The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, in Koto Ward.
During summer 2007, an exhibition of work...
...by Studio Ghibli's "image artisan" took place here.
His works were framed for the exhibit.
These works were originally backgrounds and art boards...
...used for scenes in animated films.
No characters appeared in these images.
Only the background for that scene was on display.
But each day the exhibition was thronged with visitors.
All of them came to see these "empty" backgrounds.
The exhibit ran for 66 days.
Over 200,000 people saw Oga's work during that period.
Visitors included people of all ages.
The museum staff were amazed at the crowds.
Most backgrounds are discarded after production is finished.
But these works found their way to an art museum, framed for display.
The artist: Kazuo Oga.
Did he ever dream his work would end up in a museum?
It never occurred to me.
Animation backgrounds and cels aren't meant to be preserved.
They're usually thrown away after the film is complete.
Animation background art is discarded every day.
Background art is the stage on which the characters interact.
Background art was thought to have little value in itself.
Among the works on display here...
...were many that Oga himself had saved.
Background art rarely survives.
But much of this art captured the hearts of audiences.
Kazuo Oga was art director for such Ghibli films...
...as "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Only Yesterday".
Oga's background art evokes feelings of nostalgia in audiences.
Now his backgrounds, which were only part of the finished animation...
...are drawing attention as artworks in themselves.
Oga works quietly behind the scenes at Studio Ghibli...
...creating backgrounds that move audiences.
Looking back on Oga's single-minded dedication to his art...
...we decided to call him Ghibli's "image artisan".
KAZUO OGA GHIBLl'S IMAGE ARTISAN The Artist Who Made Totoro's Forest
1972. Kazuo Oga was 20.
One day he saw a job listing for "people who like to draw".
And so he joined Kobayashi Production.
It was a company specializing in animation backgrounds.
It was here that Oga discovered...
...the profession of background artist.
At that stage, Oga actually had almost no training in art.
"THE ADVENTURE OF GAMBA"
He learned the techniques as he went along.
"THE CHAMPION"
It turned out that the paper for backgrounds...
...was about the size of the sketch pads I used in school.
I was doing backgrounds day after day.
I felt pretty lucky.
This is a background from ”The Giatrus, The First Man”.
Art director Shichiro Kobayashi...
...designed daringly abstract, abbreviated backgrounds for the series.
The style differs completely from Oga's recent work.
Shichiro Kobayashi is the founder of Kobayashi Production...
...where Oga started out.
Oga regards Kobayashi as his mentor.
What was his first impression of Oga?
SHICHIRO KOBAYASHI KOBAYASHI PRODUCTION
I suspected he had potential, that's all.
He had a delicate sensibility.
It was reflected in the way he handled straight lines.
That stood out at the time.
Not good for much at first, but I sensed he had huge potential.
But he was extremely sensitive.
In those days, the company was very busy with TV animation work.
Oga was exposed to a wide range of techniques.
I had to minimize detail to complete my work quickly.
I also learned which things to emphasize, to minimize detail.
The goal is to get the essential point across effectively.
No need to detail what people will overlook.
"THE CHAMPION" BACKGROUND ART
I learned a great deal about how to eliminate unneeded details.
Oga delivered everything I asked, and more.
The backgrounds he produced were extremely tidy.
His work had a consistently abstract touch.
His approach to images was efficient and skilled.
"HARMAGEDON" BACKGROUND
Art director Takamura Mukuo invited him to work on "Harmagedon".
Oga supplied backgrounds for several key scenes in the film.
He also supplied promotional artwork for the movie poster.
"HARMAGEDON" ILLUSTRATION
"DAGGER OF KAMUI" BACKGROUND
...and further developed his skills as a background artist.
Boundless blue sky, white snow.
Mighty boulders, crimson flowers.
These backgrounds reflect Oga's keen powers of observation.
They are glimpses of his future direction.
"Barefoot Gen".
Oga has accumulated a decade of experience.
Now he will serve as art director on an animated feature.
