Studio Ghibli is well known for producing high-quality animated films that can be appreciated by audiences of all ages. For Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki, however, only one of these films really challenged him to reveal what he felt was most important, and that was The Boy and the Heron.

The Boy and the Heron was an intensely personal film for Miyazaki, drawing heavily from his own memories of evacuating to safety during World War 2 (though he would only have been a few years old at the time). The film's Japanese title, How Do You Live?, was drawn from a classic Japanese book which had a lot of meaning to Miyazaki, although he didn't always understand or agree with it. The book and the movie share little besides the title, and a general sense of growing up and finding one's place in the world. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, Miyazaki struggled with the film.

Miyazaki Faced Many Difficulties Writing The Boy and the Heron

The Film's intensely Personal Material Made Miyazaki Struggle

According to the new book, The Art of the Boy and the Heron, Miyazaki addressed the staff at Studio Ghibli the day that production of the film began. "This world was created almost entirely from my own memories," he said. He emphasized he was "not looking to make a memoir," however, and laid out the difficult task that awaited them. In a more detailed explanation given to staff, Miyazaki explained that The Boy and the Heron was inspired by How Do You Live?, but not by its story; rather, it was inspired by how Miyazaki felt after he read it.

"Reading this book made me realize that I have lived all this time while carrying an hiding so much inside of me," Miyazaki explained. He gives an example from the book, dealing with Oedipus complexes, then adds, "This, for me, was fatal. That's perhaps a strange way of putting it, but it was the awareness that I had hidden a large part of myself in creating my animations." Miyazaki realized that for this movie to tell the story he wanted to tell, and address the themes he wanted to address, he needed to dig deep within himself and bring out these feelings he had hidden.

The Boy and the Heron is Undoubtedly Miyazaki's Most Personal Film

Miyazaki's Earnest Writing Helped Make The Movie an Instant Classic

Reading How Do You Live?, Miyazaki was worried that he might end his life without addressing these hidden parts of himself, without saying something important to help others. He knew this film would need a "core" that was very different from his previous films, and establishing that core idea took more effort and work than any other film. This core idea had a lot to do with the protagonist, Mahito, who was intended to be different from many other Miyazaki film heroes, as a boy who struggles with insecurity and selfish desires.

All this effort, though, clearly paid off, as The Boy and the Heron was lauded with praise and awards, and critics have hailed it as one of Studio Ghibli's greatest. The film is a testament to the importance of artists emotionally connecting with their work, and shows exactly what the true purpose of art should be--a journey of self-discovery for the artist, and a revelation of something the audience has never really thought too hard about before.