Struggling to find good films to binge watch to wind down? Studio Ghibli is the perfect place to look. The Japanese founded animation studio, Studio Ghibli, was first established in 1985. The main founders are Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki, Isao Takahata, and Yasuyoshi Tokuma. In total, they have produced 23 films.
According to the official website for Studio Ghibli, their films are “timeless classics”. Some of the most notable films are: Ponyo, Spirited Away, The Boy and The Heron, and My Neighbor Totoro. The films The Boy and The Heron and Spirited Away were both awarded Best Animated Features in 2003 and 2024.
The name, Studio Ghibli, came from the creative mind of Miyazaki.
The concept behind choosing this name was that the company was going to “blow a new wind through the animation industry”.
The eye-catching aspect of these movies is the unique art and animation style. Hayao Miyazaki first started his career in 1963 with Tōei Animation, another Japanese animation company. There he met fellow animator, Isao Takahata, and his future wife, Ōta Akemi. Miyazaki and Takahata stuck together through the ‘70s, creating films with various companies until 1984, when they decided to establish a more permanent partner arrangement. Then in 1985, Studio Ghibli was created.
1988 was one of the first times they had made phenomenal sales from one of their films, and it was because of My Neighbor Totoro. The film made ¥588 million (approximately 2 million U.S. dollars) from original ticket sales, then kept making money over the decades because of the timeless love for the character Totoro. The film, My Neighbor Totoro, creates a story between beauty and nature. According to an editorial piece written by Bryan Le, the film made the audience feel a sense of nostalgia and reconnection to nature and the importance of it, along with family. It made people gravitate towards Totoro.
Their first few films had seamless releases in Japan, but the United States releases were unwatchable at first due to confusing edits and poor dubbing errors. Miyazaki would wait a decade before trying to put their films out to the U.S. again. In 1996, they partnered with The Walt Disney Company to be their international distributor for their films. Disney helped dub their movies to be watched in the U.S., and they agreed to finance 10% of the Ghibli’s production costs. The first movie to be released in the U.S. after the partnership with Disney was Princess Monokoke in 1997.
Ghibli also established a strict no cuts rule to ensure the artistic integrity of their films worldwide. This was created by Miyazaki because the U.S. release of Valley of the Wind underwent heavy edits to market it as a children action movie, and a total of 22 minutes of cut footage.
Since partnering with Disney, the two companies have created a special bond. In Toy Story 3 (2010), the Ghibli character Totoro is seen within the other toys in scenes. Pixar’s creative officer, John Lasseter, has taken much influence from Miyazaki after overseeing Ghibli’s English dubs.
A few years after successfully releasing movies in Japan, Spirited Away gained a lot of U.S. attention in 2001. People were amazed by the hand drawn animation. In a Studio Ghibli Blog, Ghibli Gabble, it is revealed that each and every frame is hand drawn or painted, then later put together to bring it to life. Overall, they use very minimal CGI. All types of films take a long time to put together, especially Studio Ghibli due to the detail throughout the animation. There are many different books out there explaining and going into a deep dive into the studio as a whole. There are also books that will go in depth into the artistic process of specific films, like The Art of Ponyo.
In 2014, Miyazaki declared that The Wind Rises would be his last feature-length film. This retirement did not last for very long. In 2016, he announced the release of Boro the Caterpillar, another feature-length film. This also was Miyazaki’s first ever film done completely by computer animation. After announcing his retirement again in 2023, Miyazaki officially released The Boy and the Heron. Co-founder, Toshio Suzuki, wasn’t going to approve Miyazaki to do this film at first, but he could see how dedicated he was to complete it. This film won a Golden Globe Award, the BAFTA award for Best Animated Motion Picture, and an Oscar in 2024 for Best Animated Feature.
Many of Studio Ghibli’s characters were based on people the animators knew in real life and some of the stories were based on real life events as well. For example, Castle in the Sky was based on a famous miners strike in the 1980s. Throughout the films, there are a lot of anti-war messages due to Miyazaki’s past experiences. He grew up during World War II and its aftermath. They may be subtle, but a lot of the stories focus on promoting peace and environmental conversations.
Another key point that Studio Ghibli lovers have made is the respectful animation that Miyazaki and the other animators create. In the anime world, there tends to be a lot wrong with the sexualization of women and underage characters. It seems to be common among other anime, but viewers noticed a difference with Ghibli movies. There was no sexualization, and it showed that anime could be full of beauty, respect, with a divine story.
Despite anime not being a genre for everyone, Studio Ghibli movies are beautifully created and eye-catching. There is a film for everyone, and once the right one is found, it’s hard not to be hooked.