Oga made numerous trips to Hiroshima to scout locations...
...and used photographs of prewar Hiroshima to create his backgrounds.
But later, a friend who knew prewar Hiroshima saw the film...
...and told Oga that his backgrounds were not accurate.
I visited Hiroshima and used photographs of the old buildings...
...as reference for my backgrounds.
The material I had assembled turned out to be weak.
Looking back, I realize that I should have made more effort...
...to consult people who had clear memories of the prewar city.
"Time Stranger" was an animated version of Taku Mayumura's SF novel.
It tells the story of a boy from the future...
...and the teenagers who join his adventures through time.
The story spans past, present and future.
The characters experience World War II...
...the era of the Shogun, and Japan's ancient civil wars.
Oga's many detailed environments brought the past to life.
I thought the backgrounds would go more smoothly...
...if I worked out the settings thoroughly first.
I created a lot of images that weren't needed.
But I had a lot of fun.
As art director, Oga created detailed environments...
...based on extensive research and consultations with experts.
In the course of his work, he worked with many directors...
...on a diverse range of background art styles.
During this period, Oga worked on animated television series...
...and many short-turnaround features.
"WICKED CITY" BACKGROUND
All these backgrounds are from Oga's personal collection.
"HARMAGEDON" BACKGROUND
Permission to display these works...
...was readily granted by the production companies involved.
Their response is e testament to their respect for Oge.
Oga's first project for Studio Ghibli...
"MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO" (1988)
...was Hayao Miyazaki's "My Neighbor Totoro".
The place: the countryside outside Tokyo, in the late '50s.
An unpaved road winds through rice paddies.
Scenes like this were once common just outside the city.
Oga began working with Ghibli purely by accident.
"TOTORO" IMAGE BOARD (HAYAO MIYAZAKI)
An art director for "Totoro" was urgently needed.
One day Oga received a call from director Hayao Miyazaki.
Miyazaki had a close relationship...
TOSHIO SUZUKI PRODUCER
...with an art director named Nizo Yamamoto.
That's how Miyazaki heard about Kazuo Oga.
Miyazaki assumed Oga would be suitable.
Miyazaki has this interesting trait.
You see, if Miyazaki trusts you...
...he assumes he can trust your friend.
TOTORO PRODUCTION TEAM
So Oga joined the "Totoro" production team.
Oga vividly recalls one of his early exchanges with Miyazaki.
Once the storyboard was done, I set to work on the backgrounds.
Miyazaki didn't present me with any difficult requirements.
So I assembled and checked a set of backgrounds for him to look at.
I think it was his first look at the backgrounds.
His reaction was, "So this is the best you can do?"
He wasn't really upset.
But for me, it was quite a shock.
Miyazaki asked Oga to pay close attention to rural landscapes.
To grasses, trees and flowers.
HAYAO MIYAZAKI SCOUTING LOCATIONS
IMAGE BOARD (HAYAO MIYAZAKI)
Oga had received such guidance from a director.
I decided to go back and redo everything myself.
After that I checked all the backgrounds very closely.
Oga worked hard to capture every type of foliage...
...and the changing face of the landscape throughout the day.
The result was something rarely seen before in animation.
A clear summer sky.
An acorn, through a hole in a bucket.
The changing faces of clouds, moment to moment.
The house where sisters Satsuki and Mei and their father will live.
The house combines Japanese and Western elements.
This style of architecture was actually popular at the time.
BACKGROUND (WITH KIYOMI OTA)
The earthen-floored kitchen.
There is no plumbing. Water is drawn from a well.
Father's library, in the Western room of the house.
The wood-fired bath, heated from below.
Everything is bathed in warm light from the kitchen.
The scene is empty, but the image immediately brings to mind...
...z'he father and his daughters taking a bath.
The veranda, open to the outdoors.
One can almost feel the refreshing breeze...
...of a summer afternoon.
Someone from the neighborhood could drop by anytime.
These unlocked doors are a link to another time.
Oga based his realistic rendering on the house of a relative...
