Guillermo del Toro Says His Artistic Vision Was Shaped by Hayao Miyazaki

It’s no secret that director Guillermo del Toro is a huge fan of animation legend Hayao Miyazaki. I mean, who isn’t a fan of Miyazaki!? The filmmaker is a master of his craft.

When Studio Ghibli’s The Boy and the Heron was released, Del Toro praised Miyazaki as the Mozart of his time. he said: “Animation is film, and tonight’s film goes beyond that. Animation is hard.”

He added: “We are privileged enough to be living in a time where Mozart is composing symphonies. Miyazaki san is a master of that stature, and we are so lucky to be here…He has changed the medium that he started in, revolutionized it, proved over and over again that is a tremendous work of art.”

Del Toro continues to praise Miyazaki and in an interview with Time Magazine, the director says his own artistic vision was shaped by Miyazaki.

He said: "I discovered Hayao Miyazaki's Toei Animation films as a child-films like The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots and series like Heidi and Marco, in which his style and influence became increasingly identifiable."

He added: “Encountering My Neighbor Totoro as an adult, my mind snapped back to those earlier works, and I recognized how much this man had shaped my childhood.”

Del Toro concluded: "[Hayao Miyazaki] is entirely genuine. A one-of-a-kind creator who exists fully in his art. He is the single most influential animation director in the history of the medium."

Guillermo del Toro has a deep love for animation and he is looking to only make animated films in the future. Maybe one day he will end up directing his own anime film project. I have no doubt he could pull it off.