Isao Takahata, the more overlooked co-founder of Studio Ghibli, passed away today at the age of 82. He had a long history of collaborating with Hayao Miyazaki even before founding Studio Ghibli and was the writer/director of several Studio Ghibli films, most notably Grave of the Fireflies, Pom Poko, and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.
Saw this today, a real loss to movies.
Grave of the Fireflies is an all-time great war movie. I recommend everyone watch it at some point.
I was reading his Wikipedia entry which says that he survived an air raid as a child in WW2. Grave of the Fireflies seems like such distant history, I hadn’t realized that Takahata had himself lived through its terrible events.
Takahata was surely one of the most remarkable directors ever. What is especially noteworthy is how different each of his films are from each other. My second-favorite Takahata film is Only Yesterday and couldn’t be more different from Grave of the Fireflies: it’s a quiet, meditative film about a woman who takes a trip to the countryside while reminiscing about her Tokyo childhood. Takahata was also more open to new technology than Miyazaki, for example the fully digital My Neighbors the Yamadas.
Dang. I love Pom Poko. And I grew up with Heidi, as did all South African kids of my generation.
As good as Grave of the Fireflies is, I think Takahata’s true masterpiece is Princess Kaguya.