...in rural Gunma Prefecture.
Oga thought the house matched Miyazaki's storyboard concept.
He had his relative send photos of the house.
The way upstairs is steep and dark.
It looks like the gateway to another dimension.
Near the house stands a huge camphor tree.
It almost seems supernatural.
This is Totoro's home.
And here's the entrance.
Inside, the floor is carpeted with grass and flowers.
Everything is finely detailed.
Oga made the floor soft and spongy...
...so Mei would not hurt herself as she falls in.
Nature's face changes with each change in the light.
Depending on the weather and time of day...
...the same place can take on a completely different appearance.
Oga brilliantly depicts these changes in mood.
A late afternoon shower.
The bright scenery is transformed.
When the rain stops, the once-sunlit landscape...
...becomes a world of shadows.
This background is for a memorable scene in "Totoro".
Here, the sisters encounter Totoro and the Cat Bus.
Later that evening, the sky is full of stars.
You can almost hear the crickets in the distance.
The most' notable "To taro " backgrounds...
...depict nature's transformation as night falls.
The aspect of "Totoro" that impressed me most...
...is the sequence where Satsuki goes looking for Mei.
The backgrounds convey the passage of time.
Without Oga, I doubt that sequence would have worked.
Mei!
Naoya Tanaka is an art director at Studio Ghibli.
Here is his perspective on Oga's backgrounds.
It's as if Oga has a kind of special filter...
NAOYA TANAKA
It's not a naturalistic effect.
He extracts the essence of important elements of the scene.
Then he augments them to enrich the image.
Oga is very adept at this.
What this does is change the landscape from something familiar...
...to something that feels more like déjé vu.
The audience shares the experience with the character.
A landscape already stored in the mind.
The audience feels a mysterious nostalgia.
After "My Neighbor Totoro"...
...Oga becomes an indispensible part of Studio Ghibli.
So what is animation background art all about?
In the production process, characters drawn by the animators...
...are moved frame by frame against a background.
Before the advent of automated tools, characters were hand drawn...
...on transparent acrylic sheets called cels.
PRODUCTION PHOTOGRAPHY
...of cel and background, photographed with special techniques.
Take this vertical background.
Can you guess which scene this is from?
This technique is called "pan with action".
Ashitaka gallops down the cliff in "Princess Mononoke".
For the completed sequence, foreground leaves are superimposed...
...and moved a few millimeters in each frame.
It's over in four seconds.
Sliding overlays is another specialized technique.
Five separate background cels with different perspectives...
...are superimposed over a background base.
The cels are separated for the exhibit.
But during photography they are in contact.
Character cels and background overlays move at different speeds.
This is the completed sequence.
Quiet your rage, I beg you!
A mere three seconds!
A tremendous amount of effort for only three seconds of action.
A panoramic background from "Kiki's Delivery Service".
In this "follow and pan" shot, the characters move...
...across the field of view and into the distance.
In e live action film, the camera just' follows the action.
For animation, a correspondingly long background is necessary.
Some panoramic backgrounds are quite specialized.
This background from "Only Yesterday"...
muses e technique celled "track up and pen”.
As adult Taeko turns, the camera pans left.
The camera points to a scene from the past.
The background is drawn to simulate a wide-angle shot.
With some simple camera work...
...we jump from present to past.
We can see the distortions used to achieve this effect...
...when we view the entire background.
These distortions are carefully calculated...
...so the result will appear natural as the camera moves.
Didn't you promise to ask only at Christmas and birthdays?
You always spoil her, Daddy!
Nowadays, cels are produced with the help of computers.
Photography is also digital.
Cels and backgrounds are composited digitally.
But backgrounds are still produced the same way.
Each one is carefully hand painted, usually with poster color.
"ONLY YESTERDAY" BACKGROUND ART DESIGN
...and supervise the background artists.
He designs the film's objects and structures...
...to convey the look of the film to each artist.
He creates art image boards needed for each background.
He checks each background produced by the artists...
...and makes corrections as needed.
