Hayao Miyazaki was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1941 and grew up with his three brothers and his mother and father. His father worked for his brother at Miyazaki Airplane and thus Hayao Miyazaki acquired his fascination for planes and aviation.
His mother has been described as a free-thinking woman who inspired Miyazaki and his brothers to question everything. Sadly, she suffered from a long term ailment of spinal tuberculosis and the family moved around the country frequently to find the best treatment for her. It has often been speculated that this childhood experience was the inspiration for the plot of Miyazaki's 1988 film My Neighbour Totoro.
Miyazaki graduated from Gakushin University after studying Political Science and Economics. He then joined the fledgling studio Toei Doga.
Isao Takahata was born in 1935 in Ise, Japan. He attended the University of Tokyo and graduated in French Literature.
He was inspired to pursue a career in animation after seeing Paul Grimault's Le Roi et l'oiseau (The King and the Mockingbird) and applied for a position at Toei Doga.
At the studio workers formed a union and this is how Miyazaki and Takahata met. Animator Yasuo Otsuka became mentor to them both during their time at Toei Doga. Otsuka recommended Takahata to direct Horus: Prince of the Sun (aka The Little Norse Prince) and so Takahata brought in Miyazaki to work on the film but it was a financial flop and soon after they both left Toei Doga.
Since then the pair have had successful and often intertwining careers. Their first successful collaboration was with the short film Panda Kopanda (1972). Takahata directed, and Miyazaki provided the story, design and key animation.
In 1978 Miyazaki directed a TV series called Conan: The Boy in Future where he worked with his closest colleague Isao Takahata and their mentor Yasuo Otsuko once more.
That's enough for now I think. I'll continue on the subject of Miyazaki and Takahata's careers next time. Until then...
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