All You Need to Know About Studio Ghibli

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Headquartered in Kogane, Tokyo, Studio Ghibli is easily the most famous Japanese animation and film studio in the world. Founded in 1985, the company’s logo features the fan-favorite Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki’s “My Neighbor Totoro.” Many many times has Studio Ghibli been called “the Disney of Japan” and Hayao Miyazaki “the Walt Disney of Japan.” I certainly can’t argue with that – Miyazaki and Ghibli are both pretty magical.

Over the years Studio Ghibli has won many awards for their whimsical creations and in 2002, Spirited Away won a Golden Bear and an Oscar for Best Animated Feature. To this day it remains the only film made outside of the English-speaking world to have done so. Do you know the secret that makes all of Ghibli so magical? No? Read on to find out.

Ghibli and Friends

So where does the name Ghibli come from anyway? Well, Ghibli is based on the Arabic name for the sirocco (Mediterranean wind). During World War II the Italians used the sirocco for their Saharan scouting planes. Although pronounced with a hard g in both Arabic and Italian, the Japanese pronunciation of the word is with a soft g (ji-bu-ri).

The reason the studio chose to go with this name was because they wanted to “blow a new wind through the Japanese anime industry” changing things up and offering a breath of fresh air – pretty ambitious to say the least. But the studio has certainly lived up to its namesake. Check out this quick list showcasing some of the studio’s top highlights.

  • The first real box-office success in Studio Ghibli’s history (just over $18 million) was Kiki’s Delivery Service in 1989, four years after the studio’s creation.
  • The highest-grossing film of 1992 in Japan was Studio Ghibli’s very own Porco Rosso (¥2.8 billion in distribution income).
  • The first ever Studio Ghibli film to use computer graphics was Pom Poko in 1992, starring a group of tanuki.
  • The first Miyazaki film featuring computer graphics, and the first Studio Ghibli film featuring digital coloring was Princess Mononoke in 1997. Roger Ebert placed the movie sixth on his top ten movies of 1999 (after it had been released in the US) and it was also the highest grossing movie in Japan (overtaking E.T.) with $134 million in box office revenue until the achievement was claimed by Titanic several months later (but not for long!)
  • The first Studio Ghibli film made entirely with digital processing was My Neighbors the Yamadas in 1999.
  • Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away was the first film to gross $200 million worldwide before opening in North America (eventually making about $275 million in total), and it was the only anime film ever to win an Academy award for Best Animated Feature, and it took over Titanic ($135 million) at the Japanese box office, becoming the top grossing film ever in Japanese cinema.

The achievements above, along with a lot of other information can be found on Studio Ghibli’s Wikipedia page. And for those of you who are unfamiliar with the history behind the origins of Studio Ghibli, a good synopsis can be found here.

What Makes Ghibli Special

So what makes a Studio Ghibli film a Studio Ghibli film? Well, their works most often feature common motifs, themes, and imagery for one. These commonalities include female leads (usually younger), (talking) cats, sweet old ladies, things related to aviation, trains, boutiques, characters with multiple forms and identities, flocks of birds, birdlike creatures, misunderstood male characters, secret or hidden places, and in many cases a lack of a clearly defined antagonist.

These were things I never really thought about much before I actually took the time to look back on the films, but once you realize the commonalities they’re pretty easy to spot. Take Spirited Away for example: its setting is in a secret place, we’ve got a young female lead, a sweet old lady, birdlike creatures, characters with multiple forms and identities, and a misunderstood male character. Studio Ghiblianism at its finest.

But did you know that the “first Studio Ghibli film” isn’t actually a Studio Ghibli film at all? Even though Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki himself, the film was created one year prior to the creation of Studio Ghibli. Nausicaä was actually published by a studio known as Topcraft. So even though it’s not technically a Studio Ghibli film, it is often credited as one due to how influential it was to the studio’s creation in 1985.