STORYBOARD (HAYAO MIYAZAKI)
He translates that vision into a more detailed, concrete form...
IMAGE BOARD (HAYAO MIYAZAKI)
The art director is truly an artisan.
COMPLETED FRAME
After "Totoro", Oga next served as art director...
"ONLY YESTERDAY" (1991)
...on director Isao Takahata's "Only Yesterday".
Takahata was extremely impressed by Oga's backgrounds for "Totoro".
With Japanese artists, especially background artists...
...the look of their work differs depending on where they come from.
The quality of the air is different.
Artists from northern Japan render air very transparently.
With artists from the south, the air seems mistier.
This probably comes from their childhood environment.
Takahata is actually from Mie Prefecture...
...which is more toward the south of the country.
But the truth is, he actually prefers northern Japan.
So he probably likes the style of northern artists.
When Takahata saw "Totoro" he was very impressed.
So when he began preparing for "Only Yesterday"...
...he wanted Oga as his art director.
"Only Yesterday" is based on a serial comic.
It tells the story of little Taeko...
mend her experiences as a child in the late 7.960s.
TAEKO (AGE 10)
Takahata created a story about Taeko as an adult...
...combined with flashbacks from her past.
TAEKO (AGE 27)
...Taeko feels drawn to rural Japan.
So she goes to visit relatives in Yamagata Prefecture.
Why did Takahata choose this location for his story?
Oga is actually a native of Akita.
So Takahata wanted to use Akita as the setting.
But to drive the story, we needed to find a special local product.
Something distinctive that would work for animation.
We did a lot of research and discovered Yamagata's safflowers.
Akita didn't have anything to rival that.
So Takahata set the story in Yamagata.
"Only Yesterday" features flashbacks with pale, simple backgrounds...
...and scenes of today's Yamagata with rich, detailed backgrounds.
The contrast alternates throughout the film.
Taeko's childhood.
The backgrounds are somewhat indistinct...
...like nostalgic images stored deep in the memory.
Takahata wanted to emphasize a feeling of the distance of memory.
So Oga's backgrounds were rendered in pale colors.
The simple lines and pale colors of distant memories.
Unnecessary detail was to be omitted.
Only the content of memory would be depicted.
Anything not recalled clearly would not be depicted.
The flashback scenes were created according to this artistic vision.
Backgrounds for the film's present-day scenes...
...are in complete contrast to the pale colors of memory.
Based on careful research, these backgrounds are highly detailed.
LOCATION SCOUTING (1990)
...for firsthand experience in safflower harvesting.
Everyone on the production team went along.
Visiting the actual scene of the story is essential.
So much to see and experience.
The lessons learned have a major influence on the film.
Photographs alone can't convey the atmosphere or the scale.
When you actually go, you see the way mist rises from the valleys.
You have to see the way the mist looks with your own eyes.
Later you can use what you've seen...
...as a point of departure for your creativity.
With photos, you can't judge how conditions change through time.
The staff boarded the same night train Taeko uses on her journey.
They left late at night and arrived early next morning.
This background approaches photorealism.
It also brings the period vividly to life.
Background artist Yoji Takeshige also visited locations in Yamagata.
He speaks about the role of location visits.
Actually visiting the locale helps us do a better job...
'(OM TAKESPHGE
...in conveying the atmosphere to audiences.
Much more so than with photographs alone.
You have to see it first hand.
The quiet of an early morning train platform.
The look of a car driving along an empty road before dawn.
The silence, the chill of dew in the morning.
The warmth of the sun's rays...
...as it rises over a field of safflowers.
You have to actually experience these things.
Then what you create...
...will more effectively convey an impression to the audience.
Like Taeko, the production staff began picking flowers before dawn.
The thorns of the safflower are softest in the morning.
That's why safflowers are harvested early.
The lessons learned from actual participation...
...make for more convincing backgrounds.
The sun rises over a majestic field of safflowers.
You can almost feel the scene physically.
"Only Yesterday" used a number of animation techniques...
...that had hardly been seen before.
