Hayao Miyazaki and Pixar's John Lasseter chat at San Diego's Comic-Con

by Chris MaGee

It wasn't just all about Shinya Tsukamoto at San Diego's recent Comic-con. As we reported at the end of June animation master Hayao Miyazaki had been convinced by friend John Lasseter to extend his rare U.S. visit to California where he received the Berkeley Japan Prize from the Center for Japanese Studies at the University of California, Berkeley on July 25th, and make it over to Comic-Con to greet fans and discuss his latest film "Ponyo".

Ghibli World, the repository for all things Miyazaki online, has video footage of the on stage chat between Lasseter and Miyazaki at Comic-Con which features the "Princess Mononoke" and "Spirited Away" director discussing his storyboarding process, his inspiration for "Ponyo", and of greatest interest to me, his longtime working relationship with composer Joe Hisaishi. Enjoy!