Since establishing Studio Ghibli in 1985, Hayao Miyazaki has continued to deliver some of the finest films the medium of animation has to offer. Unsurprisingly, the filmmaker once again hit it out of the park with The Boy and the Heron, which earned the director his second Oscar win, 2-decades after winning the accolade back in 2002 for Spirited Away.

But before The Boy and the Heron hit theatres last year, British author Neil Gaiman, who has been a huge admirer of Miyazaki since the ’90s, explained what makes the Japanese filmmaker so special.

Neil Gaiman on What Makes Hayao Miyazaki Special
The Boy and the Heron | Studio Ghibli
After learning that Genzaburo Yoshino’s 1937 novel was serving as the basis for Hayao Miyazaki‘s 12th feature film, Neil Gaiman opted to read its English translation How Do You Live. Gaiman, who himself once worked on the English translation for Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke, went into detail about what makes the studio head so great.
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While raving about the director, the Coraline author recounted that he was astonished after learning that all of Miyazaki’s work revolved around the consequences of acts and actions.
Hayao Miyazaki (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
He explained:
“Miyazaki makes films for whole people and makes films about consequences. When I worked on the English-language script of his film Princess Mononoke, I was astonished when I finally realized that everything in the film was about consequences of acts and actions: seemingly unrelated events are actually the consequences of other events or actions, and everyone in the film is acting according to what they believe to be their best interests without realising that what they do affects everyone else.”
Following his admiration for the filmmaker and his works, when it came to translating Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke, Gaiman made sure the dubbed version was authentic to the original.
Neil Gaiman Refused to Go against Hayao Miyazaki for Princess Mononoke
While working on the script for Princess Mononoke‘s English dub, Gaiman constantly walked the line between what Miramax wanted and staying true to the film’s essence. In his memoir (via Polygon), Studio Ghibli executive Steve Alpert recounted that Miramax was adamant about making the English dub more accessible to the American audience. As a result, even though Miyazaki intended for Ashitaka to be referred to as the prince in the dub, one Miramax official wasn’t too thrilled by this idea, following the character’s reduced circumstances.
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However, Gaiman stuck to his guns and didn’t allow Miramax to go against Miyazaki, even though the official argued the American audience wouldn’t accept Ashitaka as a prince.
Princess Mononoke | Studio Ghibli
Gaiman said:
“Look, his being a prince is important to the story. It’s part of his character. I believe it’s what Mr. Miyazaki decided. We’re supposed to be adapting this film for an American audience, not changing it.”
But despite being faithful to the original, the English version failed to make it big at the American box office. On the bright side, time has been kind to the film, as it has grown in popularity in recent years, with more people tuning into the acclaimed gem,
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Princess Mononoke is available to stream on Max.
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