Remembering Michiyo Yasuda, The Woman Behind Studio Ghibli’s Vivid Colours

Michiyo Yasuda, the Tokyo-born animator and colour designer who worked on nearly every Studio Ghibli project worth mentioning, has passed away at age 77 after a prolonged illness. While you might not know her by name, Yasuda was a celebrity in the world of animation. The veteran head of Ghibli’s colour department had worked with the studio since its inception in the 1980s.

Yasuda began her career at animation studio Toei Dega as a teenager, where she met Ishao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. She would continue to collaborate with them for the next 40 years, quickly adapting to digital painting technology and creating some of the most strikingly vivid scenes in contemporary cinema.

It’s safe to say that without Yasuda, Ghibli films would look and feel totally different. She was responsible for the dazzling, delicately rendered colour palettes in some of the most acclaimed animated movies ever made, including Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbour Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Ponyo. The prolific colour designer—who was working up until she succumbed to her illness—was also responsible for short films, animated television shows, and music videos.

Yasuda’s life became the subject of a popular book in Japan, Yasuko Shibagushi’s “The Colour Artisan of Animation”. She also gave extensive insights into her creative process in an interview with the LA Times back in 2009, where she explained how colour was as integral to a film as its dialogue

"Colour has a meaning, and it makes the film more easily understood,” she told her interviewer.

Rest in peace.

Related:

Here's a Powerful Tribute to Studio Ghibli's Badass Heroines You Can Now Build Your Own Mini Miyazaki Sets

'Kiki's Delivery Service' Is Going to Be a Play