2022 - Enter Hayao Miyazaki's Enchanting Animated World at the Academy Museum - Creator of Studio Ghibli (MUST SEE) This Event Ends: June 5, 2022NEW

See Hayao Miyazaki's unprecedented retrospective of legendary filmmaker for the first time outside of Japan.  The first of its kind in North America.  Hayao Miyazaki's is co-founder of Studio Ghibli.  Films include: My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Ponyo (22 films)

Photo Credits: Mother Tree from Academy Museum of Motion Pictures inaugural exhibition “Hayao Miyazaki.” (Sherry Huang / Academy Museum Foundation)

Hayao Miyazaki, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
The 11,000-square-foot exhibition event includes images of Miyazaki's big-eyed, innocent-looking children and creatures, flying castles, tree houses and lush forests. Visitors enter Miyazaki's enchanted world through an tunnel made of green fabric. It's meant to evoke a magical "tree tunnel" inhabited by mystical wood spirits, a portal featured in his animated film My Neighbor Totoro (1988). The tunnel leads to the first gallery room, where scenes from his 11 animated features are projected on the walls.

Also on display is a wooden desk from Miyazaki's animation studio, and many of his hand-drawn character sketches (he started off as a manga artist). There are storyboards and other material from his films such Princess Mononoke (1997), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) and the Oscar-winning coming-of-age film Spirited Away (2001). Inside glass cases are Miyazaki's two Oscars statuettes.

The Exhibition 
The exhibition event portrays the creative mind of an auteur and philosopher who for more than 50 years has expressed his ideas across a broad and imaginative filmography. From the heart-warming My Neighbor Totoro (1988) to the mystical, Academy Award®-winning Spirited Away (2001) and beyond, the retrospective incorporates all of Miyazaki’s animated feature films into a series of immersive environments that offer a journey both educational and experiential.

Hayao Miyazaki is thematically organized into seven sections. Visitors enter through the Tree Tunnel gallery, created to evoke the young character Mei’s path to discovery in Totoro; Creating Characters introduces Miyazaki’s many protagonists; Making Of illustrates the filmmaker’s early career and the founding of Studio Ghibli, as well as the process of producing an animated feature film such as Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984).

The Creating Worlds section includes the immersive Sky View installation and captures the contrast between beautiful, natural environments and industrial settings often featured in Miyazaki’s movies; Transformations explores the metamorphoses his characters and settings often experience; the Magical Forest gallery, with its Mother Tree installation, highlights the interconnectedness of humans, nature, and the spiritual worlds; and a Spirited Away-inspired portal moves visitors gently from Miyazaki’s world back to the real one.

Accompanying Hayao Miyazaki is a 256-page, richly illustrated catalogue published by the Academy Museum and DelMonico Books, now available at the Academy Museum Store. It includes a foreword by Toshio Suzuki, essays by Pete Docter, Daniel Kothenschulte, and Jessica Niebel, and the artist’s filmography.

For the length of its run, the exhibition will be supported with film screenings in both English and Japanese in the museum’s state-of-the-art theaters, public programs, and unique Studio Ghibli merchandise for sale at the museum store.

Hayao Miyazaki is presented by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in collaboration with Studio Ghibli. It is organized by Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Exhibition Curator Jessica Niebel and Assistant Curator J. Raúl Guzmán. Technology solutions generously provided by Christie, and major support comes from the Arthur and Gwen Hiller Memorial Fund. This exhibition also is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture. In-kind airfare provided by All Nippon Airways. Special thanks to the Japan Foundation for their partnership.

Museum Event Dates
Sept 30, 2021 - June 5, 2022

Museum:  Open 7 days per week, 365 days per year

Event Hours
10:00 am - Closing (hours may vary)

Event Tickets
Click - How to get into the museum   

Timed admission tickets to the Academy Museum are now on sale. Advance reservations must be made online. A ticket will be required to visit the Academy Museum’s exhibitions: Stories of Cinema, Hayao Miyazaki, The Path to Cinema: Highlights from the Richard Balzer Collection, Backdrop: An Invisible Art, and The Pixar Toy Story 3D Zoetrope. The Oscars® Experience requires a special ticket, as do programs and screenings. The public may also visit the Academy Museum Store and Fanny’s restaurant and café.

Museum Exhibitions Event by Floor (Museum has 5 Floors)

Floor 4: https://www.academymuseum.org/en/exhibitions/hayao-miyazaki 

Floors 1, 2, 3, 5: https://www.academymuseum.org/en/exhibitions  

Academy Museum Tips
Parking on 6th street
Museum will be busy on the weekends
There is a nice cafe you can get food
Hayao Miyazaki Exhibit: 6 giant rooms, also 6 giant screens showing his movies
Original drawings, story board art work is inspirational
No photos are allowed in this exhibit.
Go visit the gift shop.
Go visit the rooftop for a stunning view of Los Angeles Basin.
Allow plenty of time.

There are other floors in the Museum you can see, allow plenty of time.

Bring comfortable shoes. 

There is a lot to do in this area
1) MOCA Museum - The Museum of Contemporary Art
2) La Brea Tar Pits and Museum - Only active Ice Age excavation site (thousands of animal bones dated 40,000 years ago)
3) Public Art "Urban Light" - Street Lamps (See at night)
4) Peterson Automotive Museum - classic hot rods and concept cars