A Ghibli Artisan - Kazuo Oga Exhibition - The One Who Drew Totoro's Forest

The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, in Koto Ward.

During summer 2007, an exhibition of work...

...by Studio Ghibli's "image artisan" took place here.

His works were framed for the exhibit.

These works were originally backgrounds and art boards...

...used for scenes in animated films.

No characters appeared in these images.

Only the background for that scene was on display.

But each day the exhibition was thronged with visitors.

All of them came to see these "empty" backgrounds.

The exhibit ran for 66 days.

Over 200,000 people saw Oga's work during that period.

Visitors included people of all ages.

The museum staff were amazed at the crowds.

Most backgrounds are discarded after production is finished.

But these works found their way to an art museum, framed for display.

The artist: Kazuo Oga.

Did he ever dream his work would end up in a museum?

It never occurred to me.

Animation backgrounds and cels aren't meant to be preserved.

They're usually thrown away after the film is complete.

Animation background art is discarded every day.

Background art is the stage on which the characters interact.

Background art was thought to have little value in itself.

Among the works on display here...

...were many that Oga himself had saved.

Background art rarely survives.

But much of this art captured the hearts of audiences.

Kazuo Oga was art director for such Ghibli films...

...as "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Only Yesterday".

Oga's background art evokes feelings of nostalgia in audiences.

Now his backgrounds, which were only part of the finished animation...

...are drawing attention as artworks in themselves.

Oga works quietly behind the scenes at Studio Ghibli...

...creating backgrounds that move audiences.

Looking back on Oga's single-minded dedication to his art...

...we decided to call him Ghibli's "image artisan".

KAZUO OGA GHIBLl'S IMAGE ARTISAN The Artist Who Made Totoro's Forest

1972. Kazuo Oga was 20.

One day he saw a job listing for "people who like to draw".

And so he joined Kobayashi Production.

It was a company specializing in animation backgrounds.

It was here that Oga discovered...

...the profession of background artist.

At that stage, Oga actually had almost no training in art.

"THE ADVENTURE OF GAMBA"

He learned the techniques as he went along.

"THE CHAMPION"

It turned out that the paper for backgrounds...

...was about the size of the sketch pads I used in school.

I was doing backgrounds day after day.

I felt pretty lucky.

This is a background from ”The Giatrus, The First Man”.

Art director Shichiro Kobayashi...

...designed daringly abstract, abbreviated backgrounds for the series.

The style differs completely from Oga's recent work.

Shichiro Kobayashi is the founder of Kobayashi Production...

...where Oga started out.

Oga regards Kobayashi as his mentor.

What was his first impression of Oga?

SHICHIRO KOBAYASHI KOBAYASHI PRODUCTION

I suspected he had potential, that's all.

He had a delicate sensibility.

It was reflected in the way he handled straight lines.

That stood out at the time.

Not good for much at first, but I sensed he had huge potential.

But he was extremely sensitive.

In those days, the company was very busy with TV animation work.

Oga was exposed to a wide range of techniques.

I had to minimize detail to complete my work quickly.

I also learned which things to emphasize, to minimize detail.

The goal is to get the essential point across effectively.

No need to detail what people will overlook.

"THE CHAMPION" BACKGROUND ART

I learned a great deal about how to eliminate unneeded details.

Oga delivered everything I asked, and more.

The backgrounds he produced were extremely tidy.

His work had a consistently abstract touch.

His approach to images was efficient and skilled.

"HARMAGEDON" BACKGROUND

Art director Takamura Mukuo invited him to work on "Harmagedon".

Oga supplied backgrounds for several key scenes in the film.

He also supplied promotional artwork for the movie poster.

"HARMAGEDON" ILLUSTRATION

"DAGGER OF KAMUI" BACKGROUND

...and further developed his skills as a background artist.

Boundless blue sky, white snow.

Mighty boulders, crimson flowers.

These backgrounds reflect Oga's keen powers of observation.

They are glimpses of his future direction.

"Barefoot Gen".

Oga has accumulated a decade of experience.

Now he will serve as art director on an animated feature.

Oga made numerous trips to Hiroshima to scout locations...

...and used photographs of prewar Hiroshima to create his backgrounds.

But later, a friend who knew prewar Hiroshima saw the film...

...and told Oga that his backgrounds were not accurate.

