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Translated from Japanese to English by Ryoko Toyama
Edited by Marc Hairston, Tyler King, and Brian Stacy
Disclaimer
(c) 1994 by Iwanami Shoten
Translated without permission for personal entertainment purpose
only. This is not, by any means, an accurate word for word
translation, and the translator is solely responsible for any
mistranslation or misunderstanding due to it.
Spot 1
Porco Rosso and the civil war in Yugoslavia
Y: After Nausicaa, did you make animes according to your interests
at that point in time? The things you wanted to do, or things you
wanted to see...
M: I think I chose each of them because I thought it was
interesting then. Even when I was obliged to work on a project, I
tried to steer it to the direction I wanted to go. If I really
don't want do it, I won't do it. But for Porco Rosso, I did things
against my intention.
Y: What do you mean?
M: I intended to do totally different things in more lighthearted
way, but I couldn't help but showing my true feelings (honne).
Nothing has been sorted out. I was supposed to make it as a
commercial film maker with a true confidence, but I lost control of
myself. I'm embarrassed.
Y: What kind of honne?
M: If you couldn't feel it from the film, that'll be better. I
shouldn't have made the story take place in the Adriatic Sea in the
first place. Many people think it took place in Italy, but Porco
lives on the Croatian shoreline. Then it became the warfield by the
civil war. I was just going to make a story you can just grin at
(ufufu), but it became more complicated. Then, I had to read the
modern history of Yugoslavia, but there isn't a consistent history
book, and it was very difficult to make sense out of it. Gosh, I
was careless. I always try to make a film uncomplicated, but
somehow, it gets complicated. It was the same thing with Laputa. I
thought I could make it more uncomplicated, but it's inevitable
that my own various thoughts creep in, and make things complicated.
When I finish making up the story, somehow, I find I made the story
complicated.
Certainly, I made Porco as I wanted. I couldn't do it in any
other way. But I also feel kind of humiliated for changing the plan
in the middle, not making it as planned from the start. You know, I
was going to make a forty-five minutes movie, and it became more
than twice as long. -laughs-
______________________________________________________________
Spot 2
Anime is for children
M: Because I made Porco, I felt like I can't retire until I somehow
make one proper film. I thought I had to produce a work which is
truly for children.
Y: When you started Laputa, you said anime has to be for children.
M: Maybe it's related to what's going on in the society, but more
and more people now don't consider children as their purpose for
making films. Many of our staff members have become over thirty
without being married or being parents. When we were at that age,
we already had a few children, and our motivation was such that we
wanted to tell them "dad made this."
I still think anime has to be made for children. But, our
situation changes, and I myself change. While saying "we should
make it for children," I find myself making a film which is not for
children.
When I reached the conclusion that "I make what I myself think
is interesting now," it became something that is no longer for
children.
I wish movies for adults were doing better. I wish such things
as ticket sales or movie awards would go on without involving
anime.[11] It would be better if anime lives in a corner of the
movie world, and people say "oh, there is also anime."
If so, I don't have to do interviews or lectures. -laughs- If so,
directors and animators, all can work pure and poor, remaining
anonymous, just because we want to do the job we can satisfy
ourselves. It used to center around what we made, and we could work
only by our internal values such as what we learned in this work,
if we made progress, or if we could foster people (other
animators).
I experienced that era. Seeing from that experience, I feel
although anime is in the limelight, or because of it, things are
more difficult now.
I'm planning an anime for preschoolers now, but it's been very
difficult.
Y: Is it for theater release?
M: Either theater or video release. No television. Unless we make
it an "event" people have to pay money for, they wouldn't really
watch it.
______________________________________________________________
Spot 3
Laputa and healthy passion
Y: After Nausicaa, you made Laputa.
M: Things will be easier if a film like Laputa does well.
Y: The numbers weren't good?
M: To tell you the truth, it was about a [three???] quarter of
Nausicaa. All the people who liked Laputa said they liked serious
ones better.
But if people come to see a film like Laputa, we can think of
various ways of making a movie. It's true. Such an adventure movie
needs a healthy energy to make.
I think I myself can't do it anymore, so I want young people to
do it, but there isn't an atmosphere for that. They rather like
details of daily life.
I want an energetic talent who wants to make adventure stories
to join our staff. I think that is what Ghibli lacks most.
______________________________________________________________
Spot 4
About Isao Takahata-san, about Ponpoko
Y: Nausicaa and Laputa were produced under the producer Isao
Takahata and the director Hayao Miyazaki, but in 1986, Takahata-san
directed Grave of the Fireflies, and you directed Totoro. They were
completely separate productions...
