Miyazaki decided to retire back in 2013 after he had been animating for Ghibli for almost 30 years. This, coupled with Ghibli’s dreamy art style, has elevated the impact that this studio, along with Miyazaki himself, has had on animation as a whole. Through these movies, Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki have been able to position themselves exactly where they wanted: in viewers’ hearts.

Of the ten highest-grossing animated films in Japan, half are productions of Studio Ghibli, including films like:Ģ001 ‧ Family/Fantasy ‧ 2h 5m ‧ Box office: $383.4 million Howl’s Moving CastleĢ004 ‧ Fantasy/Adventure ‧ 1h 59m ‧ Box office: $236 million PonyoĢ008 ‧ Fantasy/Family ‧ 1h 43m ‧ Box office: $203.2 million Princess Mononokeġ997 ‧ Fantasy/Adventure ‧ 2h 14m ‧ Box office: $169.7 million The Secret World of ArriettyĢ010 ‧ Family/Anime ‧ 1h 35m ‧ Box office: $146 million Under the tutelage of Miyazaki, Ghibli has earned recognition and multiple awards, both nationally and internationally.

This is worth discussing any time you hire an animator, because the intellectual property itself can become quite a valuable asset, especially if you’re working on an especially large project. Very few reach Miyazaki’s level of prestige, but those that run a studio of their own often have the benefit of earning royalties on their work, freeing them up to work on other projects while earning passive income.

Such is his importance in Ghibli and the impact that his movies have had that he’s considered the father of modern anime. Miyazaki has worked on several movies in positions like animator-in-chief, illustrator, writer, and director.

He’s the man behind Studio Ghibli, which has produced over 22 movies since its conception back in 1985. Hayao Miyazaki is one of, if not the most influential anime artist today. With that out of the way, here are our top picks for the best anime artists of all time, in no particular order:

Old school anime dragon