And so begins the tale.

Fantasy and fable in Japanese animation isn't a new concept. It's been used repeatedly by many anime creators to help weave a tale of a simpler time. The time when technology as we know it didn't exist. A time when civilization was finally coming to be a dominant force in the world. A time when the world around us screamed in agony as the effects of man forever scarred the living landscape, never to be the same. It's a time when knights and sorcerers ruled the land. A time when myth and legend held more reality than reality itself. And in Japan, it was a time when the Samurai held fast to its control over the Japanese people.

Those times long past have always called to the heart of the human spirit. They help us think back to that simpler time. In anime, there are plenty of reminders of that time. Director and storyteller Shouji Kawamori introduced us to a new world in The Vision of Escaflowne, where knights fought bravely to defend good or evil. Sorcery and magic took us on the adventure through a cursed land ravaged by evil in Record of Lodoss War. But no one in the history of anime has shown the true struggle in those fantasy worlds better then Hayao Miyazaki.

Miyazaki has taken the fantasy anime tale to a level never before attained by any anime creator. He was always on the cutting edge of storytelling innovation, always willing to leave the stereotypical anime story behind and present us with something that would make you think and look inside yourself. He presents no answers, but definitely provides us all with questions that don't necessarily have any set solutions. He effectively shows us how something as simple as respect for the environment is a concept that transcends time. It is those timeless concepts that make Miyazaki's films more than just typical anime.

The use of mythology and fantasy has been a recurring theme in Miyazaki-san's work and can be seen through the works of Studio Ghibli, the animation studio he had founded with fellow director Takahata Isao and publishing company Tokuma Shoten. Yet another theme found in Ghibli films is the never-ending battle between man and the environment around us, a battle, it seems, neither side will win. This is the basis for the film that brought in over $150 million at the Japanese box offices and is the highest grossing domestic Japanese motion picture of all time, Mononoke Hime.