From Heidi to Kaguya: Our Visit to the Takahata Exhibit

In America and Britain, Takahata is most famous for his films Grave of the Firefllies and Princess Kaguya. Do you know any of his other works?

Did you watch these when you were a child?

That’s very interesting, because I think it’s a full 50 episodes, and it’s based on a single book.

Yes, when I watched Anne, I only got through about the first 20 episodes, but what struck me was the way the perspective shifted between Anne—overflowing with imagination and passion—and her adult guardian Marilla, who is much more grounded and often worried or confused by this unusual girl. That switching of perspectives felt very characteristic of Takahata’s style of storytelling—something he seemed to really favor.

And on a lighter note, I remember one of the earlier episodes where Anne and her friend Diana are playing together in the woods. They imagine fairies and picture the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, just having fun in their own fantasy world. The way that scene is depicted feels a bit like Miyazaki’s Totoro. And Miyazaki was involved with Anne for a time—up to around episode 15. So I wonder if Anne might have also served as some kind of inspiration for him in those early episodes.

Yes

I bought an umbrella from a convenience store and about two minutes after I bought it, it was already broken by the wind.

Takahata would be very annoyed by that answer. He would complain, why does every conversation about his work have to mention something by Miyazaki?

You should’ve told me earlier!

I really enjoyed it.

I would recommend the section on his 1970s television work, because it represents a very important part of his career. These 1970s works—Heidi, Girl of the Alps, 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother, and Anne of Green Gables—weren’t broadcast in the U.S. or the U.K., so many people in the West don’t really know about them. But they were hugely significant in Takahata’s career and played a major role in shaping his achievements. I think it’s important to understand just how impactful those series were.

That’s a lovely story. But if I remember correctly, in the series, the adults eventually pointed out that if you keep the bread in the drawer for too long, it will go bad.

One scene I remember from Heidi is when she’s in Frankfurt and goes up to the attic. There are religious paintings up there—images of mountains and a shepherd—and by that point, Heidi is overwhelmed with homesickness. She begins to hallucinate, seeing the goats, Peter, and her grandfather. She starts shouting to them, running around in circles, and eventually collapses on the floor. It’s a really intense scene—almost frightening—and it vividly depicts a kind of mental breakdown.

Yes, of course, Takahata did similar things in his other works as well. At the beginning of 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother, Marco’s mother departs on a ship. As the ship begins to leave, Marco runs toward it, crying out, “Mama, come back!” It’s an incredibly emotional scene—I remember being really struck the first time I saw it. It’s deeply moving and unforgettable.

I’ve watched all of Heidi, but I still haven’t finished 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother or Anne of Green Gables, so I’m really looking forward to watching them all the way through someday. Both times, I got partway in, then got distracted by other work and never made it to the end. So I’d really like to go back and properly finish them.

As you rightly say, in the 1970s, he was making all these stories in other countries. And then from the 1980s, really, he starts focusing completely on Japan, whether it’s Gauche the Cellist, which is based on a Kenji Miyazawa story, or Jorinko Chie, which is set in downtown Osaka, a comedy, and then all his Ghibli films, which are set in Japan, I think. For example Omoide Poroporo (Only Yesterday), which is about a young woman who lives in Tokyo, but who finds it spiritually uplifting to go into the countryside and pick flowers and experience farming life. These are things that interest foreigners, but I also find it very intriguing the way that Takahata switched completely from foreign countries to Japan, even before Miyazaki did. Miyazaki set some of his later movies in Japan, like Totoro and Mononoke, but Takahata was there first.

I understand that Takahata’s film is connected to the TV series. I’ve seen a few episodes of the show, and in the earlier ones, there are scenes that are directly reused from the film, along with others that are completely new. As I mentioned in my article for Animation World Network, it’s unclear how much Takahata himself was involved in the TV version, but he definitely directed the film.

My Neighbors the Yamadas was released in Japan after Princess Mononoke, and it was one of the least commercially successful Ghibli films. So I think a lot of people may have had a reaction similar to yours. But I believe Takahata wanted to make it clear that he was a very different kind of creator from Hayao Miyazaki, with his own unique vision. Personally, I like Yamada-kun, though I must admit that I had a hard time getting used to its rhythm as a film. Especially when watching it in the theater, the pacing can feel a bit tricky. That said, I really enjoy the music and the characters, and I especially love the dog in that movie. There are quite a few elements in it that have stayed with me.

Yes, definitely—this exhibition highlights how much Takahata was influenced by the Canadian animator Frédéric Back. Back is best known for his masterpiece The Man Who Planted Trees, and even the title of this exhibition—”Isao Takahata: The Man Who Planted Trees in Japanese Animation”—reflects that influence. You can really feel Frédéric Back’s touch in some of Takahata’s works, like My Neighbors the Yamadas, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, and even parts of Only Yesterday. His style sets his films apart not only from Miyazaki’s but from most other anime as well. But interestingly, there are moments that feel like Takahata and Miyazaki almost swapped sensibilities. For example, the flying scene near the end of Princess Kaguya, accompanied by Joe Hisaishi’s music, has a tone that feels very much like a Miyazaki film. On the other hand, Miyazaki’s film The Wind Rises, released around the same time, features an objective portrayal of its main character, an designer of warplanes — Takahata often emphasized objectivity as a core principle. So even in the 2010s, the two masters continued to influence each other, and it almost feels like they switched roles for a moment—which is really fascinating.

Indeed.

Absolutely.

Maybe!