Spoiler alert! According to the Wall Street Journal, legendary Japanese filmmaker and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki will receive an honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in November.
This will mark the second Oscar on Miyazaki’s mantle, the first of which was for his 2001 film Spirited Away, which took home Best Animated Feature Film. Here’s an official statement from the Academy about Miyazaki’s award:
“Miyazaki is an artist, writer, director, producer and three-time Oscar nominee in the Animated Feature Film category, winning in 2002 for Spirited Away. His other nominations were for Howl’s Moving Castle in 2005 and The Wind Rises last year. Miyazaki gained an enormous following in his native Japan for such features as Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service before breaking out internationally in the late 1990s with Princess Mononoke. He is the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, a renowned animation studio based in Tokyo.”
Other recipients of the award this year are screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière (The Tin Drum), and actress Maureen O’Hara (Miracle on 34th Street, How Green Was My Valley). The awards will be given at the Academy’s 6th annual Governors Awards on Saturday November 8.
