All great artists get their start somewhere. Likewise, every great movie director has his or her first film. The one where they cut their teeth and show the world what they are potentially capable of. There are some remarkable first-time feature films from directors: Duel by Steven Spielberg, Who’s that Knocking at My Door by Martin Scorsese, Perfect Blue by Satoshi Kon, and Monster by Patty Jenkins, sometimes a first film is so noteworthy that you can feel the potential radiating from the screen. While Hayao Miyazaki is considered the greatest anime director of all time (and even one of the greatest directors in the world) he had to have a first film as well.

That first film he directed was not a box office success, but it was so beloved that it opened many doors. Those doors would eventually lead to him directing some of the most successful anime films of all time, which shows just how important a good first film can be. While the movie helped pave the way for Miayazki to become a household name, it was almost kept from most of the world due to a frustrating legal situation that could have prevented millions of people from seeing it.

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Miyazaki’s Humble Origins

Frustrated Miyazaki in interview.

Before he was a film director, Hayao Miyazaki was an animator mostly doing in-between animation for children’s anime. Along with his friend Isao Takahata, he would frequently be at an animators desk drawing cels for shows like Anime Treasure Island, The Wonderful World of Puss ‘n Boots, and Gulliver’s Travels Beyond the Moon (yes, this is a real anime). While he would be the second of the two to begin his career in animation, he eventually got his big break when he was made one of two primary directors of the original Lupin III TV series.

While he didn’t direct every episode of the show, after episode 9 he and Takahata were the primary directors of the show. They made changes to the source material and put their own spin on the character, which resulted in the show being warmly received by adult audiences who appreciated the sophisticated storytelling found in the series. While they would largely move on from the franchise for the second series, the work was impressive enough to warrant Toho assigning Miyazaki the task of directing a Lupin III film of his own.

His First Feature Film

The Castle of Cagliostro, Lupin III

By the time Lupin III became a household name, it was decided it was time to bring the gentleman thief to the big screen. While the first film – Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamo – was a fun romp, critics and audiences felt the film was just a longer TV episode that wasn’t good enough to justify paying to see it on the big screen. Producers took this to heart and approached Miyazaki to direct the second film, which they entrusted him to write as well in hopes of creating an adventure that audiences felt was worthy of being a big-screen adventure.

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Miyazaki was up to the challenge and delivered Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro. While the film was considered a box office disappointment, people who did see the film praised it for being a vast improvement from the last movie and agreed that it WAS worth paying for! Miyazaki would return to direct a couple more episodes of Lupin III: The Second Series, however, he wouldn’t be there for long, as a writer for Animag magazine named Suzuki Toshio would reach out to the director for an article, which would result in a lifelong working partnership at a new studio named Studio Ghibli.

Lupin III Castle of Cagliostro bride Clarisse and Lupin

When Miyazaki and Suzuki started working on their first Studio Ghibli films, Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro would catch the attention of filmmakers and animators over the world (like Steven Spielberg and John Lassetter), and serious attempts would be made to bring it over. However, there was a surprising legal hurdle when it came time to translate the movie: Lupin III was an illegal character outside of Japan. When the character premiered as an underground manga in Japan, its author and creator Monkey Punch based the character on Arsene Lupin, a noble French thief by author Maurice Leblanc. While the Japanese considered the creation of Lupin III fair use, the LeBlanc estate considered it copyright infringement.

As a result, any attempt to bring Lupin III anywhere outside of Japan was met with swift legal action. When Streamline Pictures wanted to import the film they were met with the same legal problem: Lupin III himself was a liability and could get the studio sued to the point of bankruptcy. In order to make the film available for American audiences the film would be retitled to simple The Castle of Cagliostro, and Lupin III would be given the nickname ‘Wolf.’ In other countries, the character would be called Rupin III in order to avoid legal issues with the Leblanc estate. While it didn’t help with making Lupin a household name, it did ensure that Miyazaki’s first movie would be seen by people outside of Japan,

These days this legal issue is no longer an issue; Arsene Lupin went into the public domain years ago (there’s even a Netflix series based on the character), and now Lupin III can finally travel the world the way he always wanted to. His newfound world fame has even resulted in new anime being produced and the character experiencing a renaissance. The idea that we almost had to wait more than thirty years to watch Miyazaki’s first film legally is a scary one, and we’re fortunate that studios found a way around this legal hurdle to make his first film available to animation fans in the 90s.

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