Why Hayao Miyazaki rejected the pessimistic source material for his only solo-directed TV series.
In short: Future Boy Conan, a 1978 post-apocalyptic anime, remains a landmark in Hayao Miyazaki's career. While adapting Alexander Key's novel The Incredible Tide, Miyazaki famously demanded creative control to overhaul the story. He refused to burden children with the author's cynical worldview, opting instead to craft a narrative defined by optimism.
Produced by Nippon Animation and broadcast on NHK, Future Boy Conan follows an 11-year-old boy named Conan who lives on a remote island after a global catastrophe. The story begins in July 2008, when ultra-magnetic weapons shatter the Earth's crust and sink the continents. Conan, born in 2016 to survivors of a failed space-fleeing mission, eventually leaves his isolation to rescue a girl named Lana from the clutches of Industria, a dystopian society desperate for energy.
Miyazaki, who handled character designs and storyboards alongside his directorial duties, viewed the original novel as a reflection of Alexander Key's personal insecurities. In a 1983 interview, he argued that it was foolish to project hopelessness onto children. To ensure the series remained uplifting, he consciously avoided allegorical parallels between the show's factions and real-world Cold War powers, even briefly considering making the setting more Japanese to prevent such interpretations.
The production was notoriously difficult, requiring a grueling schedule where each of the 26 episodes took up to two weeks to complete. Miyazaki later admitted that without NHK's intervention—specifically the insertion of padding programs—the series might have collapsed entirely. Despite the pressure, the show became a foundational project for future anime legends, including Isao Takahata and Yoshiyuki Tomino, who contributed to the storyboards.
The series remains unique as the only television show Miyazaki fully directed. It balances high-stakes action with a message of resilience, as characters evolve through the selfless influence of Conan. By the end, the protagonists set sail to build a new world, discarding the destructive legacies of the past while preserving its positive aspects, ultimately fulfilling Miyazaki's vision of a story that offers hope rather than despair.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Future Boy Conan
- Also: Wikidata — Future Boy Conan · CC0
- Also: Wikidata — list of Future Boy Conan episodes · CC0
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