Great news today, everybody! Hayao Miyazaki's memoirs, Starting Point: 1979-1996, is available in bookstores today. This book is an anthology of writings by the artist and film director, including commentary, discussions on his work, interviews and more. Pixar's John Lasseter, as we'd expect, provides an introduction.
This book is an essential read for all Ghibli Freaks, and will prove to be a revelation into Hayao Miyazaki's insights and worldview. This is the first book of memoirs from any of the Japanese masters, and I'm very hopeful that this book's success could lead Viz to publish more volumes in the West. Yasuo Otsuka has written his memoirs in Japan, and Isao Takahata has published two volumes, which span the length of his great career. I would love to be able to read these in English. These books will impact tremendously our understanding of Japanese anime, which remains an enigma to most Westerners.
I find it strange that Miyazaki's book only goes back to 1979. It's not really a "Starting Point" unless it stretched all the way back to 1963. It's the period before his directoral films that interest me the most. I'd love to hear his Gulliver's Space Travels story. I'd love to hear his account on the long, troubled production behind Horus, Prince of the Sun. I'm eager to read about Pipi Longstockings, and, of course, I want to learn everything there is to know about Heidi, Marco, Anne. Perhaps we'll get those stories in a later volume; nearly all of these works remain unreleased in the US, a perrenial sore point for many of us.
You can order Starting Point from Amazon here. Order some copies and write good reviews on the Amazon page.
No comments:
Post a Comment