Abstract:  Isao Takahata was a renowned Japanese animator, who produced a lot of animated films. However, many of the big films he directed could not recover the cost. Here are some reasons. Isao Takahata insisted that animation, as a form of painting, should be expressed through artistic lines instead of formulaic “celluloid animation”. He rejected the subjective viewpoints which put the audience into the shoes of the characters. Rather, he adopted a defamiliarizing multi-dimensional method of expression. He preferred daily life and folk stories to eroticism and violence in the swim. All this has made his works elegant and interesting, and above all, distinct in aesthetics with his personal characteristics.

Key words: animation, Japanese animation, celluloid animation, Isao Takahata