Laputa – Totoro – Ponyo: Postmodern narrative of childhood in three anime from Miyazaki

Abstract

This research aims to examine the postmodern narrative of childhood through the following animated films by the Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki: Laputa – Castle in the Sky, released in 1986; My neighbor Totoro, released in 1988; and Ponyo, released in 2008. The characters in the cartoons are all in their early childhood. The task is not an easy one: it is not possible to make an objective analysis of Japanese culture with a Western mindset, so our research is as much a cultural analysis as a visual one.