Hayao Miyazaki as the Guardian of the Forest "Totoro" - the hero of one of his cartoons. Author Ekaterina Steponaitis

Our story about a sand battle on the theme “Mythology of the Arctic” had an unexpected continuation.

The theme of the next competition in the SAND ACTIVE community is chosen by popular vote from the options proposed by the winners. The theme for the March sand painting competition is “The Universe of Hayao Miyazaki.” Therefore, of course, “Plasticine Mytaho” could not ignore such a manifestation of interest in the work of the greatest animation wizard currently active.

By the way, important information on the status of the event. Sand artist Elena Chausova (Brest, Belarus) tells:

- Both artists from Germany and artists from Ukraine previously took part in the battle. Here I am from Belarus, Olya Radetskaya from Belarus, Alena Epanchitseva from Belarus, Olga Zaritskaya from Chisinau (Moldova). So yes, this is an international event.

In addition, Svetlana Chekanova, a wonderful sand artist from the Flea Market theater, is in charge of all organizational issues - straight from Mexico, glory to the Internet!

Russian poster for the film 君たちはどう生きるか/ "The Boy and the Bird" (2023)

To be honest, Miyazaki is such an icon for animators and viewers all over the world who are in love with this branch of cinema that it is unthinkable to find any new words to represent the master and his masterpieces. It’s good that the upcoming 62nd battle of sand artists coincides with the festive procession around the planet of the premiere of “The Boy and the Bird,” another feature film by Hayao Miyazaki (who promised the day before to retire and not film anything else). Fortunately, he has now changed his mind and has already started working on a new thing.

Personally, I am impressed by several coincidences. Firstly, March is traditionally a women's month, and Miyazaki is known for celebrating the feminine as the focus of the magical. I won’t draw here the entire gallery of his amazing female characters; I think we’ll see many of them in the sand battle paintings.

Secondly, Miyazaki’s love for the planet and reverent attitude towards nature is a cross-cutting theme in all his works. And it seems to me that such a natural material as sand is an amazing thing for declaring love to the Master.

And, most importantly, of course, the anti-war motives of his cartoons are more relevant today than ever.

While ideas for paintings are ripening, we formulate our respects in words:

Yubaba. "Spirited Away" Author - Anna Balyabina

Anna Balyabina (Moscow, Russia):

- I really love all the works of Studio Ghibli. Briefly about Hayao Miyazaki, I’ve been watching his anime since childhood and rewatching it often. My favorite film of his is Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. I love him for his thoughts of pacifism, feminism and respect for nature. Top.

There is also an observation. I turn on his anime in the background, late at night, when I'm working on a project and panicking about deadlines. It helps you tune in to a calm creative wave. Very inspiring. Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away are suitable for this.

Please note that stories about the master of hand-drawn animation encourage sandboxers to reveal the secrets of their creative laboratories, which I find very interesting and valuable.

Ekaterina Simacheva (Zarechny, Sverdlovsk region, Russia)

- Hayao Miyazaki always surprised me with plots where there are no clichés and where there is a lot of originality, I have never seen anything like this except his works. Even taking a live cat-bus from the cartoon “My Neighbor Totoro” - how can you come up with such a thing?! These are films about another world, the world of childhood, children's perception, invented. Goodness and comfort from his stories always fill your soul.

Larisa Shipunova (Omsk, Russia)

- I remembered how many emotions “Howl’s Moving Castle” alone evoked! We watched these films with our children when they were younger, and recently re-watched them with our adult daughter. Our son got us hooked on anime, he grew up, but I didn’t))).

By the way, it was Larisa who proposed the theme “The Universe of Hayao Miyazaki” for the sand battle. And it provoked an important conversation among the participants about children and that it was time to actively involve them in the battle. I will add that our family had approximately the same story. And we, too, have all grown up, but managed to become animators in one form or another and continue to maintain strong ties with animation. And this is living proof of a banal idea: animation is an extraordinary art that brings people of all ages together.

So, sand artists prepare their works-gifts for the audience. And I remind everyone interested that the album “The Universe of Hayao Miyazaki” in sand version will be released to the public on March 14th. Follow our materials on the topic!

Ekaterina Steponaitis

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The first international arctic battle of sand artists 2024