Celebrity File

No. 7

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Miyazaki, Hayao  宮崎 駿

−The Greatest Animator and Director −

−Uploaded on January 30, 2003

英文 重要語句

What is the most successful Japanese movie of all time in America? Godzilla? No. One of the great Kurosawa's films? Maybe Seven Samurai? Guess again. The most successful movie ever exported from Japan to America is Spirited Away, known as Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi in Japan, directed by the great Hayao Miyazaki.


spirit ... away …を神隠しにする
direct …を監督する
■■
So who is this man whose films have captured the world's imagination? Who is this man whose animated films are so creative and compelling that the Walt Disney Corporation has committed to distributing them to theaters and video stores worldwide?


capture the imagination 人の心をとらえる
compelling 心をつかんで離さない
distribute ... to 〜 …を〜に配給する
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He was born into an industrialist family in 1941 in Tokyo. During the war, the family evacuated to Utsunomiya and Kanuma City in the Tochigi Prefecture where the family's airplane parts factory was located. While he was growing up, his mother suffered from spinal tuberculosis and was either bedridden or hospitalized for nine years. This had a strong affect on the young Hayao. He graduated from Gakushuin University in 1963 and got a job at Toei Douga (later called Toei Animation) that same year. After training, he worked on several animation projects for film and television. He earned a reputation as an excellent artist with many story ideas. He also developed a working friendship with fellow animator Isao Takahata.


industrialist 産業経営者;製造業者
evacuate 避難する
spinal tuberculosis 脊椎カリエス
bedridden 寝たきりの
hospitalized 入院している
reputation 評判
■■■■
Miyazaki moved to A Pro in 1971 and then to Zuiyo Eizou (later called Nippon Animation) two years later where he worked on the World Masterpieces Theater TV animation series for five years. He directed Conan, The Boy in Future, a poplular TV series, and then moved to Tokyo Movie Shinsha in 1979 where he directed his first movie, Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.


masterpiece 名作
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Since high school, Miyazaki had been a creator and admirer of manga. In 1982, he started Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and two years later he released a movie of the same name. It was a huge success and was followed by the establishment of Studio Ghibli where to this day, Miyazaki and Takahata direct, write and produce films. The films produced at Ghibli have been praised by critics and filmmakers worldwide and have also been successful financially. Among the films from Ghibli was Princess Mononoke which won the Japanese Academy Award for Best Film and was also the highest grossing Japanese film until Spirited Away.


admirer ファン;崇拝者
establishment 設立
to this day 今日まで
praise …を称賛する
gross …の総収益を上げる
■■■■■■
On Friday, January 24, Spirited Away was broadcast for the first time on television in Japan and received a viewer rating of 46.9%, the highest rating for any movie ever. It has won numerous film awards internationally and is expected to receive several nominations for the 2003 Academy Awards in Hollywood.


broadcast 放送された
viewer rating 視聴率
numerous ひじょうに多い
award
■■■■■■■
At 62 years of age, Miyazaki feels his eyes are not as strong and his hands are not as nimble as they used to be. He has often thought about retirement but his growing army of fans around the world is hoping that won't happen any time soon.


nimble (手などの)動きの早い
army of ... 多数の…

−written by Brock Spore

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