Hayao Miyazaki: Anime great behind Studio Ghibli

TOKYO, Japan — An Oscar win two decades ago introduced the world to Japanese anime great Hayao Miyazaki, and now the Studio Ghibli co-founder, aged 83, has done it again.

Miyazaki's "The Boy and the Heron" -- potentially his last film -- took the Academy Award for best animated feature on Sunday, the same category won by Ghibli classic "Spirited Away" in 2003.

Enthralling viewers of all ages with his extraordinary imagination, the animator has built a cult following through films depicting nature and machinery in fantastical detail.

The beloved characters dreamt up by Miyazaki include cuddly yet mysterious spirit creature Totoro -- the mascot of his celebrated production house.

But despite becoming one of Japan's top cultural exports and helping take anime mainstream, he describes his work as an agonising struggle and has retired several times, albeit unsuccessfully.

Miyazaki's 1997 breakout feature "Princess Mononoke", the tale of a girl raised by wolves in a forest threatened by humans, set him apart from rivals such as Disney, who tend to focus on the battle between good and evil.

The director said at the time that he "didn't want to say what's right and what's wrong" in the film.

On another occasion, the aviation-loving pacifist said that making a film was not a logical process.

"I start to descend into the well of my unconscious. Then a lid at the bottom of the brain opens. This allows new directions to emerge, which were unimaginable when I was thinking with just the brain's surface," he told reporters in France.

"But it's better not to open it. It'll almost always pose problems to your family and social life."

Born in 1941 to a well-heeled Tokyo family, Miyazaki grew up an avid fan of manga comics. He was at high school when Japan's first colour anime film came out, and said he was so moved by it he cried all night.

After studying politics and economics at university, he launched his career as a staff animator at Toei, a major studio.

His debut feature "The Castle of Cagliostro" was released in 1979, and told the story of the grandson of fictional French thief Arsene Lupin. Miyazaki's fame grew with "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" in 1984.

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