Goro first encountered the Earthsea books as a high school student. He was deeply attracted to the stories not because of the magic and fantasy, but because of the protagonist Ged. This was an ambitious young boy with a talent for magic. Initially taken in as a pupil by the great wizard Ogion, Ged was impatient to learn. But his power quickly outpaced his personal growth, leading to arrogance, pride, and hatred. At the core of the Earthsea stories is the tale of Ged's inner growth. Goro was fascinated by this theme, as he strongly identified with the boy. He projected himself into the story alongside Ged, sharing in his triumphs, falls, and lessons of life. Although Goro didn't always immediately understand the sermons in the books as a teenager, he would later realize their significance as he reread the stories in preparation for the film, now able to judge Ged's character as an external observer rather than as an extension of himself. Though Goro chose to focus the film on the third book (The Farthest Shore), containing a more mature Ged, his own situation was reminiscent of the younger Ged. Goro had freshly realized a power within himself, and he was eager to learn about it and develop it. In his blog, he singled out this quote by Ged from The Farthest Shore:
"When I was young, I had to choose between the life of being and the life of doing, and I leapt at the latter like a trout to a fly. But each deed you do, each act, binds you to itself and to its consequences, and makes you act again and yet again. Then very seldom do you come upon a space, a time like this, between act and act when you may stop and simply be. Or wonder who, after all, you are."
Goro commented that his entry into the world of animation was a decision to lead a "life of doing," just as Ged had chosen. So in taking that step, he once again became that young protagonist, but in a different way. This time, he was in charge of his own journey. Mixed results
Though Tales from Earthsea is based on Le Guin's stories, the result has been greatly shaped by Goro's own experience - as a lover of the books, as the son of a famous animator, and as an artist who had just discovered himself. Naturally, it is unsurprising that the film is not a perfect reproduction of the original work. There is no shortage of criticisms. Many have observed the obvious fact that Goro's technique falls short of Hayao's mastery, and that the film pales in comparison to previous Ghibli works. As expected, fans of the series also have their share of complaints about various story changes and omissions. Le Guin herself, after seeing the film, told Goro directly: "It is not my book. It is your movie." Some viewers also note that Tales from Earthsea bears more resemblance to "The Journey of Shuna." Indeed, at a point where Goro was unsure of how to proceed with the film, Hayao Miyazaki complained to Suzuki that Goro should just do Shuna instead. Goro, upon hearing about the remark, decided to incorporate it and took the film in that direction. On the other hand, the movie can also be considered a success, as reactions from critics and audiences have included positive reviews as well. Le Guin admitted it was good (despite its departure from the books), and even Hayao approved of his son's work after seeing the finished film. At the 63rd Venice Film Festival, its screening received a standing ovation and has earned it nominations for several awards. International openings are expected to follow in the near future (the U.S. will have to wait until 2009, due to an existing Earthsea license by the Sci-Fi Channel). In the meantime, Tales from Earthsea continues its reign at the box office in Japan. It seems that Goro views it as a personal success as well. He is already talking about directing more films, though he wants to move away from the traditional Ghibli formula of magic and fantasy to focus on making a human drama. Can his works eventually become as famous as his father's? Suzuki and others at Ghibli have high hopes for the young Miyazaki as a successor to the studio's legacy. Fortunately, Goro is ready to take on the path ahead of him, in agreement with one of Ged's teachers: "As a man's real power grows and his knowledge widens, ever the way he can follow grows narrower; until at last he chooses nothing, but does only and wholly what he must do."
