Studio Ghibli's Hayao Miyazaki was named one of TIME's “100 Most Influential People of 2024.” He was honored in the “Icon” category and received much praise from famous Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (Blade, Hellboy, Pinocchio, Shape of Water). Joining him were names like American businessman Mark Cuban, retired actor and activist Michael J. Fox, and film director Sofia Coppola.

In Guillermo del Toro's article, he mentions how Miyazaki's works evoke images of a sense of recognition of beauty that is only depicted in movies.

Miyazaki's work evokes that rare emotion—the thrill of realizing a type of beauty that is impossible in the real world and therefore only exists in his films. However, he is also a brutal realist concerned with greed, war, and human rage. He knows that we shape and destroy this planet and that humans are the best and worst in our world.

He was completely honest. A unique creator who exists fully in his art. He is the most influential animation director in the history of the medium and one of my top 10 favorite storytellers in any visual medium. The Boy and the Heron is an exquisite masterpiece of gravity—and many of us feel that gravity intensely.

Excerpted from Guillermo del Toro's tribute to Hayao Miyazaki on the Top 100

Time's Del Torro's mention of The Boy and The Heron, which recently won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, was linked to his deep love and care for the film and its characters. Other works by Studio Ghibli. He was responsible for introducing The Boy and The Heron at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2023 and mentioned that Miyazaki is “the greatest animation director ever.” Furthermore, in an exclusive hour-long interview with The Collider in October 2023, Del Torro recommended My Neighbor Totoro for those new to Studio Ghibli films.

When a work of art is absolutely astonishingly beautiful, you understand that you will never experience it in real life, you simultaneously gain and lose it, meaning you have an almost melancholy and touching feeling to tears. When Totoro started, I started crying and never stopped crying throughout the movie because it was simultaneously a childhood I had and a childhood I never had. So I think it's a great start.

Excerpted from Guillermo del Toro's interview with The Collider

Hayao Miyazaki is considered one of the most successful and famous filmmakers in the animation industry. Some of the films he directed under the direction of Studio Ghibli, of which he was also the founder, include Castle in the Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki's Delivery Service (1986). 1989), Porco Rosso (1992), Spirited Away (2001), Howl's Moving Castle (2004), Ponyo (2008) and The Wind Rises (2013).

TIME is a global media brand founded in 1923. It includes a website, a magazine and a social media footprint of more than 51 million. TIME publishes a number of lists that provide a look at the stories that shaped our world over the past year, such as the TIME100 — a list of the most influential pioneers, leaders, and giants for artists, innovators and icons.

Source: TIME100 Most Influential People of 2024
© 2024 TIME USA, LLC.