Studio Ghibli



Studio Ghibli ("jiblee") was founded in the 1985 by celebrated Japanese Anime directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata in the wake of Miyazaki's overwhelming success with Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Studio Ghibli is known for its incredibly rich and detailed animation, exacting attention to detail, and imaginative plots (frequently involving flying scenes, a personal favourite of Miyazaki's).

Ghibli was recently rated as the top brand in Japan, and is a household name even among non-Otaku. New Ghibli films are consistently the top grossers — Spirited Away held the record for the highest grossing anime film for 19 years before it was surpassed by Demon Slayer: Mugen Train in 2020— for the year in Japanese theaters, and releases such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke have gained a mainstream following in North America (in part thanks to a distribution deal with Disney). The studio tends to focus on films rather than television series, but it is frequently the "gateway drug" for new Anime fans. Ghibli is also like Disney in that Ghibli maintains their animation staff as full-time employees instead of the typical Japanese practice of employing freelance artists paid on a piecework basis, intended to improve the quality of the animator's life and their output.

Miyazaki has said that he chose the name of a World War II Italian fighter for his studio based on his love of aviation and Italy (vis. Porco Rosso). Unfortunately the wrong characters were chosen to represent "Ghibli" in Japanese based on a mispronunciation (the word is actually pronounced "ghee-blee" in Italian) but Miyazaki didn't discover this until after he'd already named the studio. He has since pronounced himself satisfied with the "jiblee" pronunciation even though it's technically wrong.

Several Maserati automobiles and at least one modern fighter plane have also been named Ghibli, which means "hot wind off the desert". This is actually a Libyan word -- the Italian equivalent is "Scirocco" -- and it refers to a particular wind that sweeps across the Sahara.

Trope namer for Ghibli Hills. Has absolutely nothing to do with the jibblies.

To date, Studio Ghibli has produced the following movies:
 * Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, directed by Hayao Miyazaki (1984) (Technically, Studio Ghibli didn't exist yet when this one was made. However, the team behind it formed the studio, and it was included in Ghibli and Disney's dubbing deal.)
 * Castle in The Sky, directed by Hayao Miyazaki (1986)
 * My Neighbor Totoro, directed by Hayao Miyazaki (1988)
 * Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata (1988)
 * Kiki's Delivery Service, directed by Hayao Miyazaki (1989)
 * Only Yesterday, directed by Isao Takahata (1991)
 * Porco Rosso, directed by Hayao Miyazaki (1992)
 * Ocean Waves, directed by Tomomi Mochizuki (1993) (TV movie, a.k.a. I Can Hear the Sea)
 * Pom Poko, directed by Isao Takahata (1994)
 * Whisper of the Heart, directed by Yoshifumi Kondo (1995)
 * Princess Mononoke, directed by Hayao Miyazaki (1997)
 * My Neighbors the Yamadas, directed by Isao Takahata (1999)
 * Spirited Away, directed by Hayao Miyazaki (2001)
 * The Cat Returns, directed by Hiroyuki Morita (2002)
 * Howl's Moving Castle (anime), directed by Hayao Miyazaki (2004)
 * Tales From Earthsea, directed by Goro Miyazaki (2006)
 * Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, directed by Hayao Miyazaki (2008)
 * The Borrower Arrietty, based on The Borrowers, done by new director Hiromasa Yonebayashi (2010)
 * The Legend of Ogrest, an OVA for the French series Wakfu (2011)
 * From Up on Poppy Hill, directed by Goro Miyazaki (2011) (a.k.a. Kokuriko-zaka kara)
 * The Wind Rises, directed by Hayao Miyazaki (2013) ([[Media:The Wind Rises Japanese release poster.jpg|official promotional image]])
 * The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, directed by Isao Takahata (2013)
 * When Marnie Was There (film), directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi (2014)
 * The Red Turtle by Dudok de Wit, a co-production with Why Not Productions and Wild Bunch (2016)
 * Earwig and the Witch directed by Goro Miyazaki (Ghibli's second TV movie)

