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CANNES, France — Studio Ghibli, the Japanese anime factory of surreal ecological wonders that has thrilled moviegoers for 39 years with tales of totoros, magical jellyfish and floating castles, won the honorary Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday. Celebrated together.
In the 22 years that Cannes has been awarding honorary Palms, the award for Ghibli was the first for any award other than an individual filmmaker or actor. Hayao Miyazaki, the 83-year-old animation master who founded Studio Ghibli in 1985 with Isao Takahata and Toshio Suzuki, did not attend the ceremony, but spoke in a video message taped in Japan.
Miyazaki said, “I didn’t understand any of it.” “but thank you.”
At Cannes, where there was standing ovation, the enthusiasm welcoming Ghibli’s ambassadors – Goro Miyazaki and Kenichi Yoda – was still one of the loudest receptions at the festival. Cannes’ artistic director, Thierry Frémaux, walked onto the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière to prolonged applause for a video to send to Miyazaki, he said.
“With this Palme d’Or, we want to thank you for all the magic you have brought to cinema,” said festival president Iris Knobloch, presenting the award.
The occasion was not marked by any new Ghibli films, but four prior shorts had not previously been shown outside Japan. “Mei and the Baby Cat Bus”, a brief follow-up to Miyazaki’s 1989 “My Neighbor Totoro”, expands that classic cat bus into an entire fleet of cat transports, specifically the mini Baby Cat Bus.
The shorts, all of which were made for the Studio Ghibli Museum outside Tokyo, included “Mr.” Flour and Egg Princess,” a culinary-themed desert setting for Miyazaki’s 2001 film “Spirited Away.” The other two – “House Hunting” and “Borrow the Caterpillar” – create musical mini-adventures for forest creatures.
Studio Ghibli celebrated after Miyazaki’s long-awaited “The Boy and the Heron” won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film in March.
Miyazaki also did not attend that ceremony. Goro Miyazaki, whose own films include “From Up on Poppy Hill” and “Tales from Earthsea,” said he had to use a hotel towel to wrap the Oscar to bring it home to his father. On Monday, he was relieved of the portability of the Cannes Prize.
“Seeing the Palme d’Or in a box reassured me,” he said, smiling.
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