I visited Hiroshima and used photographs of the old buildings...

...as reference for my backgrounds.

The material I had assembled turned out to be weak.

Looking back, I realize that I should have made more effort...

...to consult people who had clear memories of the prewar city.

"Time Stranger" was an animated version of Taku Mayumura's SF novel.

It tells the story of a boy from the future...

...and the teenagers who join his adventures through time.

The story spans past, present and future.

The characters experience World War II...

...the era of the Shogun, and Japan's ancient civil wars.

Oga's many detailed environments brought the past to life.

I thought the backgrounds would go more smoothly...

...if I worked out the settings thoroughly first.

I created a lot of images that weren't needed.

But I had a lot of fun.

As art director, Oga created detailed environments...

...based on extensive research and consultations with experts.

In the course of his work, he worked with many directors...

...on a diverse range of background art styles.

During this period, Oga worked on animated television series...

...and many short-turnaround features.

"WICKED CITY" BACKGROUND

All these backgrounds are from Oga's personal collection.

"HARMAGEDON" BACKGROUND

Permission to display these works...

...was readily granted by the production companies involved.

Their response is e testament to their respect for Oge.

Oga's first project for Studio Ghibli...

"MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO" (1988)

...was Hayao Miyazaki's "My Neighbor Totoro".

The place: the countryside outside Tokyo, in the late '50s.

An unpaved road winds through rice paddies.

Scenes like this were once common just outside the city.

Oga began working with Ghibli purely by accident.

"TOTORO" IMAGE BOARD

An art director for "Totoro" was urgently needed.

One day Oga received a call from director Hayao Miyazaki.

Miyazaki had a close relationship...

TOSHIO SUZUKI PRODUCER

...with an art director named Nizo Yamamoto.

That's how Miyazaki heard about Kazuo Oga.

Miyazaki assumed Oga would be suitable.

Miyazaki has this interesting trait.

You see, if Miyazaki trusts you...

...he assumes he can trust your friend.

TOTORO PRODUCTION TEAM

So Oga joined the "Totoro" production team.

Oga vividly recalls one of his early exchanges with Miyazaki.

Once the storyboard was done, I set to work on the backgrounds.

Miyazaki didn't present me with any difficult requirements.

So I assembled and checked a set of backgrounds for him to look at.

I think it was his first look at the backgrounds.

His reaction was, "So this is the best you can do?"

He wasn't really upset.

But for me, it was quite a shock.

Miyazaki asked Oga to pay close attention to rural landscapes.

To grasses, trees and flowers.

HAYAO MIYAZAKI SCOUTING LOCATIONS

IMAGE BOARD

Oga had received such guidance from a director.

I decided to go back and redo everything myself.

After that I checked all the backgrounds very closely.

Oga worked hard to capture every type of foliage...

...and the changing face of the landscape throughout the day.

The result was something rarely seen before in animation.

A clear summer sky.

An acorn, through a hole in a bucket.

The changing faces of clouds, moment to moment.

The house where sisters Satsuki and Mei and their father will live.

The house combines Japanese and Western elements.

This style of architecture was actually popular at the time.

BACKGROUND

The earthen-floored kitchen.

There is no plumbing. Water is drawn from a well.

Father's library, in the Western room of the house.

The wood-fired bath, heated from below.

Everything is bathed in warm light from the kitchen.

The scene is empty, but the image immediately brings to mind...

...z'he father and his daughters taking a bath.

The veranda, open to the outdoors.

One can almost feel the refreshing breeze...

...of a summer afternoon.

Someone from the neighborhood could drop by anytime.

These unlocked doors are a link to another time.

Oga based his realistic rendering on the house of a relative...

...in rural Gunma Prefecture.

Oga thought the house matched Miyazaki's storyboard concept.

He had his relative send photos of the house.

The way upstairs is steep and dark.

It looks like the gateway to another dimension.

Near the house stands a huge camphor tree.

It almost seems supernatural.

This is Totoro's home.

And here's the entrance.

Inside, the floor is carpeted with grass and flowers.

Everything is finely detailed.

Oga made the floor soft and spongy...

...so Mei would not hurt herself as she falls in.

Nature's face changes with each change in the light.

Depending on the weather and time of day...

...the same place can take on a completely different appearance.

Oga brilliantly depicts these changes in mood.