Portal:Studio Ghibli/Selected biography/12

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Miyazaki at a film premiere in Paris, France.

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.