Isao TAKAHATA (Person)

Information

Screen Name: Isao TAKAHATA [高畑勲] (たかはたいさお), Show all
Type: Person
Gender: Male
Zodiac Signs: ♏ Scorpio
Born: 29. October 1935
Deceased: 05. April 2018
Place of Birth: Japan
Occupations: Singer: 2, Participation: 23

Description

Isao Takahata was a Japanese director, producer and screenwriter.

Following his studies of French literature at the University of Tokyo, he joined the animation studio Toei Douga in 1959, where he met his Mentor Yasuo Ootsuka as well as colleague Hayao Miyazaki, with whom he would work closely in the following decades. He made his directiorial debut with the 1968 feature film “Horus: Prince of the Sun”. Howver, the movie was a financial failure upon its initial release, which led to Takahata leaving Toei in 1971.

After directing the two short movies for “Panda! Go Panda!” (1972 & 1973), he went on to direct several children’s shows that would become major hits outside of Japan, including “Heidi: Girl of the Alps” (1974) and “Anne of Green Gables” (1979). After some other minor directing work, he would produce Miyazaki’s 1984 movie “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”, the commercial and critical success of which would lay the foundation for the creation of Studio Ghibli, with Takahata being one of its founders.

At Ghibli, Takahata directed several well-known and successful anime films, including “Grave of the Fireflies” (1988), “Only Yesterday” (1991) and finally “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” (2013). Takahata died of lung cancer in 2018 at the age of 82.