Hayao Miyazaki names his favourite Disney movies of all time
When it comes to the greatest minds in animation, there is only a handful of creatives who can truly vie for the top spot. In Hollywood, few would argue with Walt Disney taking the gold, yet the European stop-motion master Jan Švankmajer would have something to say about that, and so too would Hayao Miyazaki, the co-founder of Studio Ghibli who would transform the world of Japanese anime.
Whilst Disney has long since passed away and Švankmajer has taken a step back from the industry, the Japanese innovator Miyazaki continues to impress, having gifted the 21st century with some of its very best films. After rising to prominence in the 1980s with such classics as Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and My Neighbour Totoro, Miyazaki entered the new millennium armed with Spirited Away, ready to change the industry in 2001.
Winning the Academy Award for ‘Best Animated Feature’, becoming the first Studio Ghibli movie to ever win an Oscar, Miyazaki’s film magnetised a new generation of fans from across the globe, catapulting Ghibli to new levels of success. Whilst his movies were imbued with an innovative embrace of folkloric fantasy, they also felt inextricably Western, being inspired by some of Disney’s very best flicks.
Naming his favourites from the classic Disney back catalogue, Miyazaki starts by talking about the beloved 1989 film The Little Mermaid. Itself inspired by Studio Ghibli and the world of anime, with Ariel’s facial features being shaped on the pointed chin and large eyes of the stereotypical Japanese cartoon character, Miyazaki noted the underwater classic as one of his all-time favourites.
Just like how the Little Mermaid directors Ron Clements and John Musker were inspired by Miyazaki’s work, the Japanese filmmaker later borrowed elements from the classic Disney flick for his own 2008 film Ponyo.
Similarly, Miyazaki’s 1988 masterpiece My Neighbour Totoro borrowed elements from the 1953 Disney movie Peter Pan, another film from ‘The Mouse House’ that he deems a favourite. Namely, it was the flying sequences from Peter Pan that Miyazaki adored, copying the pace and tone of such scenes for the moments in My Neighbour Totoro when the lead characters are floating through the night sky.
Notably, both Disney flicks were created using the company’s iconic hand-drawn style, with The Little Mermaid being the last film of its kind in the company to use cells and Xeroxing.
Such links in with his own dislike of A.I. created animation, recently stating after a screening: “I am utterly disgusted…If you really want to make creepy stuff, you can go ahead and do it, but I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself”.
Check out the full list of Miyazaki’s favourite Disney movies below.
Hayao Miyazaki’s favourite Disney movies:
- The Little Mermaid (Ron Clements and John Musker, 1989)
- Peter Pan (Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske, 1953)
