Considered by many, including Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, to be the driving force behind the creation of Studio Ghibli, Toshio Suzuki is one of Japan’s most successful and acclaimed producers. It was he who encouraged Miyazaki (in his capacity as editor of Animage magazine, upon writing an article on the director), to create and publish his Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind manga, and helped to adapt it into an anime, which itself is considered the forefather preceding the later work of Ghibli. He backed up some of the harder sells of the company (he got Miyazaki’s My Neighbour Totoro and Takahata’s Grave Of The Fireflies made and released in 1988 by proposing them to distributors as a double feature) and was the producer behind Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, to date the only Japanese animated film to one the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Not only that, he put his production clout behind helping bring projects by Kunihiko Yuyama, Mamoru Oshii and Hideaki Anno to fruition. Despite retiring as a producer in 2014, no doubt he will continue to be a driving force in the industry in his new role as Ghibli’s General Manager.
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