Masashi Ando

Masashi Ando
is a Japanese animator, character designer and filmmaker.
He is known for working with Hayao Miyazaki, Satoshi Kon and Makoto Shinkai.
He was the animation director and character designer for three of the four anime films in the top five box office revenues of Japanese films of all time: Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Your Name.
Career
Ando took the entrance exam for Studio Ghibli while he was a student at the Nihon University College of Art and was accepted.
At the young age of 25, Ando was chosen to be the chief animation director of Princess Mononoke.
Ando also served as Hayao Miyazaki's right-hand man on Spirited Away in 2001, but left Ghibli after a confrontation with Miyazaki over directing methods.
Ando has been involved in Satoshi Kon's films since 2003, and served as character designer and animation director for Kon's 2006 film Paprika.
He worked as a character designer and animation director for Hiroyuki Okiura's A Letter to Momo in 2012.
He joined Studio Ghibli films for the first time in a long time in 2013 as a member of the animation staff for The Tale of Princess Kaguya. In 2014, he worked on When Marnie Was There as an animation director for Studio Ghibli for the first time in 13 years since Spirited Away, and also co-wrote the script for the film.
He led the animation team for the Makoto Shinkai-directed Your Name in 2016.
Ando made his directorial debut with Shika no Ō: Yuna to Yakusoku no Tabi, alongside co-director Masayuki Miyaji. He also served as character designer and animation director.
Filmography
Films
Only Yesterday (1991) – in-between animation
Porco Rosso (1992) – key animation
Ocean Waves (1993) – assistant animation director (uncredited), key animation
Pom Poko (1994) – key animation
Whisper of the Heart (1995) – key animation
Princess Mononoke (1997) – character design with his mentor Yoshifumi Kondo, chief animation director
My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999) – key animation
Spirited Away (2001) – character design, chief animation director
Tokyo Godfathers (2003) – animation director, key animation
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004) – key animation
Tekkonkinkreet (2006) – key animation
Paprika (2006) – character design, animation director and key animation
Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012) – key animation
A Letter to Momo (2012) – character design, animation director, key animation
The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013) – animation
When Marnie Was There (2014) – screenplay, character design, animation director
The Last: Naruto the Movie (2014) – key animation
Miss Hokusai (2015) – key animation
Your Name (2016) – character design with Masayoshi Tanaka, animation director
Napping Princess (2017) – key animation
Mary and the Witch's Flower (2017) – key animation
The Deer King (2022) – director with Masayuki Miyaji, storyboard, character design, chief animation director
TV series
The Legend of Zorro (1996) – key animation
Overman King Gainer (2002) – key animation
Paranoia Agent (2004) – character design, animation director and key animation
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG (2004) – key animation
Denno Coil (2007) – key animation
Bunny Drop (2011) – key animation
OVA
The Animatrix (2003) (on the Kid's Story segment) – key animation
Music videos
On Your Mark (1995) – character design, animation director
Web animation
Japan Animator Expo (2014) – key animation
Video games
Magic Pengel: The Quest for Color (2002) – key animation
References
External links
Studio Ghibli people
Japanese animators
Anime character designers
Anime directors
Japanese animated film directors
Nihon University alumni
1969 births
Living people
People from Hiroshima Prefecture