I do not draw any of the pictures for my movies as an animator. The reason for that is that I am terribly lucky to have many staff members who I look up to, and who are overflowing with talent, that work with me on each project.

We are on the verge of losing the traditional idea of the family, especially in Japan, where the declining birth rate shows no signs of stopping. This is precisely why I think we should consider with a sense of urgency what the new image of "family" should be like, and not fall into the nostalgism that days gone by were just better.

I want to take themes that are shared throughout the world, express them through animation, and make movies from them.

I was deliberately trying to express how possible it might be for unmarried men and adults not blessed with biological children to become "fathers of choice." In an old-fashioned, traditional world, this might not matter. But I think that it's probably going to become terribly relevant as time goes on.

Digging back through the events of the past, I found that there have been all sorts of people who had a greater effect on us than our own fathers. Perhaps an adult that we wanted to become like, or someone with such a strong presence that even now, they remain in our hearts - someone who might be referred to as a "father of choice."

I think of movies as depicting moments of change. Change is growth, and that change also possesses the same dynamism that movies do.