Review of “What the Scenario Means to Me” (1989)
Miyazaki Hayao (writer).
Read in Starting Point.
A vision of undemocratic collective organization in setting the contents of animation. Miyazaki asserts that anybody should be allowed to change the scenario in an ongoing production, but must argue for it, convincing others first. Creative control is therefore a matter of social “strength”.
As something of a coda, without actually illustrating his own thesis, the author describes the process of finalizing scenarios for “Panda! Go Panda!” (1972), Conan, the Boy in Future (1978), Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro (1979) and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984).
References here: Castle in the Sky (1986), “The World of Anime and the Scenario” (1995), Starting Point: 1979–1996 (1996/2009), “So, Where Do We Go From Here?” (2002).