I wish I was better at art. I love some of the great artists of the 19th century and, compared to them, I just feel I lack this technique that they had. They have so much skill.
Rather than making that a good project, I like to make the kinds of films that children can understand in five minutes what the film is about.
I find it pointless sitting in my house not working, though I like to go on extended vacations from time to time.
I'm not going to make movies that tell children, "You should despair and run away".
In fact, I am a pessimist. But when I'm making a film, I don't want to transfer my pessimism onto children. I keep it at bay. I don't believe that adults should impose their vision of the world on children, children are very much capable of forming their own visions. There's no need to force our own visions onto them.
My process is thinking, thinking and thinking - thinking about my stories for a long time.
We live in an age when it is cheaper to buy the rights to movies than to make them.
The love of weaponry is often a manifestation of infantile traits in an adult.
Cut off a wolf's head and it still has the power to bite.
You never know how a film will play, whether it will be successful or not, or whether it will touch the audience. I always said to myself that whatever happens, big audience or small, that I would not let the results have an impact on my way of working. But it would be a bit silly for me to change my methods when I have a big success. That means my methods work well.
You always have to appeal to your audience. You always have to consider how well your project will do in terms of admissions. I abandoned many stories because of that. But I don't get too down about it. It's something I accepted from the time I decided to work in films.
You always have to appeal to your audience. You always have to consider how well your project will do in terms of admissions. I abandoned many stories because of that. But I don't get too down about it. It's something I accepted from the time I decided to work in films. I could always do something else if I got sick of it, like draw manga, or make my own films. I found it pointless sitting in my house not working, though I'd like to go on extended vacations from time to time.
I think we should stop using nuclear power plants because it's an old system that we can't control.
I've never studied psychology.
Personally I am very pessimistic. But when, for instance, one of my staff has a baby you can't help but bless them for a good future. Because I can't tell that child, 'Oh, you shouldn't have come into this life.' And yet I know the world is heading in a bad direction. So with those conflicting thoughts in mind, I think about what kind of films I should be making.
I can't stand modern movies. The images are too weird and eccentric for me.
There are so many ships in the animation sea that are computer driven, that I think we can have at least one that's just a log raft that we can row by hand.
If [hand-drawn animation] is a dying craft, we can't do anything about it. Civilization moves on. Where are all the fresco painters now? Where are the landscape artists? What are they doing now? The world is changing. I have been very fortunate to be able to do the same job for 40 years. That's rare in any era.
Any woman is just as capable of being a hero as any man.
Chihiro, huh? Her real name's Chihiro? Can't beat the power of love.
I like underwater life.
Actually I think CGI has the potential to equal or even surpass what the human hand can do.
I make films as a business, not as a cultural endeavor.
Those are shrines. Some people believe spirits live in them.
[on the future of hand-drawn animation] I'm actually not that worried. I wouldn't give up on it completely. Once in a while there are strange, rich people who like to invest in odd things. You're going to have people in the corners of garages making cartoons to please themselves. And I'm more interested in those people than I am in big business.
