The Miyazaki Studio Ghibli exhibit at the Academy Museum is amazing

Hayao Miyazaki’s films have been the cornerstone of my love for animation and a warm blanket to come back to when the going gets tough. I can mark the seasons of my life by the movies I have fallen into, even though I adore them all. From 2001 Made disappear and 1986’s Castle in the sky They were regular reruns as I navigated through high school, feeling uprooted and unsure of myself, hoping to steal a bit of Chihiro’s stubborn determination and Sheeta’s courage. In high school, I loved the one from 2008. Ponyo, thanks to a relationship in which we quote the movie over and over again. In my 20s, I fell in love with 2004 Howl’s Moving Castle, which has become a constant in my life.

The opening of the Miyazaki retrospective “Hayao Miyazaki” at the Los Angeles Academy of Film Museum came at just the right time. After pandemic-related delays, the opening ended up coinciding with Made disappear20th anniversary. I arrived on their first weekend in October expecting to enjoy behind-the-scenes sketches and materials, along with experiential art pieces – a glimpse into Miyazaki’s process that I’ve never had before, as the exhibition is the first retrospective of her work that debuts in the North. America. I didn’t expect the display to be this moving, even with my lifelong love of Studio Ghibli movies. It was my first visit to a museum in two years and it was worth the trip.

The exhibition offers access to both, with more than 300 objects on display. There are physical storyboards, reference illustrations, and hand-painted character designs and backgrounds of all kinds beautifully displayed. Scenes from classic Studio Ghibli movies are projected in high-quality presentations on numerous screens interspersed throughout the exhibit, creating the effect of moving art. Some are even in triptych. But it is the way in which the curators establish all these elements in a conversation with each other, ordering topic by topic, that makes these pieces come to life. They have created an exhibition experience that feels like moving through the narrative itself.

Each of these themes, and the art within, feels like opening a secret portal in Miyazaki’s head. The “Character Creation” section is dotted with concept sketches of famous people like Totoro and Kiki, the main characters in My neighbor totoro and Kiki’s delivery service, respectively. In “Transformations,” I saw the storyboards of two iconic scenes: Howl transforming into his monstrous bird-like form and Chihiro turning transparent, approaching the spa for the spirits, and tons of artwork from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

Although the scenes from the Ghibli movie are projected at a size and quality that feel standard for a museum gallery, they are ingeniously presented. Displays are dotted throughout the exhibit, intentionally woven into the gallery’s broader scheme, challenging the standard movie niches in other museums. The projections are also part of the art installations, such as at the end of a tunnel designed to feel like you are walking through the worlds of Miyazaki. This reflected the generally inventive use of screens by the Accademia Museum; Because the museum focuses on filmography, the exhibits have a varied focus on how the images are presented.

It’s one thing to know, intellectually, that Miyazaki has done so much animation by hand, one carefully painted cell at a time. It’s a completely different experience to finally see your movies in gallery quality, close to your original reference drawings, and really appreciate the art. I’ve never been able to see Miyazaki’s films in theaters before, and even if I had, I wouldn’t have been able to walk to the screening to capture these details. I was finally able to admire the designs of the planes up close at The wind increases and Porco rosso – which have the precision of an engineer’s sketches – as well as the surprising density of Princess mononokeforests full of Kodama, and each team in the heavy beast of Castle Howl’s Moving Castle scenes.

Are Howl parts of the retrospective felt like my art book collection had come to life. I’ve always been more associated with Sophie, the scruffy milliner who wants nothing more than to fade into the backdrop. She gains confidence with the help of a family found delightfully strange: the flame demon Calcifer, the young wizard-in-training Markl, and the titular Howl. The movie gave me a hero that I could relate to, in the low-key but feisty woman whose compassion for others helped her win battles and ultimately love herself. And the “Sophie’s cabin” scene, where Sophie emerges from the magical castle gate into a field of dazzling flowers and is gifted by little Howl’s cabin, that is one of my favorite animated sequences of all time.

I sat on a projection bench in the “Creating Worlds” gallery at the exact moment that scene was projected. I saw the field of flowers in exquisite detail, I noticed the tiny brushstrokes applied to each petal and felt goose bumps rise on my arms as I daydreamed of my own little retreat, and the romantic ideal of someone who enchants a sea ​​of ​​flowers to make a meadow even more sublime. The scene has been an escape for me, for so many years.

The rest of the exhibit is filled with moments of delight in equal measure. One wall is decorated with dozens of classic Studio Ghibli posters. Miyazaki’s own desk is on display, behind protective glass. Interactive art pieces and lighting complete the entire experience. I lay back on the sloping, green-carpeted floor of a facility, where my friends and I watched the clouds drift across the sky in a ceiling projection, feeling very much like Jiro and Naoko in The wind increases. I walked down a corridor to find the Mother Tree of Princess mononoke.

I actually entered from the back, so it wasn’t until I got out that I was able to enjoy the intentional entrance, designed to look like the cave Chihiro enters at the beginning of Made disappear, the one that transports her to the alternate world of spirits. Experienced at the end of my time on display, it felt equally effective, like a portal signaling that it was time for me to re-enter the ordinary human world.

Admission to the Academy Film Museum is $ 25 for adults, $ 19 for 62 and over, $ 15 for college students, and free for children 17 and under, as well as museum members. The Hayao Miyazaki exhibition will be open from September 30, 2021 to June 5, 2022 and is included in the ticket price. The exhibition will not go on tour.