For example, realistic physical movement...
...and natural wrinkles in the faces of characters.
What impact did this detailed character animation...
...have on the backgrounds?
I didn't consciously plan to make the backgrounds very detailed.
But I think I ended up being swept along...
...by the animation.
Realistic backgrounds for realistic characters.
The result was minutely detailed background art.
But Oga learned something from this experience.
I thought the backgrounds were simply too detailed.
This was a lesson I've never forgotten.
I don't think it was necessary to include that much detail.
The backgrounds could have been simpler.
"Only Yesterday" featured extremely detailed backgrounds.
They garnered praise when the film was released.
But Oga himself came to a different conclusion.
The lesson he learned was - do your research thoroughly.
Once you know what you are doing, you can omit detail.
The result will be environments that audiences find appealing.
In other words, less is more.
Before and after "Only Yesterday", Oga worked on background art...
"KIKl'S DELIVERY SERVICE" (1989) "PORCO ROSSO" (1992)
With its European settings of stone and brick...
..."Kiki's Delivery Service" was completely different from "Totoro".
A former colleague of mine from Kobayashi Production...
...was the art director on this film.
I really put a lot of work into it.
But the chance to participate in the production...
...was very good for me too.
Oga's work in "Kiki's Delivery Service"...
...naturally focused on scenes filled with flowers and trees.
Miyazaki supplied the concept, but when Oga was finished...
...Kiki's house was surrounded with lush greenery.
"Porco Rosso" was also set in Europe.
Oga says he was not originally slated to work on this film.
But he decided to join the project...
...when he heard his friend Katsu Hisamura would be art director.
Once again, Oga handled many scenes featuring natural beauty.
To depict the beauty of the Adriatic...
...Oga imbued sea and sky with rich, deep color.
Porco Rosso's hideout.
Steep cliff, ocean inlet and blue sky contrast sharply.
Chanteuse Gina's secret garden.
Beyond the beautiful foliage spreads the blue Adriatic.
Again, contrast is the key to this background.
Oga's next project was "Pom Poko".
The setting for director Isao Takahata's film...
"POM POKO" (1994)
...was the rural Tama Hills district, near Tokyo.
Drawing on his experience with "Only Yesterday"...
...Oga decided not to make the backgrounds too detailed.
I created the backgrounds for "Pom Poko"...
...based on what I felt was the right level of detail for the film.
I didn't work on the basis of what to omit.
I was familiar with the natural environment of Tama.
I had a sense of the foliage and the scenery.
I simply created backgrounds with the level of detail...
...that seemed appropriate to convey the settings.
In fact, Oga had already moved to Hachioji City in the Tama area.
This was in 1987, during production of "Totoro".
Oga was excited that the area where he lived...
...had become the setting for an animated film.
He drew on first-hand experience...
...to depict the loss of forests and mountains to development.
Along the way, he portrayed the changing seasons...
...with an accuracy seldom seen in animation.
We wanted to show the lives of raccoons in detail.
So we had to show how the raccoons lived in each season.
That was the goal.
Working on the backgrounds for "Pom Poko" was a lot of fun.
A construction site on New Year's Day.
A power shovel stands deserted.
Through the sparkling air, snowy Mt. Fuji rises in the distance.
This background is like a modern woodblock print.
Naoya Tanaka recalls an anecdote behind this snowy scene.
One day during production, there was a rare, heavy snowfall.
It was still early, but Oga said he was leaving to scout locations.
He left everyone else slaving away.
He said it was a great chance to get a feel for the snow.
To be honest, I didn't do any research.
I just wanted to play in the snow, so I left early.
But you know, it's always good to get out...
...and actually experience unusual weather conditions.
The changing face of the Tama Hills throughout the season.
Natural environments destroyed by development.
Photographs leave a record, but there is much they cannot capture.
The smell of a breeze.
And the nostalgia that is "memory".
Oga's work has the power to awaken those memories within us.
Director Yoshifumi Kondo's "Whisper of the Heart".
