Known for his directorial mastery and stern opinions, Hayao Miyazaki is a highly regarded figure in the anime-manga industry. His films are always laden with layers of detail and symbolisms, propelling fans to decipher the hidden meanings.
From his passion for environmental issues to his dislike for the changing practices in the anime industry, there’s always curiosity surrounding his words and beliefs. But seemingly, one particular rumor about the director is false.
In his memoir, Steve Alpert, the former head of the international division, busted a popular belief fans have about Miyazaki, something that can also be confirmed through his films. So, what is this rumor?
Hayao Miyazaki doesn’t hate traveling abroad except when…
Whether it’s something he absolutely despises or adores endlessly, Hayao Miyazaki is always vocal about his thoughts and feelings. It would not be too difficult to form a list of his likes and dislikes with how he often shares his feelings on different subjects.
It’s somewhat of a popular belief that Miyazaki doesn’t enjoy traveling abroad, which is supposedly not the truth. In his memoir, Steve Albert mentioned (via a Metropolis article) how he often came across this rumor, he said:
I would often read in a newspaper or magazine article that Hayao Miyazaki hated to travel abroad
Only a part of this is true, as Miyazaki only hates traveling abroad when the sole objective is work. Seemingly, he doesn’t mind traveling in general as he uses his experience as reference for his works. This makes a lot of sense when we consider how many Ghibli films have a distinct Western flair.
It’s mostly the scenery and setting that resembles foreign landscapes in his works. There’s a lot of speculation regarding which of his works are inspired by which country.
The western settings of Studio Ghibli films
Many Ghibli films including Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Porco Rosso have Western settings. There’s a particular scene in Kiki’s Delivery Service where Kiki is trying to read a map. And, we can see part of the city that she’s in on the map (as spotted by a Reddit user).
Considering how the letters visible to us are ‘u’ and ‘i’, it could be Maui. For the longest time, fans believed that Howl’s Moving Castle was based in Wales or England. However, the article mentions that France, specifically the city of Colmar, was the inspiration behind the town in Howl’s Moving Castle.
The easiest one to tell is the town in Porco Rosso. From the air crafts to the port-side buildings, it’s evident that Porco Rosso is based in Italy. All these films and the striking resemblance with the respective countries are proof of Miyazaki’s meticulous research, observation, and maybe his love for traveling abroad as well.
Most Ghibli films are available to stream on Netflix.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
