Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement from feature films last year, and this Saturday he traveled to Los Angeles, California to receive an Honorary Academy Award from the Academy Board of Governors.
Miyazaki gave his brief acceptance speech in Japanese, but here’s a transcript of the interpreter’s words:
My wife tells me that I’m a very lucky man. And I think I’ve been lucky because I’ve been able to participate in the last era when we can make films with paper, pencil, and film. Another fact of luck is that my country has not been at war for the fifty years that I have been making films. Of course, we’ve profited from wars, but we’re very fortunate that we’ve not had to go to war ourselves. But my greatest luck is that I’ve been able to meat Miss Maureen O’Hara today. So I’ve been so happy in the field, so blessed with luck in my life.
Maureen O’Hara was on hand to receive her own Honorary Academy Award at the same ceremony. If you’d like, the Academy Award’s YouTube channel has also published John Lasseter’s much lengthier introduction of Miyazaki, in which the Pixar founder discusses the impact of Miyazaki’s work on him, both professionally and personally.
(via Anime News Network)
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