“Life is a winking light in the darkness.” – Hayao Miyazaki
This is a quote from the founder and main director of Studio Ghibli, and if you haven’t heard of Studio Ghibli, what are you doing!!!
Studio Ghibli is a legendary Japanese animation studio based in Tokyo, Japan that creates high-quality films, specifically known for their artistry. Ghibli films encompass many themes. They focus a lot on environmentalism, love, friendship, family, and culture. Their movies take you through places filled with emotions and themes that are present in everyday life.
Studio Ghibli movies are usually hand drawn using rich watercolor and acrylic, which gives their films a unique style. The combination of their distinct animation style, and storylines, along with their emotion-filled music creates films that people of all ages can enjoy. Many find their films to be soothing because they focus on the euphoric line between fantasy and reality, while stressing the experience of the human condition. Their films are rather simple but that is what makes them such beautiful stories to watch.
Some of their more famous films include Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. These are all films that transport you into their world and teach you valuable lessons.
To give you a more in-depth reading of one of these films, I’ll tell you about one of my favorite Studio Ghibli films, Howl’s Moving Castle.
Howl’s moving castle. Quite the castle in my opinion.
The story of this film is loosely based on the 1986 novel of the same name written by Diana Wynne Jones. The story is about a young girl, Sophie, who has a run-in with the Witch of the Waste and is turned into a 90-year-old woman. This is a little bit of an inconvenience, so, due to this transformation, she is forced to leave her family and finds refuge in the moving castle of a handsome wizard, Howl. She ends up getting caught up in helping him with the resistance in fighting for the king, due to a war that is going on. Howl knows what Sophie truly looks like and – SPOILER ALERT – has been looking for her since he was a young boy because Sophie knows how to help him get his heart back. In the end, Sophie breaks her curse and saves Howl, who has been in love with/been looking for her for years.
Howl and Sophie (Before Sophie was cursed)
The film teaches us that, like Sophie, it is okay to embrace the unknown and leave your comfort zone because even the smallest steps could lead to a great adventure. So, let’s listen to this message and get out of our comfort zones even if it is tiny because you never know where it will take you!!
At the end of the day, studio Ghibli films are marvelous works of art and I recommend you watch one of their many fantastical films when you have the time!!! (A lot of their films are on HBO Max)
Howl’s Bedroom because it is such an interesting place.
This sounds like a crazy movie!! Definitely would keep me intrigued! I love how you point out that the movie is not only well-produced and well-executed but it also has great symbolic meaning.
I have heard so many good things about Studio Ghibli and I have always wanted to watch one of their movies. It is such a popular industry with a huge fan base and really creative films that really appeal to me! Thank you for including where to find it so I can watch it over Fall or Winter break!
My buddies have always talked about the great movies Studio Ghibli makes, however I have never seen any myself. It sounds like these creators make a wide variety of creative films and seem like they would be tones of fun to watch. I will have to give it a try sometime soon.