Fresh off winning Best Independent Animated Feature at last Saturday’s Annie Awards, Mirai writer/director Mamoru Hosoda is heading to the Oscars. This visionary film is a well-deserved Best Animated Feature nominee.

Mirai was my favorite animated film of last year – and #2 on my 10 Best Films of 2018 list. When I told this to Hosoda, he was thrilled and wanted to know what my #1 movie of 2018 was. When I told him Mary Poppins Returns he immediately responded (in English): “Mary Poppins! That’s great!”

We then dove deep into Mirai, a film that provides an abundance of emotional depth when it comes to family, life and legacy. This interview was conducted with a translator:

Jackson Murphy: Where does a story like this come from?

Mamoru Hosoda: The two children in “Mirai” are based on my own two children. I wanted to depict realistic children in animation. You know how animation tends to depict children in a certain way – they have a formula? But.. watching my children made me realize, “Oh, this is how children act realistically.” So that’s what I wanted to put in the movie.

JM: This is a very grounded story. Tell me about the balance of keeping the story grounded but also taking things into such a fantastical world?

MH: Anime children who are characterized – they’re likable by adults. Those tend to be the typical animated children. But actual children, I found them more interesting. They say interesting things because they see the world in a completely different way from adults. That’s where I got my fantasy ideas from.

JM: This movie is about family history and genealogy. What did you personally learn more about your family and your family history in the making of “Mirai”?

MH: Because the film has a 4-year-old as the main character, you would think, “Wow. They just started their life. How could you create a story about a 4-year-old because they just started their life? They don’t have much to say. But what’s really important is that I wanted my children – or any children who watch this film – to have a sense and get the chance to see what life is all about, even though they’ve only lived a few years. I also wanted my children to see how my life was like. And I also wish I had the chance to see what my parents’ lives were like. That’s really where I got the idea for the film, and that’s how the film is set up.

JM: I really think families should watch “Mirai” annually. I think it should be required viewing – parents and kids will get so much out of it. What have parents told you about “Mirai”? What have their reactions been over these last several months?

MH: Like I said about anime depicting good children, anime also depicts good parents. They’re a little perfect. They only think about their children. They’re very different from realistic parents. I really made a point of depicting realistic parents – parents who just became parents. They constantly make mistakes and are still learning. They’re still in the process. So a lot of parents said that the film is very relatable. They’ve never seen parents depicted that way. And I also… wanted to try and remind everyone that parents used to be children, and their parents used to be children. So when children watch this film, they’ll learn that “my parents used to be kids too”. Or parents could say, “I used to be a kid too, so I understand.” I would be really happy if, like you said, families could watch this annually.

JM: I love the opening song to the movie. I can’t stop listening to it on YouTube. What did you want conveyed through that song to audiences?

MH: I think the song is very catchy. It makes you want to hum along, right? Or sing along if you know the lyrics. What I really wanted to convey in this opening theme song to the audience is that there’s a fun world waiting for you. I wanted the song to draw you into this fun world where the children would have a lot of fun. So that’s really what I requested.

JM: One of the sequences that blew me away is the look of the train station. Your attention to detail is amazing. Did you visit train stations for specific details to get that scene right?

MH: I think children get lost a lot. When I was a kid, I used to get lost a lot too. And when you get lost, it’s really scary. The world turns into a scary, big place. What especially depicts a scary, large area is a train station. There are a lot of people rushing through. And so, for the train station in my movie, I checked out various locations – Paris and London train stations. And I researched a lot of them. But the biggest inspiration I got for the train station is the Orsay Museum. And the reason why it works so well is that museum used to be a train station. It looks like a train station… it feels like a train station, but it’s right now. So I think that space works really well for this big Tokyo station that would look really scary.

JM: So we’re in the midst of an exciting awards season. What does the Oscar nomination mean to you?

MH: “Mirai” came about when I was interacting with my children – spending time with them. I found out for the first time that it brings such joy and happiness to my life. I know this is a very personal movie to me, and of course I was surprised and honored to be nominated. But… maybe this personal experience of this movie: people find it relatable, and they find joy in it too. If that’s true, then I’m really happy that people related to it.

JM: You say it brings you so much joy. Would you ever consider visiting these characters again… with another project down the line?

MH: (laughs) I think with all my characters, because they’re characters, they live on in each world. Kun and Mirai are living in their own world. The children who became models for Kun and Mirai, my children, they’re now 6 years old and 3 years old. In the movie, they’re 4 and 0 years old. They’ve grown up. You never know. Because they’re going to continue to grow, they’re going to continue to be in my life – they might appear in a different movie. So I hope you can look forward to that.

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Jackson Murphy

Jackson Murphy is a movie critic and entertainment columnist. He is the creator of the website Lights-Camera-Jackson.com, and has made numerous appearances on television and radio.

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