Another fun fact is that Studio Ghibli has adopted a strict “no cuts” policy. This policy was introduced after the unfortunate butchering of the American release of Nausicaä which can be read more about here. The policy was brought up again after the release of Princess Mononoke in 1997 because Miramax wanted to make changes to the film in order to make it more marketable to the United States when it was released over here in 1999. Apparently Studio Ghibli responded by sending Miramax an authentic katana with a simple message reading “no cuts” attached to it. That’s certainly one way to get your point across.

I really respect this about Studio Ghibli. I don’t know about you, but I’ve always hated it when localized films are cut or altered from their original forms by someone other than the actual creator of the film. Knowing that all of Ghibli’s films are now brought to the United States exactly as they were meant to be viewed is a very comforting feeling even if the American production companies insist on having them dubbed into English. But hey, that’s what multi-language DVDs are made for, right? Right.

Studio Ghibli was even nice enough to give a shoutout to Pixar for their 25th anniversary. How kind! Both studios have collaborated with Disney, drawn inspiration from one another, and have even visited each other on various occasions. Both Pixar and Studio Ghibli are argued to be two of the best animation studios in the world today and are right up there with Disney in my opinion.

Upcoming Films

Is that a berry in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

The next film due to hit the States from Studio Ghibli is The Secret World of Arrietty/The Borrower Arrietty (借りぐらしのアリエッティ). I was lucky enough to get to see Arrietty and it was pretty good. Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away are definitely still my favorites from the studio however, but Arrietty was pretty solid as well.

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzBBIBSi2Vo']

If the song at the end of the trailer sounds familiar, it’s probably because you heard it from the Imaginary Flying Machines album I posted about a while back. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you really should. It rocks.

Studio Ghibli’s From up on Poppy Hill (コクリコ坂から) came out in Japan earlier this year, (trailer can be found here) and The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is currently in the works.

The Studio Ghibli Museum

The Totoro went thataway!

Did you know that Studio Ghibli also has its very own museum? Well they do, and from the looks of it, it’s a pretty cool place to be. Located in Mitaka, Tokyo, the museum promises to make all of your Studio Ghibli dreams come true. Unfortunately I haven’t actually been there myself, but you can read all about it over here.

Have you been to the Ghibli Museum before? Tell us about how cool it is in the comments!

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJv_7FjTtFk']

So tell me – what’s your favorite Studio Ghibli film of all time?

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  • Katie

    The Ghibli Museum is worth a visit if you can make it out to Mitaka!  The walk itself is pretty pleasant from the station, and you have the option to take a bus directly there.  I highly recommend the Straw Hat Cafe if you’re willing to wait a little to eat there.  The strawberry shortcake is amaaaaaazing.  The gift shop is quite crowded, but they have some higher-end museum-only items that are nice if you are into that sort of thing.  I was a little surprised at how small the museum was given the immense popularity of Ghibli films, but there is enough there to really enjoy an afternoon.  Little kids will particularly enjoy the Catbus they can touch and play on.  :)

  • http://twitter.com/Bbvoncrumb Stefan Bullivant

    F*ck little kids that cat bus was awesome.

    Oh, I wasn;t supposed to go on it? Oh dea—-

    I spent like 5 minutes in the massive cat bus that’s used to transition between rooms. I also bought 4 variations of cat bus from the store.

    I need help.

  • http://twitter.com/Bbvoncrumb Stefan Bullivant

    F*ck little kids that cat bus was awesome.

    Oh, I wasn;t supposed to go on it? Oh dea—-

    I spent like 5 minutes in the massive cat bus that’s used to transition between rooms. I also bought 4 variations of cat bus from the store.

    I need help.

  • Zack

    The Ghibli Museum is most definitely worth a visit! The staff there is fairly nice, as long as you don’t heckle them like I did! (How was I supposed to know I wasn’t supposed to take pictures of the Cat Bus? Ha ha ha!) The Museum itself is gorgeous and is kind of like stepping into a Ghibli-themed wonderland! Definitely lots of stuff to check out from all the major Ghibli films as well as seeing animation techniques, etc.! Also, they have a mini-theater in there that plays Ghibli shorts that people are welcome to see with admission. (You get a free mini movie cell with admission by the way.) Definitely go! What are you waiting for? The Cat Bus? Go!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1550596562 Alexa VanDemark

    The Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art in Kobe had an exhibit for Arietty. It was a full size, set-like exhibit where everything was sized like you were little people like Arietty and her family. So cool!

