The 40th annual convention of Comic Con brought 100,000 attendees to San Diego, Califorina last weekend to celebrate the contribution of comics to arts and culture. Despite the emphasis on comics, the event also encompassed a broad spectrum of arts and entertainment. The attendees included graphic novelist, designers, writers, gaming experts and movie promoters.

One movie that made a splash is Hayao Miyazaki’s PONYO, which is about a goldfish’s quest to become a human girl. During a panel discussion, chief creative officer Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, John Lasseter and Miyazaki discuss story telling, color use and inspiration. Here is a transcript of the interview from the L.A. Time Hero Complex blog:

Lasseter: Talk about how you develop your stories.

Miyazaki: My process is thinking, thinking and thinking. Thinking about my stories for a long time. If you have a better way, please let me know.

Lasseter: We have a storyboard team and we re-work our sequences over and over. With Miyazaki, I’ve watched him work. He sits down and storyboards everything by himself. It becomes the layout for his film. It just comes out of his head, and it always amazes me. [pauses] I’m gushing because I’m sitting next to Hayao Miyazaki.

Miyazaki: I think working on a storyboard alone is a custom we have in Japan, in terms of animation. It’s not just I who works that way. Since I’m slow, it seems I’m working on the storyboard all the time.

Lasseter: What was the inspiration for “Ponyo”?

Miyazaki: We just saw a story about a frog. But the first idea I had for “Ponyo” as about a little boy who picks up a frog. But I couldn’t work out a good character for a frog. So I turned it into a goldfish. I was lucky. It was good that I turned it into a goldfish.

Lasseter: This films is one of the most colorful films you have created. Talk about how you chose the colors.

Miyazaki: I wanted to make it a simple story. I wanted to show simplicity through the colors. Since the main character, the goldfish, is red, the other colors had to be brightened as well so they would contrast.

Lasseter: Wait ‘til you see this film. It is so beautiful. This is hand drawn animation that is unlike anything you have ever seen.

The film opens in 800 theaters in the August 14th, 2009 and is distributed by Disney Inc.