Studio Ponoc

Studio Ponoc (スタジオポノック) is an animation studio founded in 2015 after the closure of Studio Ghibli's animation department. After Ghibli's announcement after the production of When Marnie Was There, Yoshiaki Nishimura departed and founded the studio, taking Hiromasa Yonebayashi (The Borrower Arrietty, When Marnie Was There) and several other Ghibli employees with him. Although Ghibli has since reopened their animation department, Ponoc still remains as a separate entity. In 2017, they released their first feature film, Mary and the Witch's Flower, based on The Little Broomstick.

The studio's animation quality is lesser compared to their big brother, with more reliance on detailed background shots and less attention to detail, due to their smaller size and budgets. The studio tends to prioritise storytelling more than Ghibli, leading to faster pacing and more conventional productions.


 * Mascot: Mary Smith, from Mary and the Witch's Flower, serves as this for the studio.
 * Meaningful Name: Ponoc means the beginning of a new day, or midnight, reflecting their status as a new beginning for ex-Ghibli members.
 * Scenery Porn: What do you expect for a studio descended from Ghibli? Their films tend to tone it down, putting more of an emphasis on the story rather than scenery, but they clearly took some inspiration from their older cousin when it comes to long shots.
 * Start My Own: The studio was founded by ex-Ghibli employees after they shut down.

Major productions:
 * Mary and the Witch's Flower (2017)
 * Modest Heroes (2018), an anthology film
 * The Imaginary (TBA)

Other productions:
 * Mirai (2018) — Production Assistance
 * Tomorrow's Leaves (2020), a short film for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics — Production
 * Belle (2021) — Production Assistance