Spirited Away needs no introduction. A hand-drawn animation masterpiece, the film broke so many records, shattered so many glass ceilings for animation as a category, and, to this day, remains a personal favorite and sets the bar for new-age animated films.
But 30 years before Studio Ghibli left a permanent mark on people’s hearts worldwide, Miyazaki released a short film far different from his later works.
Yuki’s Sun was released in 1972 and also features an orphaned but happy young girl. She wears jeans, climbs trees, and is funny and charming. Unlike Chihiro in the first half of the film, Yuki’s first impression is being a bundle of energy.
While many of Studio Ghibli’s later works with Hayao Miyazaki as director (and so much more) often feature dry characters, Yuki stands as a stark contrast with her charm and jubilance. Yuki’s Sun is a short film, yet it still shows Miyazaki’s signature storytelling: young girls learning to be resilient through life’s highs and lows.
Yuki’s Sun’s background, script, and environment are much simpler compared to later Ghibli works. Backgrounds are blue skies with white clouds; lands are green with some hints of grass; the train is amateur; and overall – simple.
Miyazaki’s movies are anything but simple.
Watching Yuki’s Sun after watching Yubaba’s quarters’ intricate designs, or the magnanimity of Castle in the Sky, or the sheer insanity of Howl’s Moving Castle’s design, and the layered scripts that take inspiration from multiple sources in each of his films, I could only pay my respects to the master and the legend who just kept pushing boundaries.
Many corners of the internet would say that the Oscars came to Miyazaki. He doesn’t need one of those. As an artist, Hayao Miyazaki breached the Ri stage of human imagination, 2D animation, and storytelling, packing so much more into his feature films.
In all its simplicity, I hold Yuki’s Sun in the same regard as I hold Spirited Away.
Jan Pinkava in Ratatouille said these forever words: Not anyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.
Yuki’s Sun is a testament to the fact that in three decades, a certain nobody from somewhere in Japan can become and has become what the world now deems genius.
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