Isao Takahata

Isao Takahata (高畑勲 Takahata Isao, October 29, 1935 – April 5, 2018), along with Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, is regarded as one of the greatest anime directors of all time.

Whereas Miyazaki is known for epic and imaginative sprawling fantasy adventures, Takahata is known for his quiet slice of life films. Takahata tends to focus on human emotions, unlike Miyazaki, who tends to focus on the adventure. Because of this, Takahata's works can be perceived to be much slower paced than his more famous counterpart. The focus is usually on the expression of concepts encountered in every day life, using the abstractions provided by the medium of animation to demonstrate these concepts in a way live action cannot. A person losing control and running away turns the animation into rough, sketchy outlines. A couple running away starts flying through the sky. The ups and downs of life are portrayed like a boat rocking up and down on a wave.

Takahata's career spans over fifty years. He started directing long before thinking about Studio Ghibli, having done many works at Toei Animation. These films are mostly obscure, however he struck with Grave of the Fireflies, released in 1988 at Ghibli. If someone wants to cry, they have two options: cut onions, or put on Grave of the Fireflies. The film was critically acclaimed for its emotional power, depicting two innocent children trying to survive the aftermath of World War II. He followed it up with the obscure but beloved Only Yesterday. His next films--Pom Poko in 1994 and My Neighbors the Yamadas in 1999--at Ghibli are less successful. After fourteen years lurking behind Hayao Miyazaki, he returned to the director chair in 2013 with The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, a little known but beloved Box Office Bomb, exploring human nature, grief, sorrow, the contrived nature of royalty, and genuine friendships.

A quick trip to Rotten Tomatoes will show you Takahata's craftsmanship. A director having one 100% fresh film (all critics rate it at least 7/10) is rare and impressive, having two makes you superhuman, and elevates one to to the realm of the director gods. Isao Takahata has three: Grave of the Fireflies, Only Yesterday, and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Hayao Miyazaki has zero 100% rated films. Although Rotten Tomatoes is the perhaps the furthest you can go from serious film criticism, his achievement still remains impressive. In 2015, he was given the Winsor McCay Award.

Sadly, he died in 2018 from lung cancer, at age 82. His last film credit was The Red Turtle, where he was an artistic producer.

Filmography:

As Director:

Hols: Prince of the Sun, also released as Little Norse Prince Valient (1968)
Panda! Go Panda! (1972)
Panda Kopanda and the Rainy-Day Circus (1973)
Jarinko Chie (1981)
Gauche the Cellist (1982)
The Story of Yanagawa's Canals (1987)
Grave of the Fireflies (1988), the first film Takahata directed at Studio Ghibli
Only Yesterday (1991)
Pom Poko (1994)
My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013)

Other Ghibli productions:

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) as Producer
Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986) as Producer
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) as Musical Director
The Red Turtle (2016) as Artistic Producer

Other roles:

The Littlest Warrior (1961) as Assistant Director
Interesting History of Civilization, Story of Iron (1962) as Assistant Director
The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon (1963) as Assistant Director
The Biggest Duel in the Underworld (1963) as Assistant Director