Ever since I was a small child Studio Ghibli films were my favorite movies. To this day, they are still the only movies that can bring me to tears. But what exactly are these movies about and what makes them so special? Those are the questions that I aim to answer in this blog.
What exactly is Studio Ghibli?
The Spirited Away cover as released in America by Disney
Studio Ghibli, which specializes in animated film, first came into existence on June 15, 1985 after the major success of the Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, one of the directors of Studio Ghibli. It is now known as the number one Japanese animation and film studio around the globe and its movies have touched the hearts of millions of young children. Studio Ghibli’s success has even led to the opening of its very own museum in Mitaka, Tokyo. Its films have consistently taken the title of the top grossing films in Japan and one of its most famous films, Spirited Away, has even won an Oscar for the Best Animated Feature in 2003 and is recognized as the only non-English film to do so. The film studio has even worked with Disney and Pixar to release English dubbed versions of their films in America.
What makes Studio Ghibli so special?
One of the most recognizable features of Studio Ghibli is its art style. Despite the fact that the studio has been producing films for more than 30 years, its art style has remained the same, bringing a sense of nostalgia to both its younger and its older viewers; this is something that even Disney can’t attest to. Additionally, Studio Ghibli prides itself in hand-drawing all of its movies. Although it is time-consuming and difficult to fund, the results are phenomenal and never disappoint their fans.
A scene from Castle in the Sky (1986)
A scene from When Marnie was There (2014), emphasizing the similarities in art style
A scene from The Great Mouse Detective (Disney, 1986)
A scene from Zootopia (Disney, 2016), emphasizing the change in art style in a 30 year span
16 of the female protagonists of the 20 Studio Ghibli films
Moreover, Studio Ghibli films often feature strong female protagonists, a concept that doesn’t even happen with the Disney princesses until 1992 when Aladdin was released. This can be attributed to the fact that Hayao Miyazaki, mentioned above, considered himself a strong feminist and believed that the film industry needed more strong female leads. This is also theorized to be one of the reasons why Miyazaki and the film studio’s other co-founders chose the name “Studio Ghibli”, seeing as “ghibli” is the Italian name for the Mediterranean wind and Miyazaki said he wanted to “blow a new wind through the Japanese anime industry.”
Lastly, Studio Ghibli follows a “no-cut” policy, meaning that it demands that if any of its films are to be released globally, it is not to be cut down or rearranged in any way. This policy came about after the American release of Princess Mononoke. Miramax, an American entertainment company that deals with distribution of foreign films, decided that, in order to make the film more relatable to Amerian viewers, it would be best to edit the film before releasing it. This caused mass disappointment and resulted in Studio Ghibli sending a real katana, or a Japanese samurai sword, to Miramax with a note that said “no cuts” attached to it. Their policy has helped the studio gain a lot of respect around the world.
So what’s next?
For the future of this blog, I would like to cover multiple theories surrounding the Miyazaki movies and especially focus on some of the most successful Studio Ghibli movies.
Citations
To read more about Studio Ghibli films, you can check out its Wikipedia page or these sites that I used.
Check out this cool website for some casual opinions and a couple fun facts about the film studio.
Check out this blog for some more information from an anime blogger.
Personally I have never seen a Studio Ghibli film and after reading your blog I wouldn’t mind taking one of my Sundays and watching one. I can’t wait to learn more and hopefully by than I could comment on one I have seen for myself .
I have seen portions of Ponyo and Spirited away and I have to say, your post does a great job explaining exactly what they are. When I first saw the films I never thought much about them but now I see that there is a lot more to them than just amazing art style. also, the no-cut rule is something I haven’t heard of that was really interesting to me. Great post!
I found this blog very interesting as I have never seen a Studio Ghibli film before! I enjoyed the information about the film producers, especially that they draw the scenes by hand. I also like the section about them introducing strong female leads. The story about the samurai sword was also very interesting to me and it added character to the blog.