M: Our thoughts about movie making are completely different. If we
discuss a production plan, we definitely won't reach an agreement.
Same with this Ponpoko.[12] All I said was "let's go ahead with
tanuki." Although it's credited as "Producer: Hayao Miyazaki," the
rest of it was Producer Suzuki talking with Takahata-san. He spent
half a year and made Takahata-san feel "OK, I'll do it."
Once we went into the actual production, I was the "urge
force." I don't touch the actual production of the film, I just
push the staff to work. I'm like a drum beater on a galley. Dooon,
Dooon, "Draw!" -laughs-
Y: But it's amazing that just the one word determines everything,
focuses energies, and makes a movie. When you were making Nausicaa
or Laputa, were your roles divided clearly?
M: Usually, a producer chooses a director and gives him a project,
but it was reversed in Nausicaa.
I mean, first, the Animage editors of Tokuma Shoten and others came
to me proposing to make a movie of Nausicaa. So, "OK, let's do it."
Then, if this was a usual case, someone from Tokuma Shoten
would become a producer, but they didn't even have an animation
studio. And I definitely couldn't do everything. So, I asked them
"please ask Takahata-san to be a producer" I heard that
Takahata-san said yes after he used up an entire notebook to sort
his thoughts out, but I know he didn't want to do it. -laughs-
In truth, a director can't produce other people's film. You
can't possibly run out of bad words if you start criticizing other
people's films. If two directors have a one on one argument, there
will be bloodshed. -laughs-
Y: So, Takahata-san and you have been building a firm relationship
in which you can delegate to each other.
M: Delegating or not, I just take it as "you gave me this project,
so that means I can do it as I want." If one meddles into the
other's work, we can never reach an agreement, we definitely have
such a relationship.
So, I didn't say a word even when we were making Yanakawa
Horiwari Monogatari. But when he said the film was going to be four
hours long, I said "chotto kanbenshite (sorry, I can't allow it)."
Y: It was 2 hours and 45 minutes after all. But I didn't feel it
was so long.
M: I think two hours would have been better if we wanted more
people to see it, but we can't do anything about it (shouganai).
From the moment we chose Isao Takahata as the director, it was
destined to end up like that. Movies are such things. We can't do
it with a movie for general public, but we can do it with that kind
of film. With that, we let go of our frustrations we'd been
accumulating. Feels wonderful to say "it doesn't matter if tickets
sell or not." Actually, we are patiently recovering the investment
a bit by bit.
______________________________________________________________
Spot 5
Kiki's Delivery Service
M: Originally, I was not supposed to do Kiki. What I did was just
set up the project. When this project was proposed to us, I said
"this is a good project for the young staff members," and lined up
the young staff members and started the project. However, I didn't
like the presented screenplay. So, I said if no one would write, I
would write, and I wrote one. Then, the young director got
intimidated and didn't want to direct. After all, I got myself into
directing it. I got trapped by myself.
______________________________________________________________
Spot 6
Things I can't do even if I want to do
Y: You were the producer of Omohide Poro Poro, but the film was
definitely Takahata-san's world.
M: I regard myself as a person of tsuuzoku (popular) movies and I
think I'll continue to make tsuuzoku movies.[13] But on the other
hand, somewhere inside of me, I have started feeling that I don't
want to make a tsuuzoku movie.
And, Takahata-san is more so. If we let him, he'll make an
animation which won't earn a cent. -laughs- Such as Ainu's
Yukara.[14] He's been saying he wants to do it, but that's
absolutely impossible here. -laughs- I insist that it'll be like
digging a grave hole for the studio and you can't do such a
thing... I myself have such a side, but I try to control it as much
as possible. That's the way it is (shikatanai). It's better if we
go six feet under with a few projects we wanted, but we couldn't.
I think it's impossible to do everything you want. You have to
make such a movie in a different place from a movie which one or
two million people pay to see and get satisfied. When I watch a
movie such as Talkovsky's [sp?] Stalker, I feel "this SOB is doing
as he pleases!" I think he is such a talented guy. The thing I'm
most impressed about Gaudi is that he was very successful in
getting sponsors, his political power rather than his works. How
many people got deceived by his talent-- I think such an aspect is
also a part of a talent.
I think animation is something a bit more tsuuzoku and we have
to know our boundaries-- what we can do.
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