Studio Ghibli Honorary Palme d’or of the 77th Festival de Cannes

The 77th Festival de Cannes is delighted to celebrate Studio Ghibli, legendary Japanese animation studio. On Monday, May 20, at 3.30pm, film director and Creative Development Director of the Ghibli Park Gorō Miyazaki, Hayao Miyazaki’ son, will take to the stage of the Grand Théâtre Lumière to receive the Honorary Palme d’or, on behalf of the entire Studio Ghibli including the Ghibli Museum, Mitaka and Ghibli Park, from Festival President Iris Knobloch and General Delegate Thierry Frémaux.

During the ceremony, four short films written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of the Studio with Toshio Suzuki and Isao Takahata, will be screened. An unprecedented event, three of the four short films straight from the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka have never been screened outside of Japan.

Mei and the Baby Cat Bus

Mei to Koneko Basu

Length 13 minutes 43 seconds

Original story, screenplay and directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Music Joe Hisaishi

Mei is eating a caramel on one very windy day, when suddenly a whirlwind appears and starts chasing her. The whirlwind turns out to be a baby cat bus. Mei offers the kitten a caramel and the two become friends. That night, the baby cat bus visits Mei. Letting Mei ride inside him, he leaps out into the sky. They head for the midnight forest full of ghosts. Other cat buses large and small have also gathered together. In the forest, Mei encounters…

This work is a mini-sequel to the film My Neighbor Totoro.

House Hunting

Yado-sagashi

Length 12 minutes 11 seconds

Original story, screenplay and directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Fuki packs all her needs in a big rucksack, and sets out on a journey to look for a new house. After going through the car-jammed city, she finds a stone Jizo statue on an old, narrow path. Fuki places an apple as an offering to ask for passage and walks on. On her way, she encounters the river guardian Nurari-Hyotan, the shrine guardian Ushi-Oni, and other strange creatures one after another. What will Fuki do now?

This work was created focusing on the rich onomatopoeia used in the Japanese language. Lettering is animated on the screen, and all sound effects were created using the human voice.

Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess

Pandane to Tamago-hime

Length 11 minutes 37 seconds

Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Music Joe Hisaishi

In a lonesome water mill deep in a forest of briers and brambles lives a witch named Baba Yaga. There the witch keeps her servant the Egg Princess confined and forces the tiny egg-girl to do all the hard daily chores around the mill. One night, a large batch of kneaded dough resting in a trough suddenly comes to life from the witch’s spell. Fearful of the witch, the Egg Princess and her new friend decide to run away. What will lay ahead for the two of them…?

The story unfolds under the spell of Joe Hisaishi’s arrangement of Antonio Vivaldi’s La Folia.

Boro the Caterpillar

Kemushi no Boro

Length 14 minutes 20 seconds

Original story, screenplay and directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Music Joe Hisaishi

Just before dawn, Boro the Caterpillar hatched from an egg among patches of scrub grass. Looking around for the first time in fascination, he noticed the brilliance of the morning sun and a deliciousness in the air. As the sun lights up the grove, the borogiku (groundsel) leaves began to photosynthesize. “The air and water taste great!” Boro stepped out into the world of caterpillars’ friends and foes.

Computer graphics and hand-drawn animation were combined to create a world seen through the eyes of an insect, and all sound effects were provided by the voice of Tamori.