The reigning king of Eastern animation and head of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki is responsible for some of the greatest and best-loved animated films of the past 30 years: My Neighbour Totoro, Porco Rosso, Howl's Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke among many others were all directed by Japan's equivalent of Walt Disney. Predictably, Miyazaki wasn't always a revered animator: he worked as an artist for Toei animation and on his manga stories for many years before he got the chance to direct his first feature, The Castle of Cagliostro. Among his comic works were an adaptation of Puss in Boots and an original series, People of the Desert, which was a precursor to Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, the first Ghibli feature anime and also Miyazaki's major manga work, having been produced both before and after the film's release and greatly expanding the characters, themes and world of the story. Miyazaki has continued to produce manga while simultaneously maintaining Studio Ghibli as a titan of the animation world and most recently adapted his 2009 manga The Wind Rises into what he claims will be his last film as director. But, y'know, he's claimed that with other films, so I'll take that with a pinch of salt.
