Steve_Alpert_Ghibli

To me it's like jazz musicians communicating with each other non-verbally. Miyazaki shows him images and writes some poetry. Hisaishi feels it and comes up with music. Yes it's that mysterious. He's a soundtrack genius. Really.

Studio Ghibli is probably all about differently. But the main thing that Studio Ghibli did/does differently is that the studio is run by the filmmakers. Filmmakers have the final say on everything. So whenever art and commerce are in conflict, art wins.

In my position you're not supposed to have a favorite. But...Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Partly because I know what it took to make it. I think when something is harder to do, the effort it takes to succeed shows in the finished product. Miyazaki took at least 7 years for the story to gestate and then be distilled into a feature film. It speaks of a specific time in the history of animation in Japan. And it's a great film with a worthy theme that's in so many ways ahead of its time.

Enough difficulties that I felt the urge to write a book about them and how they were or were not overcome. Some interesting and amusing. Some less so.

Trying hard not to adapt the film and harder to get the American distributors to recognize and feature the film's existing appeal. Western audience is a big umbrella. People in France for example seem to totally get Japanese films with little or no need to adapt.