Intercultural aspects in the films of Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki as gaps in the animation market.

The Japanese animation studio Ghibli, founded in 1985, stands out both in the anime scene and in the international market through its narratives and aesthetics, having received several awards throughout its existence. Its main directors, Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki, bring to their feature films reflections on life in society, tensions surrounding the use of technology in relation to nature, as well as elements from other cultures, drawing on references both from Japan itself and from Western traditions in the construction of these works.

In his interviews, Isao Takahata comments that he was influenced by the works of Frédéric Back, a French-Canadian filmmaker, Yuri Norstein, a Russian filmmaker, and the French director Paul Grimault; precisely for this reason, his work manages to stand apart from productions in the audiovisual market.

This article aims to discuss certain intercultural aspects in the construction of films produced by Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki — Spirited Away (2001), Only Yesterday (1991), and My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999) — through a comparative approach with films by the foreign directors previously mentioned. As its methodology, the article proposes to use documentary research based on interviews with the directors, bibliographical investigation, and film analysis.