Studio Ghibli has also produced the following anime series:
 * Sanzoku no Musume Rōnya, 26 episodes, directed by Goro Miyazaki (2014), based on the book Ronja the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren

They have also worked on the following Anime as a support studio through their C unit (Hayao Miyazaki runs the A unit and Isao Takahata runs the B unit, their C unit is random) (as many Asian studios have):


 * Birdy the Mighty Decode (In-Between Animation)
 * Le Chevalier d'Eon (In-Between Animation & Digital Paint)
 * Crayon Shin-chan (In-Between Animation)
 * Elemental Gelade (Background Art)
 * Both Cardcaptor Sakura movies (Special Effects)
 * Flame of Recca  (Background Art)
 * Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (In-Between Animation)
 * IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix (In-Between Animation)
 * Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (In-Between Animation)
 * Neon Genesis Evangelion (Animation Assistants - Episode Eleven, Uncredited)
 * Overman King Gainer (In-Between Animation)
 * Raideen (In-Between Animation & Digital Paint)
 * S-Cry-ed (In-Between Animation)
 * Tekkon Kinkreet (Background Art)
 * Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (In-Between & Finish Animation)
 * ×××HOLiC (In-Between Animation)

A game produced cooperatively by Studio Ghibli and Level 5 was released in 2010 titled Ni no Kuni. Before that, they provided the character designs and artwork for the PS2 monster battler Magic Pengel.

Has its own museum that shows exclusive short films. The short that evolved into Ponyo was first shown here. The studio opened a theme park on 1st November, 2022, appropriately titled Ghibli Park.

Also distributes Western animated films in Japan such as the works of Michel Ocelot, Sylvan Chomet, and Aardman under the Ghibli Museum Library label.

Despite all the success, however, there were many concerns on the part of Studio Ghibli management over their ongoing lack of a new generation of directors capable of taking over for founding directors Miyazaki and Takahata. Yoshifumi Kondo died prematurely shortly after directing Whisper of the Heart and Goro Miyazaki's directorial debut Tales of Earthsea was not considered a success. Miyazaki appears to have chosen The Borrower Arrietty director Hiromasa Yonebayashi as his successor. According to interviews with Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli would shut down if the film did not do well enough at the box office to allow Ghibli to secure financial backing for another film. Fortunately for the studio, The Borrower Arrietty did relatively well (over 80 percent of Ponyo's receipts) allowing the studio to release several other films.

In 2014, the founding fathers of the studio all announced their retirements (producer Toshio Sukuzi still remains as a general manager, and was involved in several productions after this announcement). The studio's last film to be produced in 'classic Ghibli' fashion is When Marnie was There, after which the studio's future became uncertain, as Ghibli shut down their animation department. Although the studio was open, it stopped producing films. Potential successor Yonebayashi, following this shutdown, departed to form his own Studio Ponoc, taking some Ghibli staff along with him, leaving the future of the studio in question. In 2016 new hope gathered for the studio when The Red Turtle, a co-production between the studio and several European companies, was released. In the same year, the previously retired Miyazaki, in true Ten-Minute Retirement fashion, returned to direct How Do You Live?, and Ghibli reopened their animation department, presenting a project proposal in 2016. The film was scheduled to be released in 2020 in time for the Tokyo Olympics, although the project did not make this target, and is still in production as of 2022. Producer Toshio Suzuki would also return for the project.

Unfortunately, Takahata died in 2018 from lung cancer.

For anyone interested in perusing Ghibli's archives, JesuOtaku (of That Guy With The Glasses) has done a full retrospective of all the Miyazaki/Ghibli films.


