Hayao Miyazaki is one of the leading figures in anime and the best known in the United States, having succeeded in making films such as My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro, 1988), Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, 2001), and Princess Mononoke (Mononoke-hime, 1997) very popular with children despite the firm position of the Disney classics, The Lion King, Aladdin, etc. Inspired by Disney, Miyazaki used to watch and re-watch Disney movies in order to recopy them. In 1996, Miyazaki's studio, Studio Ghibli, Inc. agreed to a distribution deal with Disney.