  • http://www.tofugu.com/ Hashi

    I think you need a cat bus.

  • John

    Aw, now I’m sad I didn’t go there :(

  • Anonymous

    That trailer looked really cool, and I’ll definitely check that film out when I get a chance.

    The only annoying thing about it was all the rhyming…

  • John

    Yeah the announcer guy is kind of tacky but thankfully the movie itself isn’t all happy rhyme time, lol.

  • Sarah

    I think the most recurring theme in the movies is the destruction of nature by mankind, I feel they’re a lot darker (or at least not sweet all the time) than the average disney production. I like that, and I also love all the yokai appearances. (I can already see American parents going crazy because of giant tanuki testicles :D).

  • http://twitter.com/shollum Shollum

    Dang, I won’t be able to go to the museum any time soon. Well in the meantime I’ll just acquire some Ghibli movies (in Japanese of course) and watch them until my eyes bleed from the awesomeness.

    I also hate when movies (and games) get cut up and altered from the original. It happens too often and it doesn’t do any good, especially to the story, that they possibly made to make no sense.

  • http://twitter.com/shollum Shollum

    Dang, I won’t be able to go to the museum any time soon. Well in the meantime I’ll just acquire some Ghibli movies (in Japanese of course) and watch them until my eyes bleed from the awesomeness.

    I also hate when movies (and games) get cut up and altered from the original. It happens too often and it doesn’t do any good, especially to the story, that they possibly made to make no sense.

  • John
  • Lillian

    The museum is awesome! (But I think Tezuka is the Disney of Japan.)

  • http://riechanster.blogspot.com Riechan

    I found the pronounciation of Studio Ghibli more annoying though …

  • Atty

    I wanna go to the museum now D:

    But I would have to say my Favorite Studio Ghilbi film is “Kiki’s delivery service”
    C: Its just so PRECIOUS I could die.

  • Eylkho

    The Ghibli Museum is simply the most adorable museum in the world!

  • Anonymous

    Spirited Away hands down. Love it!

  • http://twitter.com/zoomingjapan zoomingjapan

    I’m a Ghibli fan, too.
    I mean, who is not?! I cannot even choose a favorite, however I tend to like the older movies more!
    Among the newer ones, I really liked Spirited Away!
    Although I’ve been living in Japan for 4 years now, I have yet to pay that museum a visit some day!
    Thanks for this interesting post full of Ghibli love! ^__^

  • Jennifer Cammarn

    A picture from “Grave of the Fireflies” is included in the picture underneath “What Makes Ghibli Special,’ even though Fireflies is not a Ghibli film.

  • ウシじゃない

    Yeah, but they helped, so it counts, I guess.

  • Anonymous

     The first Studio Ghibli film I saw was Spirited Away in a small theater on vacation.  I didn’t even know what I was going to see (the mom of the kids we were with picked it) but I totally fell in love.  They really make amazing films, and this one looks just as good AND The Borrowers was my favorite book growing up!

  • http://twitter.com/shollum Shollum

    Haha, I remember that! If I remember correctly one of the Final Fantasy games had a chunk removed for public urination, or was that something else?

    Does it say something bad that I’ve played them all?

  • John

    Not at all. With the exception of XIV, I have too.

  • John

    Yeah, according to the internets, it was “the first film produced by Shinchosha, who hired Studio Ghibli to do the animation production work,” and on the Grave of the Fireflies Wikipedia page, Ghibli is listed as the studio.

  • http://twitter.com/shollum Shollum

    I forgot (possibly intentionally) that XIV exists. Though I remember thinking “If I had just signed up for the beta this might have been avoided…”

    Getting away from the depressing stuff!
    You have reminded me that we should be proud of whatever we want!

  • John

    Yeah!