"WHISPER OF THE HEART" (1995)
Satoshi Kuroda, who had long worked under Oga...
...was selected to serve as art director.
The setting was modeled on Tama City, in the Tokyo suburbs.
The Tama Hills again served as the backdrop for the story.
A major theme was the urban environment as nostalgic home town.
The question was whether Ghibli's artists could breathe life...
...into such an environment.
The art staff made trips together for detailed location scouting.
"Whisper of the Heart" opens with this panorama of the city by night.
The film ends with the same view, this time shrouded in morning mist.
It's hard to tell this is the same city.
Oga was responsible for both of these key images.
This is based on the view from atop the ski jump at Yomiuri Land.
We got permission to enter the park very early in the morning.
I took the first morning train out there.
I saw the same sunrise that was depicted in the story.
"Whisper" sensitively portrayed...
...the emotional lives of middle school students.
The final scene is dedicated to their future.
I wanted you to see this.
"Princess Mononoke".
"PRINCESS MONONOKE" (1997)
This enormous background forms part of the exhibit.
It was used in the film's opening scene.
This awe-inspiring vista remains on screen for 26 seconds.
Eight large cels with images of mountains and clouds...
were photographed over a large background.
In ancient times the land lay covered in forest...
...where from ages long past dwelt the spirits of the gods.
No fewer than five art directors were assigned to "Mononoke".
This was unheard of. Why was it necessary?
In "Princess Mononoke", the hero travels south and west.
Each art director handled the region he grew up in.
Oga did most of the northern backgrounds.
A representative scene from each art director.
- The Em/sh/ Village. - Ash/take's Journey.
- The Iron Works- - Moro's Lair. - The Deer God's Forest.
With five art directors, the settings were extremely varied.
Ashitaka's home, the "Emishi Village".
This was Oga's responsibility.
Oga's village was based on the Shirakami highlands...
...and the Shizukuishi area in northern Japan.
While other staff headed south to scout forest locations...
...Oga traveled alone to northern Japan.
He saw mountain highlands and pristine beech forests
The images he brought back majestically open the story.
Oga was responsible for many striking images in "Mononoke".
The awe-inspiring sunrise over the Deer God's forest.
The giant Deer God rises into the night sky.
Life returns to the ravaged forest.
What did Oga have in mind when he created this image?
When I was scouting locations...
...I saw green shoots coming up in places where the snow had melted.
I used that image for this background.
During the creation of backgrounds like these...
...the director provides feedback at meeting after meeting.
During production of "Princess Mononoke"...
...one of these meetings was preserved on video.
Studio Ghibli, during production of "Mononoke".
Oga shows director Miyazaki one of the backgrounds.
Shafts of sunlight illuminate the lake of the Deer God.
Miyazaki sees room for improvement.
The light should fall a bit more naturally.
Like it's always that way.
The location was dark, right?
That's how it looked.
If we make it too dark...
...this part will be black.
I think if we just add a few more rays of light -
This part can be in shade.
But there should be light falling here and there.
The beams of light should be distributed across the frame.
I kept thinking the light was too bright...
...but I think this is OK.
I don't think...
...we have to make this ultra-realistic.
How can I say...
...we don't have to make this look real.
I'd like it to have a lot of impact.
Sometimes even real sunlight...
...looks very majestic...
...when it shoots down from the clouds.
We need light beams from more than one place.
Based on Miyazakﬂs storyboard, the art director creates an image.
Seeing the image, the director further develops his vision.
Using all his skill, the artist realizes that vision in more images.
This is the role of the image artisan.
"SPIRITED AWAY" (2001) "HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE" (2004) "TALES FROM EARTHSEA" (2006)
A residential development cut into a hill.
This is the opening image from "Spirited Away".
Deep in the forest, a gateway to a mysterious town.
Oga created this imposing red gate amid lush foliage.
Chihiro and Haku pass through this garden of rhododendrons.
Here is Oga's background, rendered with computer animation.
The magical marshes from "Howl's Moving Castle".
