Before the initial release of “Howl’s Moving Fort” 20 years ago, Akihiko Yamashita spent nearly two years working as an animation supervisor on the Studio Ghibli film.
“I actually don’t know how many pages of drawings there were or how many cells we drew. I just know that we worked hard and extracted a lot”, says Yamashita. Selection by an interpreter. “Nowadays we discuss work-life stability, but these days we had no idea about that.”
Yamashita first worked with animation maestro Hayao Miyazaki as lead animator on 2001’s “Spirited Away.” Over the past 20-plus years, he has played a variety of roles on Studio Ghibli films, including as a supervising animation assistant on ” Ponyo” (2008) and lead animator on “The Wind Rises” (2013) and “The Boy and a Crane” (2023).
Yamashita remembers working 14-hour days on “Howl’s Transferring Fort” during the last six months of manufacturing, noting that there were “no Sundays” and “no days off during the week.” However, after Miyazaki’s film was completed, the animation supervisor was given three months of paid leave.
“I realized I could only do this because I was already 30 years old,” says Yamashita. “I wouldn’t be able to do that now.”
Based on Dianna Wynne Jones’ 1986 fantasy novel of the same name, “Howl’s Moving Fort” follows a young milliner named Sophie who is magically transformed into a 90-year-old woman by the Witch of the Desert. On a quest to stop the curse, elderly Sophie takes refuge in a shifting fortress owned by a charismatic wizard named Howl.
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of “Howl’s Transferring Fort,” which is playing in theaters through October 3 as part of Ghibli Fest, Yamashita spoke with Selection through an interpreter about his relationship with Miyazaki and bringing the animated fantasy film to life.
How does the animation process for a Hayao Miyazaki film differ from other animation projects you’ve worked on?
For starters, he’s someone you’re really attracted to. From the structure to the storyboards – every part – he attracts himself. And let’s say a lead animator drew some animation. If he doesn’t prefer it, he will change and make a difficult drawing. So the key is that animators and other animators need to take this to the final level.
Another is the way he thinks about animation. Different animation directors use animation to tell a narrative, but he tells the story through animation. Everything is embedded in your narrative.
What was the design of the characters in this film?
When it comes to Miyazaki’s working method, he has rough sketches – this isn’t necessarily used in animation – but it’s his complete picture of what he thinks the story and film should be. It consists of photographs of the characters, costumes, facial expressions, and hair. For example, Howl being a blond man – he attracts that kind of image, and then the animators have to decide how to animate that kind of image. When animating the characters, I draw many pages, like 20 pages for a personality, and the way this character should be expressed. For this one, we had a bit of time, so I spent a month or so drawing and getting my hand used to the types of character designs that will be needed to animate the film.
Howl’s fortress has a very complex and detailed design. Could you describe the process of animating the castle? How many people were worried?
I’m undecided if I can depend. There were many, many people who worked on it. When it comes to drawing an item as large as that castle, there would usually be a basic design for it, and then several animators could draw from that basic design. However, in this case, there was no such preliminary basis design. Therefore, there may be a scene where a technique was designed and then another scene where the little house was not in the same place. But somehow, even with these angle changes that will present different things, it felt like a fortress in the end.
There may be several things trapped in the castle, but as long as there are the mouth, the eyes and the chimneys, people just understand it as the same thing. So, we take advantage of this type of false impression on the part of the viewer to attract only different things.
The music for “Howl’s Moving Fort” is one of the most beloved soundtracks in film history. What was the collaborative process between Hayao Miyazaki and composer Joe Hisaishi like for the classification? And were you worried in any way?
Those of us who are working on animation have no exposure to music. May everything happen on a better level, on the main level, between Mr. Miyazaki and Mr. Hisaishi. We heard some of the demo-type pieces about the image that was desired during our production work, but I didn’t hear the full score until the end of the film. At that time, I was probably also an audience member.
How did you feel watching the film for the first time with the music?
With music, the impression of what a film is about can change drastically. Sure, I knew the story and the actual cartoons and animations, but until the music arrives it’s hard to tell the depth of the story. And the result will be good or bad, depending on how the music fits into the film. In this case, I think it was fantastic because “Merry-Go-Spherical of Life” was the theme of this film. It gave real depth to the story and animation.
What was your favorite scene to animate? And were there any selected scenes that were difficult to work on?
In fact, the whole thing was a little difficult. It was a lot of work, but it was also very interesting and fun. The only scene that I feel really worked well was the one that showed how Howl was a somewhat exciting character. And it’s the scene where, after Sophie enters the castle, and the next morning, Howl returns and approaches Sophie – very close to her – and says, “Who are you?” At that time, I had made a draft of the motion and confirmed it to Mr. Miyazaki. There should have been more growth and development in this scenario, but he said, “No, this is high quality. That’s good” and “Can we move on to the next scene.” So this is a scene where Howl is in profile, and I thought it worked really well, and I was really happy that it worked well. This confirmed a distinct facet of Howl – that he was a truly engaging and compelling individual.
What about your favorite character to animate?
Probably Howl because he is a handsome man and very attractive, but in terms of his inner self, he is not that attractive. There are many people who consider themselves to be really good at their job and their work, and outwardly present an extremely unbelievable image. But when they get home, they’re just sloppy and unkempt and probably not someone you would look like. So this kind of duality haunts me. The Witch of the Desert is like that too – she has this double face that also attracts me.
What is your relationship like with Mr. Miyazaki? Has it changed over time?
I only have a business relationship with Mr. Miyazaki. Actually, Mr. Miyazaki is my mother’s age, so I don’t necessarily have a master-apprentice relationship or a boss-subordinate type of relationship, but it is an office relationship. And I feel like it’s hard work to get close to Mr. Miyazaki.
But through the informal conversations we have within the office, we talk a lot about really native and inconsequential issues. I lived somewhat close to where Mr. Miyazaki lives and often ran into Mr. Miyazaki and his wife on their walks around the neighborhood.
You’ve worked on many of Miyazaki’s films over the years, including “The Boy and the Crane,” which he said was his last film. Do you consider this to be true?
When it comes to feature films, I think this is probably your last film. But he directed eight short films shown at the Ghibli Museum. The museum has shown ten films so far, and I made one film (“The Tail of a Sumo Wrestler”). I really wish he would do two more movies to get to 12, and then I would have some work to do too.
Why 12?
At the Ghibli Museum, a film is shown for a month. So if there were 12 films, they would be able to work the year with all 12 films.
This dialog has been edited and condensed.