  • http://twitter.com/jamesoneill83 James O’Neill

    I remember when I was at the Ghibli Museum a couple of years back that their little guest exhibit where they celebrate other animation studios had lots of stuff from Aardman Animation, based in my very own home town!

  • Matthias Bonjour

    Castle in the sky (Laputa) is easily my favourite.

  • Chickenminute

    I’ve been to the Ghibli museum 2 or 3 times. It is such a creative and unique style for a museum that makes it fun for all ages. There is a “life-size” cat bus for little kids to play in. But there is a strict no photography rule… although you will see people trying to sneak pics.
    There are lots of hidden treasures to find so the museum is definitely worth a visit. 

  • irmoony

    Add this museum to a long list of places I’d like to see when I finally visit Japan :D

    We’re actually planning a trip with a friend already. Even though it’s not going to happen sooner than in a few years.

  • Anonymous

    The museum is definitely a tentative item on my “must-see in Japan” list; I don’t know when I’m going (just one of those “someday” plans right now), but it never hurts to be well-prepared :D

  • Anonymous

    I don’t know why, but for some odd reason I never bothered watching Spirited Away. Well you know what they say, “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Dammit!!!! I feel pretty stupid right now!!!

  • Madbeanman

    Don’t we all need catbeese (Plural of catbus…fact)???

  • http://twitter.com/IgniteMe2 IgniteMe.co

    It’s all about My Neighbors the Yamadas!

  • Megan

    Loved Arrietty! My favorites are also Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. Pom Poko is also one I really enjoyed.

  • http://twitter.com/cerealcyanide cerealcyanide

    I went screencapped crazy when I watched the documentary of the tour in Ghibli Museum <3 
    Since my friends told me they can't take pictures when you're inside -.-
    They got me a wind up Totoro and a purse ;D 
    oh this is true love! lols ;D

  • http://profiles.google.com/shahiirosan shahiir mizune

    do you guys noticed that most main female characters in ghibli films are short haired?
    And do you notice that the character designs resemble their previous movies. E.g. In tales of earthsea, nausicaa and the valley of the wind…there was one character of the same design/…

  • Anonymous

    The movie theater that shows Ghibli exclusives is a nice touch. So are the tickets you get for entering the museum, they are slides from actual Ghibli film reals. My wife got a few slides of Totoro, I got a few slides of a pile of laundry. ;)

    The best part, for me, was the stroboscope. I could watch that thing for hours, if only they’d let you. ;) I’ve seen some youtube videos of the stroboscope, and they don’t do it justice. When you see a 3d totoro, with your own eyes, appearing to move on its own it’s incredible.

  • ZA다ルﻣ

    i have to say, john, i overlooked this article when it first came out, but reading it now, i think it’s one of your best articles, in terms of layout, focus, and everything. good attention getter…i really enjoyed it!

    one thing, though, Arabic does not truly have a hard “g” sound…only the Egyptians in their own dialect pronounce it that way. But the real word, قبلي , is more accurately pronounced “qiblii,” which is neither “gibli” nor “jibli.” make sure to cross-reference your wikis!

  • haru

    i have a dream to animate for them….. wis me luck in the future :)

  • haru

    wish not wis.

  • Josh Leitzel

    But Ghibli DID make Grave of the Fireflies. It was directed by Isao Takahata, a Studio Ghibli employee and good friend of Miyazaki. Yes, Shinchosha produced it, but by that logic then that would mean that all of the other films by Studio Ghibli would be Tokuma Shoten movies because they produced those. Grave of the Fireflies is as much of a Ghibli movie as Only Yesterday and Spirited Away.

  • John

    Yeah, I’ve always considered it a Ghibli film as well.

  • Guest

    This post was utter perfection. And @Arijiel:disqus, any plans to go to Ohayocon in Columbus next year? ;)

  • Chelsea Smith

    This post was utter perfection! And @Arijiel:disqus , any plans to go to Ohayocon in Columbus next year? ;)

  • awesomebubble

    I loved Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle! I have yet to see any other Ghibli films but I am excited to see them all! I love the way the subtly incorporate messages and meaning into their movies, and I have not been disappointed to watch one of their movies. c: