Studio Ghibli, the legendary Japanese animation studio known for its surreal and ecological tales, received an honorary Palme d’Or from the Cannes Film Festival on Monday.
This recognition marks the first time the award has been given to an entity rather than an individual filmmaker or actor. This year’s other recipients include George Lucas and Meryl Streep.
Hayao Miyazaki, the renowned director behind many of Ghibli’s masterpieces, expressed his surprise: “I don’t understand any of this, but thank you.”
The festival’s artistic director, Thierry Fremaux, captured the long-standing ovation given to Ghibli’s representatives, Goro Miyazaki (Hayao’s son) and Kenichi Yoda, on video to share with Miyazaki. Iris Knobloch, the festival president, presented the award, expressing gratitude for the studio’s magical contributions to cinema.
Instead of premiering a new film, the celebration featured four earlier shorts previously unseen outside Japan. Among them was “Mei and the Baby Cat Bus,” a sequel to the 1989 classic “My Neighbor Totoro,” which introduces a fleet of cat buses, including a mini Baby Cat Bus.
Other shorts included “Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess,” linked to the 2001 film “Spirited Away,” and two musical mini-adventures, “House Hunting” and “Boro the Caterpillar.”
This honor follows Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” winning the Academy Award for best animated film in March. A documentary on its creation, “Hayao Miyazaki and the Heron,” was also screened at Cannes.
Goro Miyazaki humorously recalled using a hotel towel to transport the Oscar home to his father and was relieved by the convenience of the Cannes prize’s box. Grinning, he said, “I’m reassured seeing the Palme d’Or was in a box.”
