animated objects

His films like Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle feature enchanted objects and environments that come alive with agency and emotion, central to his storytelling.

He consistently uses meticulously crafted sets and objects as characters themselves, with precise stop-motion animation that gives inanimate things personality and movement.

His films like Grave of the Fireflies and Pom Poko explore how objects and nature possess emotional depth and consciousness, blurring lines between animate and inanimate.