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Hayao Miyazaki does not announce himself he appears.
Some classmates were on the other side of the street, and suddenly, I see them pointing.
I turned my head and Miyazaki was just there, beside me, waiting to cross, Encinas says.
And I was so grateful for that.
In less than three months, I learned more than in all my years combined at Gobelins and Disney.
Miyazaki set one condition: Learn Japanese.
He returned to Annecy in 1995, where he introduced himself to Miyazakis colleague Takahata.
He must have thought,Oh shit, he really did learn Japanese, Encinas jokes.
As soon as Miyazaki started drawing, I started to understand the gap, Encinas says.
His Western animation education and his understanding of anatomy differed dramatically from what Miyazaki required.
But they offered to train me under the supervision of the best animators they had.
The staff knew it.
IfPrincess Mononokedidnt work, Ghibli wouldve closed, Encinas says.
Under those circumstances and with his unpracticed Japanese, hiring him as a full-fledged animator wasnt going to happen.
But a grunt job as an assistant handling in-betweens and clean-ups was within reach.
He joinedPrincess Mononokemid-production, in January 1997 and worked for the company for two years.
This is something that I really didnt see at Disney, an animator teaching the assistant, he says.
So does the scale.
I cannot conceive of seeing that in a big studio like Pixar, Encinas says.
These guys, their time and experience, are very precious, so Im very grateful, Encinas says.
That meant a lot.
