Goro Miyazaki carries a surname that weighs more than a lead Totoro. As the son of master Hayao, he has chosen not to replicate him. His cinema explores social dramas and conflicts between generations, setting aside rampant fantasy to focus on a nostalgic and human realism. From From Up on Poppy Hill to Tales from Earthsea, he seeks a balance between family legacy and his own voice.
The leap to CGI without losing the artisanal soul 🎨
Goro does not shy away from technology. In Ronja, the Robber's Daughter, his series for Ghibli, he bet on 3D animation that many purists viewed with suspicion. But the result was not a simple technical experiment: he managed to make CGI preserve the warmth of traditional drawing, with textures reminiscent of watercolor. His approach is practical: using modern tools to solve narrative problems, not to show off. Thus, social drama and landscapes acquire a texture that neither pure 2D nor pure 3D could achieve on their own.
The prodigal son who cooks without his father's recipe 🍳
Being Miyazaki's heir must be like receiving a Ferrari with the instruction manual in ancient Japanese. Goro knows this, and that's why he prefers to crash with dignity rather than copy the journey. While his father made castles fly, he prefers to show how a society rots. And although Tales from Earthsea earned him more criticism than praise, at least he proved he is not afraid to mess up in style. After all, he can always say: Dad, at least I don't need a magical forest to tell a story.