This week, Michael, Jake and Steph are back with a new miniseries charting the career of animation legend Nick Park and his work at the peerless plasticine-powered studio, Aardman Animations. To start, we look at his Oscar-winning first film, the chatty zoo-themed mockumentary Creature Comforts (1989), which was his first directorial credit for Aardman after contributing to projects such as the era-defining music video for Peter Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer', and while slowly working in the background on his long-gestating student project, A Grand Day Out (more on that next week!).

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To close out the Shinkaideology we've taken the chance to reshare the interview we had with Makoto Shinkai almost two years ago. Some may have already have heard this, but we've had lots of new listeners join the show, so wanted to take the chance to get his voice on the feed for the end of the mini-series.

As his new blockbuster anime Suzume is released in UK cinemas, director Makoto Shinkai (Your Name, Weathering With You) speaks with Michael and Jake about turning a romantic lead into a three-legged chair, falling in love with Whisper of the Heart, being touted as 'the next Miyazaki', and his filmmaking career to date.

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@MichaelJLeader – Michael

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This week, Michael and Jake bring the Shinkai-deology up to date with Makoto Shinkai's latest release, and the third film in his loose trilogy of high-concept, disaster-themed features: Suzume. However, this time, Shinkai makes the connection with the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake more overt than ever, with a young girl and her chair boyfriend travelling the full length of Japan to close a series of mystical doors, and heal the long-standing trauma of a nation.

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This week, Michael speaks with director Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon) about his new film, The Wild Robot, as well as the films that inspired him to get into animation, his formative years at CalArts, and how he was 'tricked' into being a storyboard artist.

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It's the big one! After several films as a rising star, Makoto Shinkai finally takes up the mantle of 'the Next Miyazaki' (at the box office at least) with the blockbuster body-swap drama, YOUR NAME.

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The Shinkai-deology continues with Makoto Shinkai returning to shortform storytelling with the gorgeously-photographed, Tokyo-set drama, The Garden of Words. Michael and Jake also touch on Shinkai's commercial work, including the futuristic family sketch, Someone's Gaze, which was initially commissioned by the Nomura Real Estate Group, before premiering alongside The Garden of Words in Japanese cinemas in 2013.

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Our miniseries on the work of Makoto Shinkai takes an unexpected turn this week, as the director dives head-first into Miyazaki-influenced fantasy-adventure territory with 2011's Children Who Chase Lost Voices.

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