Portal:Studio Ghibli

Gorō Miyazaki (宮崎 吾朗, Miyazaki Gorō; born January 21, 1967) is a Japanese film director and landscaper. He is the son of animator Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of Studio Ghibli. Described as "reluctant" to follow his father's career, Gorō initially worked as a landscaper for many years before entering the film business. He has directed two films, Tales from Earthsea (2006) and From up on Poppy Hill (2011).

Miyazaki's first film was Tales from Earthsea, an adaptation of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea book series. Written by Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa, the film stars Junichi Okada, Bunta Sugawara and Aoi Teshima. Originally joining the animation project as a consultant, Miyazaki was asked to draw the storyboards. After viewing his storyboards, producer Toshio Suzuki decided Miyazaki should direct the film.

The move to direct the film caused friction between Miyazaki and his father, who felt his son did not have the experience to direct a film; the two were said not to have spoken throughout the movie's development. Despite this, Gorō Miyazaki was determined to complete the project. On June 28, 2006, Gorō held the first preview of the completed Tales from Earthsea, which was attended by his father. Hayao was seen to have "accepted Gorō" and after, delivered to his son a message, saying the film "...was made honestly. It was good."

In 2011, Miyazaki directed From up on Poppy Hill, which is based on Chizuru Takahashi and Tetsurō Sayama's 1980 manga Kokurikozaka kara. The adaptation was written by Hayao Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa and the film stars Masami Nagasawa, Keiko Takeshita. Yuriko Ishida, Jun Fubuki, Takashi Naito, Shunsuke Kazama, Nao Omori and Teruyuki Kagawa. Miyazaki also voiced the world history teacher character and wrote lyrics to some of the songs used in the film. From up on Poppy Hill was released on July 16, 2011 in Japan, to positive reviews. The film won the 2012 Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.

My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ, Tonari no Totoro) is a 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film–which stars the voice actors Noriko Hidaka, Chika Sakamoto, and Hitoshi Takagi–tells the story of the two young daughters (Satsuki and Mei) of a professor and their interactions with friendly wood spirits in postwar rural Japan. The film won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize and the Mainichi Film Award for Best Film in 1988.

In 1988, Streamline Pictures produced an exclusive dub for use on transpacific flights by Japan Airlines and its Oneworld partners. Troma Films, under their 50th St. Films banner, distributed the dub of the film co-produced by Jerry Beck. It was released on VHS and DVD by Fox Video. The film was released on VHS and laserdisc in the United States by Tokuma Japan Communications' US subsidiary in 1993 under the title My Friend Totoro. Troma's and Fox's rights to this version expired in 2004.

The film was re-released by Walt Disney Pictures on March 7, 2006 and by Madman on March 15, 2006, with a new dub cast. This DVD release is the first version of the film in the United States to include both Japanese and English language tracks, as Fox did not have the rights to the Japanese audio track for their version.

Sumi Shimamoto (島本 須美, Shimamoto Sumi), real name Sumi Koshikawa (越川 須美, Koshikawa Sumi), is a veteran Japanese voice actress born on December 8, 1954, in Kōchi, Kōchi Prefecture, Japan. After graduating from the Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music, she joined Gekidan Seinenza, a theatrical acting troupe. She is currently independent of any talent management company. She is married to Daisuke Koshikawa, one of the founders of the comedy troupe Chibikko Gang. Her best-known voice roles include Nausicaä in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Kyoko Otonashi in Maison Ikkoku.

She won the role of Nausicaä as she had played Clarisse in Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro and impressed Hayao Miyazaki. Patrick Drazen praised Shimamoto's acting in a scene where Nausicaä stops an insect from diving into an acidic pool by getting in its way. Nausicaä is burned by the acid and she screams. Drazen described this scream as being one which "tears at the listener and raises the bar for cartoon voices".