Image: Derriere L'Etoile Studios, New York
Mudac in Lausanne is preparing a major exhibition on Isao Takahata, the Japanese filmmaker and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, with a presentation that runs from 24 April to 27 September 2026. Titled 'Isao Takahata' and subtitled 'Pionnier du dessin animé contemporain, de l’après-guerre au Studio Ghibli', the show is described by the museum as unique in Switzerland and focuses on Takahata’s trajectory from 'Heidi' (1974) to 'The Tale of the Princess Kaguya' (2013).
The exhibition will use a wide range of materials to follow that path. According to mudac, it will bring together notebooks and storyboards, original drawings, celuloids, film excerpts and audiovisual documents. Rather than presenting Takahata only as a studio figure or a director of famous features, the display is built around the working materials that shaped his films and television projects across several decades.
Mudac says the exhibition also highlights an aspect it describes as previously unseen in this context: Takahata’s privileged ties with the West throughout his life. The museum’s text points to his intellectual formation, his role as a mediator between cultures, and his precise depictions of Europe in works such as 'Heidi'. A complementary section at mudac, 'Isao Takahata, une œuvre et une vie face à l’Occident', specifically explores his relationship to the francophone world.
That additional section follows Takahata’s discovery of the poetic realism of Prévert, which the museum identifies as a source for his aesthetic and political commitment. It also presents his research on 'The Triplets of Belleville'? No, the verified source does not mention that work; the exhibition instead references his study of 'The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep' by Paul Grimault from 1953, along with documents illuminating the origins of his vocation. Another focus is the challenge of adapting Western classics into animation, including 'Heidi', 'Marco' and 'Anne... la maison aux pignons verts', while combining ethnographic rigor with documentary ambition.
Born in 1935 in Mie Prefecture and educated at the University of Tokyo’s French literature department, Takahata entered Toei Animation in 1959. Mudac’s biography notes his first theatrical feature, 'The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun', in 1968, his move to A Production in 1971, and his direction of all 52 episodes of 'Heidi' in 1974. He later made the television series 'Marco' in 1976 and 'Anne... la maison aux pignons verts' in 1979, then the films 'Kié the Mischievous Girl' and 'Gauche the Cellist' in 1981 and 1982.
The museum also underlines Takahata’s role in the formation of Studio Ghibli, which he founded in 1985 with Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki. For the studio he made 'Grave of the Fireflies' (1988), 'Only Yesterday' (1991), 'Pom Poko' (1994) and 'My Neighbors the Yamadas' (1999). His final feature, 'The Tale of the Princess Kaguya', was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and selected for the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes, according to the museum’s biography.
The exhibition is presented with Kazuyoshi Tanaka of Studio Ghibli as curator, with scientific advice from Ilan Nguyên of the MEMA - Musée Européen du Manga et de l’Anime, and complementary curation by Xavier Kawa-Topor of NEF-Animation and Ilan Nguyên. Mudac notes special support from Studio Ghibli and collaboration from NHK Promotion Inc. and the Tokuma Memorial Cultural Foundation for Animation and SHINCHOSHA Publishing Co., Ltd. The museum is at Plateforme 10, Place de la Gare 17, Lausanne, and the exhibition is scheduled until 27 September 2026.
