Creating the first major exhibit of Hayao Miyazaki’s work outside of Japan for a newly launched museum, while dealing with an ongoing pandemic, is an intense combination of firsts. But Exhibitions Curator Jessica Niebel, and Assistant Curator J. Raúl Guzmán, accomplished that feat for the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

As the co-founder of animation juggernaut Studio Ghibli and the director behind critically acclaimed animated films like Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Miyazaki has become a visionary storyteller and artist. Exhibitions of his work have largely remained exclusive to his home country of Japan in places like the Ghibli Museum, which he also designed himself. But Niebel and Guzmán convinced Studio Ghibli to trust them with an exhibition of Miyazaki’s work, and the two have closely worked with the studio ever since. The Academy Museum’s inaugural exhibit provides a new opportunity to see rare production art from Miyazaki’s films outside Japan. Located in Los Angeles, California, the show opened September 30 and will run until June 5, 2022.

Niebel and Guzmán spoke with smART Magazine about designing the exhibit and using animated characters to inspire a journey-like experience for visitors.