Congratulations to Hayao Miyazaki on reaching his 81st birthday! It seems quite a few Studio Ghibli fans are celebrating as well, and in a most appropriate fashion. Namely: by fan art.

Happy 81st Birthday, Hayao Miyazaki!

A grinning Hayao Miyazaki.
A very happy 81st birthday for him too, it seems.

It seems that for Hayao Miyazaki’s 81st birthday, fans are taking to Twitter to post all of their Studio Ghibli fan art. The list of artwork on Comic Book shows that the art is quite good as well, showing as many different Studio Ghibli films as possible. From the most recognizable, to the most obscure. One of the art isn’t even of a Studio Ghibli film in particular, but of Hayao Miyazaki himself, celebrating all that he’s accomplished in his 81 years of life. Check them out below:

Studio Ghibli Fan Art Selection

My Neighbor Totoro:

My Neighbor Totoro fan art.
The rain only makes this scene feel more…dreary?

Hayao Miyazaki:

Hayao Miyazaki fan art.
Who knew so many cool airships and spirits could come out of the mind of a single amazing director?

Porco Rosso:

Porco Rosso fan art.
Who knew a bad tempered, smoking pig could be a good hero?

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind:

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind fan art.
Who here thinks Nausicaa should be a Disney princess? I’d certainly vote for her.

Princess Mononoke:

Princess Mononoke fan art.
San is my other candidate for Disney Princess. Disney does distribute Studio Ghibli films, after all.

Studio Ghibli-Inspired Nature Scene:

Nature art inspired by Studio Ghibli films.
With all the nature in Hayao Miyazaki’s films, this scene could be right out of any of them.

Hayao Miyazaki’s Newest Masterpiece?

How Do You Live? poster.
I have no idea what this film is about, but it’s sure to be good. It’s Studio Ghibli, after all.

Hayao Miyazaki’s filmography may not even be complete. Back in 2016, he announced that he was coming out of retirement to work on a new anime film called How Do You Live?. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Yoshino Genzaburō. The book follows 15-year old Junichi “Koperu” Honda as he grows up with his uncle, and ends up dealing with his growth as a human being as he journeys through life’s hardships. Interestingly, this film is actually supposed to be Hayao Miyazaki’s goodbye to his grandson, which means we can expect this film to be especially poignant. Prepare yourself for the onion ninjas to arrive when you watch this.

Unfortunately, we don’t have a clear release date for How Do You Live? for you. We only have an estimated release date of 2023. So check back next year to see if we have any more details.

Source: Comic Book, Wikipedia