There is scarcely an anime fan who has not seen or heard of the works of Studio Ghibli. Ghibli was founded in 1985 by directors Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki named the studio after the Italian word for the Mediterranean wind, stating that he intended to “blow a new wind through the anime industry.”
Ghibli’s first film, still considered a Ghibli film even though it was produced before the Studio’s official inception, was Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. The film told of a young princess in a post apocalyptic wasteland as she struggles to defend her home against the advance of a toxic jungle. The film, when released in America, was heavily cut and marketed as Warriors of the Wind. The Ghibli directors were very angry at this. When Miramax co-chair Harvey Weinstein suggested editing Princess Mononoke to make it more marketable, a Ghibli producer was said to have shipped an authentic katana to Miramax with a note saying “No cuts”.
Many of Ghibli’s films have an environmentalist theme and echo the views of director Hayao Miyazaki. Nausicaa deals with an apocalyptic wasteland brought upon by weapons of mass destruction and Princess Mononoke deals with human encroachment on natural habitats. Also, almost all of the Ghibli films have a strong female protagonist. This was in the 1980’s; way ahead of their time.
Studio Ghibli has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature three different times and has won it once, with Spirited Away in 2002. All of their feature films have been released on DVD in the United States and more recently, Hayao Miyazaki’s films have been released in theaters. Studio Ghibli’s work has had a profound impact on its audience. Many western animators cite Miyazaki and Takahata’s work as inspirations.
One thing that sets Ghibli apart from other animation studios is the quality of their animation. Most animation films consist of 10,000 distinct computer aided frames; the average Ghibli film has 80,000 distinct hand drawn frames. Furthermore, while most anime films have static backgrounds or use computer animation to animate backgrounds, Ghibli films animate all the background people and scenery by hand.
A big part of Ghibli films are the amazing soundtracks. Ghibli film soundtracks are composed mostly by Joe Hisaishi. The animation magic of Miyazaki melds perfectly with the whimsical and powerful pieces penned by Hisaishi. Here are some musical samples below.
Spirited Away: “Futatabi”
Castle in the Sky: “The Destruction of Laputa”