From Story to Animated Movies, Hayao Miyazaki’s Adaptative Method in Using Narrative Literature of Japan

The article investigates the adaptive method of Hayao Miyazaki in using Japanese narratives through his animation filmmaking based on James Dudley Andrew’s theory. Qualitative research method has been applied owing to the nature of the content and the type of analysis. In line with the research aim, the main question is how Miyazaki has adopted Japanese narrative literature in making his animated films (the case). Miyazaki’s admired animated movies were adopted from Japanese narratives. Accordingly, among which Spirited Away was analyzed as the case of the study. The results consist of fundamental points revealing his method of adaptation. Miyazaki has considered the full capacity of Japanese narrative literature and other adaptative approaches in developing drama, characterization, visual and audio elements of his films perfectly. Bringing up the ideas in this way, Miyazaki has created the main elements of narrative aligned with his cinematic expression. Not only did he adapt the texts of Japanese literature, but also benefited from the illustrations of the literary works. Miyazaki's style uncovers the various potentials of narrative sources for idea generation in storytelling, characterization as well as it reveals how to create successfully hit animated feature films. His method can be an effective strategy in making superior and adaptation Iranian filmmakers may consider in animation film production.