A vast expanse of meadows and flowers of dreamlike beauty.
Of course, each flower had to be added by hand, one by one.
I can't imagine how many I painted.
How long did it take you?
I don't even remember how long it took.
The flowers in the foreground are rendered precisely.
Those in the distance are less detailed.
This marked contrast between rough and detailed rendering...
“imparts a feeling of broad expanse.
Ghib/I artist Na 0 ya Tanaka sees something special...
...in Oga's depictions of foreign environments.
I think Oga's European environments are superb.
When Oga sets out to depict a scene...
...that he has not seen personally, he proceeds slowly and carefully.
He examines reference photographs very closely.
He looks very carefully at buildings.
He notes differences in the style of roofs...
...or the way signs look.
Roads and structures are different from their Japanese counterparts.
He takes all this carefully into account.
"Tales from Earthsea" also contains scenes...
...that are completely different by night and day.
Oga's backgrounds played a central role...
...in this tale of the struggle between light and darkness.
0ga's backgrounds also impart a sense of majesty...
...to the Ghibli stories in which they appear.
Art directors often look to Oga to handle certain scenes.
These scenes have certain special characteristics.
What might those be?
Yoji Takes-hiya was art' director for "Spirited A way".
He offers some insight into Oga's special strengths.
There are several types of backgrounds I'd want Oga to handle.
One would be comparatively soothing backgrounds.
Refreshing or heart-warming backgrounds.
When I see this kind of scene in a storyboard...
...I would want Oga's backgrounds for that scene.
Over 200,000 people saw Oga's exhibition.
What is so alluring about animation backgrounds without characters?
I think animation backgrounds...
...are very accessible for the average person.
That's because backgrounds aren't solely the creation...
...of the artist who created them.
They were created to fill a need.
Backgrounds don't express the artist's inner world.
The viewer can easily relate to them.
That's a major characteristic of background art.
Animation backgrounds are only part of what Oga does.
He is active in many other areas.
Oga supplied lively illustrations...
...for Soseki Yamamoto's story, "Mouse Tempura".
In the story, a group of men try to swindle foxes and raccoons...
...by offering them mouse tempura in exchange for huge fish.
It's a story replete with natural beauty and humorous characters.
To transmit the experiences of atom bomb survivors...
...actress Sayuri Yoshinaga produced a CD titled "Second Movement".
The CD contains poems and recollections by survivors of the bombing.
"BAREFOOT GEN" BACKGROUND
...as well as the series of books based on it.
It was Yoshinaga's strong desire...
...to have Oga provide the illustrations.
"SECOND MOVEMENT: FROM NAGASAKI"
Oga's first work as director is "The Night of Taneyamagahara".
Oga presents Kenji Miyazawa's drama in traditional story card format.
Filled with heart-warming images, Oga's retelling...
...is a fresh approach to this famous story.
He's lonely and can't sleep.
People and birds, they're no different.
Kisuke and Kakko came already, and the mowing's done.
Oga's work beyond the realm of animation backgrounds...
...conveys the same feelings of peace and nostalgia.
This is something I like to point out to people.
See here? Those are dendrobium orchids.
It's a parasitic plant that grows around Mt. Takao.
You can see them in May and June.
I just added these on a whim. But no one notices them.
0ga's orchids are the product of attention to detail, a playful mind...
...and a deep attachment to the natural world.
These little flowers are the work of a quintessential image artisan.
What I try to do is create backgrounds...
...that do justice to the actual setting.
That includes natural phenomena...
...such as the wind blowing or snow falling.
I want my backgrounds to encompass all these things.
Kazuo Oga, Studio Ghibli's image artisan.
Oga has said...
”There are no fixed colors for plants or natural scenery. ”
In animation backgrounds yet to come...
...who knows what colors Kazuo Oga will discover?
Planning Toshio Suzuki
Written and directed by Maiko Yahata
Producers Toshikazu Sato, Chikashi Saito
Production TV MAN UNION
English subtitles by AURA
English translation by Jim Hubbert