Studio Ghibli Research Paper

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The word “ghibli” means “hot wind blowing through the Sahara Desert” in Italian (Suzuki). “Ghibli” is now used as the name of the studio that has blown a strong wind through the Japanese animation industry. Studio Ghibli is an animation film studio based in Tokyo, Japan (John). From their history and labor-intensive production, to their unique themes and global impact, Studio Ghibli is an establishment worth knowing about. The history of Studio Ghibli was built on risk-taking, hard work, and exceptional talent. Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata are the studio’s two producers. According to Toshio Suzuki from nausicaa.net, after the huge success of their film Nausicaa Valley of the Wind, Tokuma Shoten Publishing Co. founded Studio Ghibli in …show more content…

Their films are bursting of fantastic creatures, monsters, and powerful spirits. In Spirited Away the main character, Chihiro, enters a spirit world full strange characters. Some of the spirits found in the spirit world include a radish spirit, a six-armed spirit who operates the boiler room, and a teenage boy who shapeshifts into a dragon. Many of the studio’s films also demonstrate the dysfunctional relationship between man and nature. One of their films, Princess Mononoke, is about how a heavily industrial town run by humans destroys the nearby forest. The humans cut down wood and pollute the air with chemicals. This angers the forest spirits and they retaliate against the humans. In the end of the film, the town is destroyed and the forest and rolling hills are shown flourishing back to their natural state. Through watching their movies, one can gain a sense of the producer’s values. The studio sends messages to the audience through their movies. In Princess Mononoke the message is that humans need to respect and value both the power and fragility of nature. Ponyo also possesses a similar theme of respect and protection of the environment. The influence of the Shinto religion, the dominant religion in Japan, can be seen through the heavy use of forest and animal spirits in Ghibli’s films. The unknown author of “Spirits, gods, and pastel paints: The weird world of master animator Hayao Miyazaki”, says, “As with many Ghibli films, we …show more content…

The animators transport the audience into magical lands that spark the imagination in both children and adults. Through these fantastic worlds we are given a view into modern issues such as human’s negative impact on the environment, or the destructiveness of war. We are also shown simpler stories such as one of a girl transitioning from a world of innocence into adulthood, or a story of the great imagination of young children. The audience can watch one movie and observe the value of nature, or they can watch another movie and get a history lesson on the effects of WWll on Japan. Studio Ghibli is very versatile. They do not use the ultra-realistic, computer generated images in their films like other studios do, but their simplistic drawing style holds a beauty of its own. Thanks to Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and hundreds more at Studio Ghibli, the world is able to enjoy simply beautiful art about nature, spirits, war, joy, and

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