 * Conspicuous CG: Notably averted. While the studio does use CG in their works, they keep it to a bare minimum, using it to enhance the story, instead of taking over. When they do use CG, they work very hard to ensure that it blends in with the traditionally animated elements.
 * Cool Plane: What do you expect from a studio named after an airplane? Miyazaki absolutely loves incorporating these into his works, to the point where you'll be hard pressed to find a Miyazaki film that doesn't have a cool plane.
 * Creative Closing Credits: A large amount of Ghibli movies puts backgrounds from their films over their ending credits. Some, like My Neighbor Totoro, feature original drawings created specifically for the ending credits. If you get really lucky, like in Kiki's Delivery Service or The Borrower Arrietty, you get credits imposed on a fully animated epilogue.
 * However, this is averted in some productions like Howl's Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke, which opt for a standard white names on black background approach.
 * Food Porn: Their movies are often fulled with mouth-watering food, such as the bacon and eggs in Howl's Moving Castle or the ramen in Ponyo.
 * Ghibli Hills: Of course, the Trope Namer.
 * Good Old Ways: Despite pioneering the integration of CG and traditional animation in Princess Mononoke and Howl's Moving Castle, the studio later shut down their 3D CG department for Ponyo, keeping everything hand drawn. The studio still uses physical paper for animation, only sparingly using CG in their productions.
 * It does appear that they have reopened this department, however, as there are some visible CG segments in The Borrower Arrietty, released after Ponyo.
 * This is averted in the production of Earwig and the Witch, a fully 3D animated film intended as a project for the younger staff at the studio.
 * Grey and Gray Morality: If Ghibli has an antagonist, they work hard to ensure that they are established as a just another person, carrying about their day to day tasks. An exception to this is Laputa: Castle in the Sky, where Muska is in the black, however there are still traces of gray here and there in the form of the Dola clan.
 * Leitmotif: A common technique used in all of Joe Hisaishi's scores. Each Ghibli movie scored by him (and many without his involvement) has a distinct and memorable main theme.
 * Mascot: Totoro serves as this for the studio, appearing in its vanity plate.
 * No Antagonist: Ghibli's conflicts in their slice of life works are often internal and character driven, instead of being caused by an outside source.
 * Plucky Girl: To the point of being the image on the trope's page. Ghibli heroines are strong and independent. They will face many hardships, especially from their internal conflicts, but they always get back up.
 * Production Posse: Hideaki Anno's Studio Khara, since their establishment, has assisted with many Ghibli productions, like Ponyo, The Wind Rises, When Marnie Was There, and From Up on Poppy Hill.
 * Directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata are responsible for most of the studio's output. Not surprising, considering that they're the founders.
 * Composer Joe Hisaishi has collaborated with Miyazaki on every single one of his productions.
 * Scenery Porn: Visible in almost every work from the studio. Miyazaki's films are notable for using this, often having detailed landscapes, rolling hills, or lush grass in almost every single shot. The Borrower Arrietty takes this to the next step, often focusing on detailed shots of foliage, complete with realistic water physics and reflections. Try watching one of their films and not take screenshots.
 * Shown Their Work: Although there are slip ups here and there, the studio typically does a lot of research in the development of a new project. For example, the airplanes in Jiro's dream are real in The Wind Rises. In The Borrower Arrietty, rain and water drops have realistic surface tension. Cats close their eyes halfway to display affection. If you see a plane in one of their movies, chances are, it's a plane that exists in real life.
 * Slice of Life: Even in their epic fantasy works, there are still slice of moments like cleaning a house, waking up in bed, or cooking breakfast, adding a feeling of immersion to the story. Often, the pacing of the entire plot will be interrupted for these moments. This is excluding their actual slice of life films.
 * Silence Is Golden: Ghibli's films are filled with moments like these, often interrupting the story to deliver a relaxing scene for the sake of world building. Examples of this are the train scene in Spirited Away and the bus stop scene in My Neighbor Totoro. In addition, Ghibli's works often have long moments of silence in the soundtrack, to the point where composer Joe Hisashi was asked to extend the Castle in the Sky score when it was dubbed as Disney informed him American audiences are uncomfortable with long periods with no music. Miyazaki has described it as 'mā', calling it the space between claps. The Red Turtle takes this up a notch by having no spoken dialogue.
 * Start My Own: Miyazaki and Takahata started the studio after the success of Nausicaa, taking many employees from Topcraft, the studio which provided animation services for Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
 * War Is Hell: Miyazaki's works are filled with anti war messages. This is prominent in Howl's Moving Castle (anime), where you can see the effects that war has left on Howl and how it has left him more and more exhausted. Bombings are depicted, along with many, many towns on fire.