Isao Takahata

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Isao Takahata at the Festival d'Animation Annecy 2014

Isao Takahata ( Japanese 高 畑 勲 Takahata Isao ; born October 29, 1935 in Ujiyamada , Mie Prefecture ; † April 5, 2018 in Itabashi , Tokyo Prefecture ) was a Japanese director and producer of anime series and films. He was a co-founder of Studio Ghibli and best known for his work for this production studio. Apart from that, his most famous work in Europe is the television series Heidi .

Life

Isao Takahata was born on October 29, 1935 as the seventh child of the school teacher Asajirō Takahata (1888-1984) in Ujiyamada. On the night of June 28-29, 1945, at the age of nine, he survived a heavy USAAF bombing raid with 138 B-29 bombers on Okayama , the memories of which influenced him significantly in his later works.

In 1959 Takahata completed his studies in French literature at the University of Tokyo and then worked for the newly founded animation studio Tōei Animation . There he met, among others, Hayao Miyazaki , with whom he befriended and whom he strongly influenced. According to Yasuo Ōtsuka , an animator and former colleague of Takahata, Miyazaki would probably never have been active as a director without Takahata and would have continued to only draw manga, since Miyazaki developed a greater interest in animation films only through his work. In the 1960s, Takahata directed anime productions such as Ōkami Shōnen Ken and Taiyō no Ōji: Horusu no Daibōken . In the 1970s he worked on almost every series of the World Masterpiece Theater , including Heidi and Anne with the red hair . He nurtured Miyazaki's talent and supported him in his works such as Future Boy Conan and Nausicaä . The success of Nausicaä made it possible to found Studio Ghibli , for which he created, among other things, The Last Fireflies and Tears of Memory - Only Yesterday in the following years .

In 2009 the "old master of Japanese animation" was honored with the honorary leopard for his life's work at the Locarno International Film Festival .

In 2013, more than ten years after his previous film, My Neighbors the Yamadas , The Legend of Princess Kaguya hit Japanese theaters, the last film directed by Takahata. He was u. a. Nominated for the 2015 Oscar in the “ Best Animated Feature Film ” category. In the film The Red Tortoise , released in 2016, he was head of the animation department.

In addition, Takahata was politically active as an opponent of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe . He was critical of his plan to amend Article 9 of the Japanese constitution and possibly ascribe a greater military role to Japan, and took part regularly in protests against it. He was also a public advocate of the Communist Party of Japan and was chairman of the Eigajin Kyūjō no Kai ( 映 画 人 九 条 の 会 , dt. Association of Filmmakers for Article 9 ), which is close to the Communist Party.

Takahata died of lung cancer on April 5, 2018 at the University Medical Center of Teikyō University ( 帝 京 大学 医学 部 附属 病院 Teikyō Daigaku Igakubu Fuzokubyōin ) in Itabashi at the age of 82 . According to relatives, he has been in poor health since the summer of 2017 and has been to the hospital several times after that.

Filmography (selection)

Awards (selection)

Web links

Commons : Isao Takahata  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b 高 畑 勲 監督 訃 報 . Studio Ghibli , April 6, 2018, accessed April 6, 2018 (Japanese).
  2. ↑ Isao Takahata, co-founder of Japan's Studio Ghibli animation house, dies at 82 . USA Today , April 6, 2018, accessed April 6, 2018 .
  3. ↑ 岡山 県 名誉 県 民 (Japanese), accessed August 27, 2017
  4. ↑ a b The Japan Times : Isao Takahata's stark world of reality , accessed August 27, 2017
  5. ↑ cf. Kohler, Michael: Master of Animation . In: Frankfurter Rundschau , August 8, 2009, p. 12
  6. ↑ These are the 2015 Oscar nominations , accessed on August 27, 2017
  7. ↑ The Red Turtle  , accessed August 27, 2017
  8. ↑ 都 議 選 “共産党 の 躍進 に 期待 し ま す” (Japanese), accessed August 27, 2017
personal data
SURNAME Takahata, Isao
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 高 畑 勲 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese director, screenwriter and producer
DATE OF BIRTH October 29, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Ujiyamada , Japan
DATE OF DEATH 5th April 2018
Place of death Itabashi , Japan