Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki

New to Blu-ray/DVD from Shout Factory! and GKids is the independent documentary on Animator Hayo Miyazaki. "Never Ending Man Hayo Miyazaki."

There's an old saying in Hollywood: "Don't meet your heroes." In the case of this documentary on animator Hayo Miyazaki, the saying holds: He comes off bitter and disinterested. He shows his desire to continue creating, criticizes the studio system and the marketing of his films, but has no acceptance that this is what allowed him to do his work in the first place.

The taskmaster is shown in his early to latter days as a diligent punisher to his animators. Miyazaki announced his retirement in 2013 to a shocked world of fans; the studio Ghibli offices are shown as abandoned. In 2015, we see him with a new interest in a short film idea with which he and his new batch of Japanese Millennials take occupancy. We witness his struggle with learning and accepting the world of CGI (Computer Generated Imagery), and it's heartbreaking to watch.

All that said, this doc does a poor job at showing us why Miyazaki made the decisions he made as a creator. There is barely any reflection shown on his past achievements, which saddens me. He comes off as defeated from the start, mentioning his inevitable mortality with sentences like "I'm old I'll be dead soon." Watching him try to operate the CGI computer and manipulate his new team of animators work is as frustrating as one might find helping their tech-deficient grandfather work an iPad.

The most frustrating thing about this documentary is that there is no payoff for the viewer. We spend 90 minutes learning about Miyazaki's desire to embrace CGI technology and never learn if the project was completed. It's not even offered as a bonus feature on the Blu-ray/DVD. We see that Miyazaki makes the decision to delve back into hand-drawn feature animation, but there's no payoff as to where he is in the process. I can't even warn you about spoilers, because the film never tells us anything. Its climax never resolves. Bonus Features include: An alternate 48-Minute Version With English Narration And New Footage, and Theatrical Trailers.

Time can be better spent learning more about this man and his art by actually watching the films he brought to the world. The Totoro series is heartwarming; "Howl's Moving Castle" is exhilarating; and so many more films have mind-boggling creative imagery, which is why they translate to American viewers as well. For a documentary with one of the greatest storytellers in animated film as its prime subject, "Never Ending Man" draws a poorly illustrated contribution at telling his story.

"Never Ending Man: Hayo Miyazaki"
Blu-ray/DVD
$18.97
https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/never-ending-man-hayao-miyazaki?product_id=7027