In 1998 I was 21, working in the in-between department at Fox Animation in Phoenix on Titan AE. John Hoffman (now head of story on Inside Out 2) brought in a bootleg VHS of Princess Mononoke (in Japanese, no subtitles) and it completely blew me away. The direction and storytelling on the film is so good we could follow it without understanding a single word.
About 4 years later I discovered Moebius at SDCC while sifting through books at a vendor selling French comics. Again, the direction and storytelling was so good I didn’t need to be able to understand the language.
What sets these two apart is more than just style and craft, but a deep understanding of the human condition and an ability to share that effectively with others.
No wonder they had a creative bromance with each other.
A friend introduced me to Miyazaki and I’ll always be grateful to her for that. Miyazaki to me now means whimsical, wistful, sweet, raw, funny, appreciative of nature and science and study and learning, averse to the horrors of war and destruction yet also captivated by flight and technological advances. Miyazaki means beautiful and intelligent, thoughtful and imaginative. Miyazaki means fated love. Miyazaki means fidelity and friendship.
In 2004 I was on a trip to Paris and wandering up and down streets without a map looking for a new perspective to inspire me. I stumbled on this exhibit (which was free no less!) and was able to see everything with almost no other visitors present. Hundreds of original pieces of art from the two great masters of Japanese and Franco/Belgium cartooning. My initial thought was that it would be a strange juxtaposition of completely different styles and narratives. The reality is that these two were/are unique generational talents and capable of tapping into deep and truly novel creativity. They both are products and students of their respective cultures and also were able to completely reimagine and shift those cultures in the course of a few decades. The appropriateness of this shared exhibition by became strikingly clear with that filter. To this day it was one of the great art and travel memories of my life.
Both of their bodies of work are mesmerizing. If you follow the progression of their styles they abide by unique, formal styles conventions early on and gradually bend and transcend the boundaries of the form; conveying much mystery so subtly.
I was introduced to Japanese film by my grandchildren through the movie Howls Moving Castle. Being a generation removed from them, the film was unlike any of the cartoon films produced by Disney that my children were raised with. The influence from this movie was profound on my grandkids…each has an artistic flair and each of the three produced their own art in the Miyazaki style. My grand daughter, now 22, produces her own style of digital art that is obviously heavily influenced by him.
I no longer remember where I first encountered Moebius. A trivial comment: I was surprised by the video's pronunciation of his name as "Maybe-us." I always assumed it was pronounced "Mow beus." While his imagination was extraordinary and I admire his drawings, I usually found they were in the service of a kind of absurdist storyline which rarely appealed to my apparently conservative tastes. In fact, it was his Girard persona that I most admired.
The exhibition catalogue is viewable and downloadable on the internet archive:
https://archive.org/details/miyazaki-moebius-exhibition-catalogue
Wow, that was generous of both of them to make that publicly available.
Thanks for the link
In 1998 I was 21, working in the in-between department at Fox Animation in Phoenix on Titan AE. John Hoffman (now head of story on Inside Out 2) brought in a bootleg VHS of Princess Mononoke (in Japanese, no subtitles) and it completely blew me away. The direction and storytelling on the film is so good we could follow it without understanding a single word.
About 4 years later I discovered Moebius at SDCC while sifting through books at a vendor selling French comics. Again, the direction and storytelling was so good I didn’t need to be able to understand the language.
What sets these two apart is more than just style and craft, but a deep understanding of the human condition and an ability to share that effectively with others.
No wonder they had a creative bromance with each other.
A friend introduced me to Miyazaki and I’ll always be grateful to her for that. Miyazaki to me now means whimsical, wistful, sweet, raw, funny, appreciative of nature and science and study and learning, averse to the horrors of war and destruction yet also captivated by flight and technological advances. Miyazaki means beautiful and intelligent, thoughtful and imaginative. Miyazaki means fated love. Miyazaki means fidelity and friendship.
In 2004 I was on a trip to Paris and wandering up and down streets without a map looking for a new perspective to inspire me. I stumbled on this exhibit (which was free no less!) and was able to see everything with almost no other visitors present. Hundreds of original pieces of art from the two great masters of Japanese and Franco/Belgium cartooning. My initial thought was that it would be a strange juxtaposition of completely different styles and narratives. The reality is that these two were/are unique generational talents and capable of tapping into deep and truly novel creativity. They both are products and students of their respective cultures and also were able to completely reimagine and shift those cultures in the course of a few decades. The appropriateness of this shared exhibition by became strikingly clear with that filter. To this day it was one of the great art and travel memories of my life.
Howl’s Moving Castle was always a favorite of mine
Mine too!
Both of their bodies of work are mesmerizing. If you follow the progression of their styles they abide by unique, formal styles conventions early on and gradually bend and transcend the boundaries of the form; conveying much mystery so subtly.
I was introduced to Japanese film by my grandchildren through the movie Howls Moving Castle. Being a generation removed from them, the film was unlike any of the cartoon films produced by Disney that my children were raised with. The influence from this movie was profound on my grandkids…each has an artistic flair and each of the three produced their own art in the Miyazaki style. My grand daughter, now 22, produces her own style of digital art that is obviously heavily influenced by him.
Moebius was at the Pari Air Show as a young artist, creating very quick sketches of people and aircraft for folks to buy…
Absolutely a fan of both of these giants.
I no longer remember where I first encountered Moebius. A trivial comment: I was surprised by the video's pronunciation of his name as "Maybe-us." I always assumed it was pronounced "Mow beus." While his imagination was extraordinary and I admire his drawings, I usually found they were in the service of a kind of absurdist storyline which rarely appealed to my apparently conservative tastes. In fact, it was his Girard persona that I most admired.