Makiko Futaki
Japanese animator known for Ghibli films and Akira.
Makiko Futaki (June 19, 1958 – May 13, 2016) was a Japanese animator whose career included key contributions to Studio Ghibli films such as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away. She also worked as a key animator on the cult classic Akira and on early projects with studio Gainax. Hayao Miyazaki praised her as a valuable and trustworthy artist.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 19 June 1958
- Birthplace
- Aichi, Japan
- Died
- 13 May 2016
- Place of death
- Koganei, Tokyo, Japan
- Occupation
- Author
- animator
- Illustrator
- Years active
- 1979–2014
- Employer
- Studio Ghibli (1981–2016)
Facts from the source article.
Career
Futaki first gained notice in college for cine-calligraphy films she showed at the amateur PAF Animation Festival, a technique involving scratching images onto 8-millimeter film. She began professionally with in-between animation on Hayao Miyazaki's directorial debut, Lupin the III: The Castle of Cagliostro, in 1979. After impressing Isao Takahata with her work on Jarinko Chie, she was recruited by Studio Ghibli in 1981. She contributed partial work to early Ghibli films while also working on other projects. Her key animation on Akira led Miyazaki to bring her on as a full-time staff member. She worked on every Ghibli film from 1998 onward, her final contribution being 2014's When Marnie Was There.
Artistic style and influences
Futaki's animation style reflected a particular interest in nature and empathy for animals. As a key animator, she created detailed frames for climactic moments, including facial expressions and complex action scenes. She animated the meeting between Mei and Totoro in My Neighbor Totoro, the rooftop meeting between Pazu and Sheeta in Castle in the Sky, and the opening scene in Kiki's Delivery Service. While she excelled at scenes of natural harmony for Ghibli, she also adapted her style for the Cyberpunk world of Akira. Barriers to her career included traditional expectations of women in Japan and her time-consuming, detailed approach to drawing frames. Miyazaki noted that the piecework payment structure made it difficult for her to be fairly compensated for her efforts.
Work outside of film
Miyazaki, normally opposed to animators taking side projects, made an exception for Futaki and encouraged her to pursue other mediums, believing her deep interest in the world could not be fully expressed through animation. She kept such work to a minimum. Her children's book The Tree in the Middle of the World (1989), written and illustrated solely by her, was inspired by a trip to Yakushima during research for My Neighbor Totoro. It took over a year to complete and has only been released outside Japan in an Italian edition from 2020. She was also one of three illustrators for the Moribito fantasy novel series by Nahoko Uehashi, alongside Miho Satake and Yuko Shimizu.
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