The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness

About the movie

The documentary delves into the life of Hayao Miyazaki and the productions of the animated films The Wind Rises and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, including various footage of said productions. The footage shown includes the choosing of Hideaki Anno as the voice actor for the character Jiro Horikoshi in The Wind Rises as well as the extensive and detailed amount of storyboarding sketched, inked, and painted by Miyazaki. It notes Miyazaki's opinions on subjects such as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and Zero planes, and shows his tensions with some of the other staff, including Isao Takahata, and his memories of his father. The film illustrates the importance of Miyazaki, Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki's works all together to help Studio Ghibli be successful, and concludes with mention of Miyazaki's supposed official retirement.