The Legend of Japanese Animator Director Isao Takahata
- Gen de Art
- Jul 28
- 5 min read
"I thought long and hard about what I had to do to make a fully rounded animation series that would liberate and stimulate the heart of the child."
—Isao Takahata
Japanese subculture would not be complete without the craft of animation. The Japanese animation industry is considered a global powerhouse that continues to inspire passionate animation artists all over the world. Renowned animators Hideaki Anno, Osamu Tezuka, and of course, the celebrated Hayao Miyazaki sit at the top of excellence and ingenuity in visual graphics, cinematography, character expression, and unique storytelling that delves deep into the core of humanity.
Included in this circle is director, screenwriter and producer Isao Takahata (1935-2018) who had shaped the world of Japanese animation for over fifty years since the 1960s. He was most famous for Little Norse Prince Valiant (The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun) (1968), Heidi, Girl of the Alps (1974), Anne of Green Gables (1979), and the tearjerking Grave of the Fireflies (1988), among many others. After joining Toei Animation in 1959, Takahata collaborated with Miyazaki on various films, including Little Norse Prince Valiant (1968) and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), which eventually led to the founding of Studio Ghibli in 1985 together with Toshio Suzuki. Takahata’s last film as director, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013), was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 87th Academy Awards. On the unfortunate demise of the director in 2018, Miyazaki commented during the eulogy, “The overwhelming expression and the pictures! And so much love! I came to understand for the first time that this was what Paku-san (Takahata’s nickname) wanted to create.” https://www.cartoonbrew.com/rip/watch-hayao-miyazakis-eulogy-for-isao-takahata-158410.html
To commemorate the 90th anniversary of Takahata’s birth and the 80th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War, Azabudai Hills Gallery is presenting Takahata Isao Exhibition—The Man Who Planted Japanese Animation until September 15th this year.
The showcase, organized with Studio Ghibli, thoroughly exhibits the production backgrounds of Takahata’s masterpieces: Little Norse Prince Valiant (The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun), Grave of the Fireflies, Heidi, Girl of the Alps, The Adventure of Panda and Friends (1972), From the Apennines to the Andes (Marco) (1980), Downtown Story (1981), Gauche the Cellist (1982), The Story of Yanagawa Waterways (1987), Only Yesterday (1991), Pom Poko” (1994), My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999), and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Sketches, drawings, image boards, posters, storyboards and film clips illuminate the director’s highly esteemed reputation for lucidly describing the realities of Japanese folklore traditions and indigenous lifestyle. Takahata was also skillful in reviving Japanese wartime and post-war experiences observed in contemporary perspective.
The visuals introduce the conventional method of cel animation, as well as Takahata’s special technique of expressing hand-drawn sketches with computer coloring, which was unprecedented during his time. A harmony cel of the heavy cruiser Maya, a cut from Grave of the Fireflies created by Anno, head of Studio Khara, was accidentally discovered, and is unveiled to the audience for the first time.
The first part of the exhibition documents Takahata’s beginnings in the animation world. One may be surprised to discover his involvement in the extremely popular Lupin the Third TV cartoon series together with Miyazaki. He restyled the concept by inserting a comedy effect, which consequently attracted a wider viewership. Takahata also produced the proposal for the widely favored Doraemon TV series. The iconic anime has been broadcast in over sixty countries, making the director a truly unparalleled legend.
Takahata’s first full-length theatrical film, Little Norse Prince Valiant stressed the importance of a group production approach that encouraged equal staff participation. This contributed to the epochal success of the film. Meanwhile, Miyazaki worked laboriously with Takahata to realistically depict the life of the working class of villagers. Apart from sketches and storyboards, charts plot emotional undulations in tension, dynamism and movement using lines, time axes and color coding. The diagrams also interpreted the relationship between characters and their psychological status, proving superior animation production techniques. It is said that approximately 150,000 designs were executed during the three-year production period.
Viewers see a dynamic array of images representing Heidi, Girl of the Alps, From The Apennines to The Andes (Marco), Anne of Green Gables, and The Adventure of Panda and Friends in the second section devoted to novel animated expressions. A layout for a rough scenario in The Adventure of Panda and Friends done by Miyazaki is shown together with additional dialogues and configuration sketches by Takahata.
For the realization of Heidi, Girl of the Alps, Takahata, Miyazaki, animator designer Yoichi Kotabe, and producer Junzo Nakajima purposely travelled to Zurich, Maienfeld (the Alpine location), and Frankfurt to grasp the mood of the actual surroundings, as documented in an image clip. The illustrations delineate bold brushstrokes and colors that echo the lifelike atmosphere of the stunning Alpine scenery. Heidi’s lovable character playing on the swing and clouds, and skipping with the goat evoke Takahata's aim "to liberate … the heart of a child”.
Another long-time favorite cartoon series, Anne of Green Gables, experimented on vivid character articulation, portraying the stages from Anne’s puberty to adulthood as a beautiful woman.
Perhaps, Takahata’s most acclaimed achievement, which garnered the Chicago International Children's Film Festival Animation Jury Award and the Rights of the Child Award in 1994, and a Special Award at the 1989 Blue Ribbon Awards, Grave of the Fireflies is based on Akiyuki Nosaka's tragic novel about a sister and brother who were forced to struggle and survive on their own through the end of the Second World War.
As exhibited, Takahata wrote the scenario and intended the brother’s character Seita to resonate with the protective nature of older siblings in times of a war crisis. Color tracing and carbon fiber techniques were implemented to restrain the palette and distinguish the “real” characters from their “ghosts.” The animation was also highly praised for the true-to-life representation of flames, smoke, steam and light using complex designs. Numerous panels of colored scenes, character study, and background manipulation are displayed and bring the wonderful film to life.
Towards his latter years, Takahata pursued more sophisticated styles of animated expression with watercolor infused in digital technology to accentuate hand-drawn lines. As shown in the final section, his final project The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is filled with breaks, thick and thin lines, and untouched spaces that lift the princess’ silhouette. In a captivating video clip, the princess flees from the house, with her bright pink robe swaying behind in calculating movement. The dramatic interpretation of speed, powerfully rendered lines, and synchronized drops of cherry blossoms have achieved the height of sensory simulation in an animation film.
The audio guide for this exhibition is hosted by Ijuin Hikaru who voiced the role of Abe no Daijin in The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Sakiko Tamagawa contributes the narration, which also includes a playlist of the movie tracks.
The retrospective is awe-inspiring and absolutely visual-impacted with the most endearing memories of Isao Takahata’s graphical storytelling that has placed Japanese creators at the pinnacle of animation movie-making.
TAKAHATA ISAO EXHIBITION—THE MAN WHO PLANTED JAPANESE ANIMATION
Date: Until September 15, 2025
Opening Hours: 10:00-20:00 (last entry: 19:30), 10:00-17:00 (last entry: 16:30) on Tuesdays until July 18
Venue: Azabudai Hills Gallery
Text by Alma Reyes