I Wanted To Convey The Message To

Whenever Someone Creates Something With All Of Their Heart, Then That Creation Is Given A Soul.

In My Grandparents' Time, It Was Believed That Spirits Existed Everywhere - In Trees, Rivers, Insects, Wells, Anything. My Generation Does Not Believe This, But I Like The Idea That We Should All Treasure Everything Because Spirits Might Exist There, And We Should Treasure Everything Because There Is A Kind Of Life To Everything.

[on The Future Of Hand-drawn Animation] I'm Actually Not That Worried. I Wouldn't Give Up On It Completely. Once In A While There Are Strange, Rich People Who Like To Invest In Odd Things. You're Going To Have People In The Corners Of Garages Making Cartoons To Please Themselves. And I'm More Interested In Those People Than I Am In Big Business.

Many Of My Movies Have Strong Female Leads - Brave, Self-sufficient Girls That Don't Think Twice About Fighting For What They Believe In With All Their Heart. They'll Need A Friend, Or A Supporter, But Never A Savior. Any Woman Is Just As Capable Of Being A Hero As Any Man.

The Characters Are Born From Repetition, From Repeatedly Thinking About Them. I Have Their Outline In My Head. I Become The Character And As The Character I Visit The Locations Of The Story Many, Many Times. Only After That I Start Drawing The Character, But Again I Do It Many, Many Times, Over And Over. And I Only Finish Just Before The Deadline.