To be born means being compelled to choose an era, a place, a life. To exist here, now, means to lost the possibility of being countless other potential selves.. Yet once being born there is no turning back. And I think that's exactly why the fantasy worlds of cartoon movies so strongly represent our hopes and yearnings. They illustrate a world of lost possibilities for us.

Through a career that has spanned over fifty years Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a maker of anime feature films and along with Isao Takahata co-founded Studio Ghibli a film and animation studio. He recently co-wrote the film The Secret World of Arrietty which was released in July 2010 in Japan and February 2012 in the United States. Starring the voices of Sumi Shimamoto Yōji Matsuda Iemasa Kayumi Gorō Naya and Yoshiko Sakakibara this was the first film both written and directed by Miyazaki.

Miyazaki's films often contain recurrent themes like humanity's relationship with nature and technology and the difficulty of maintaining a pacifist ethic. While Miyazaki's films have long enjoyed both commercial and critical success in Japan he remained largely unknown to the West until Miramax Films released Princess Mononoke. He recently co-wrote the film The Secret World of Arrietty which was released in July 2010 in Japan and February 2012 in the United States.