Japanese animation giant Studio Ghibli on Monday received an honorary Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes film festival for contributing to the genre's creativity through global hits such as "Spirited Away," marking the first time an institution was awarded rather than an individual.
"Alongside the Hollywood greats, the Japanese studio embodied by two superb storytellers, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and a host of cult characters, has unleashed a fresh wind on animated film over the past four decades," the organizer said in a statement.
The studio was launched by the pair in 1985, following the success the previous year of "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind," directed by Miyazaki -- who would go on to win two Oscars, including for "Spirited Away" -- and produced by Takahata, his confidant and rival.
"We've received this award thanks to fans all over the world who love our works," Goro Miyazaki, Hayao's oldest son, said on stage in Cannes, accepting the festival award along with a standing ovation from the crowd.
"We've taken this award as a message to us, 'Do a good job in the coming 40 years, too,'" said the younger Miyazaki, himself a film director.
Hayao appeared in a video message that was played during the ceremony, saying, "Thank you very much."
The festival screened four short animation pieces written and directed by the elder Miyazaki that are shown at the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka in western Tokyo, including "Mei and the Baby Cat Bus" and "Boro the Caterpillar."
Goro Miyazaki told reporters after the ceremony, "I presume that the studio has been recognized as a group of craftspersons rather than a business."
He said he has been surprised to see Ghibli films gain such a remarkable following outside Japan since streaming services like Netflix began distributing them in 2020. "We didn't expect our films to be that popular," he said.
Ghibli's latest anime, "The Boy and the Heron," received a U.S. Academy award this year, the elder Miyazaki's second. Although the studio co-founder had announced his retirement in 2013, he began his latest work in 2017.
"We have no idea" what will happen to Ghibli in the future, Goro said.
As Hayao, 83, and the studio's 75-year-old producer Toshio Suzuki still have the final say on important decisions, Goro said jokingly, "We can think about the matter (of Ghibli's fate) from scratch after they are gone."
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