Studio Ghibli Inc. (株式会社スタジオジブリ Kabushiki-gaisha Sutajio Jiburi?) is a Japanese animation film studio, and previously was a subsidiary of Tokuma Shoten. Its anime films have been provocative, imaginative, emotional and widely praised all over the world. Its name derives from the nickname the Italians used for their Saharan scouting planes in the Second World War, which derived from the Libyan word for hot wind blowing through the Sahara Desert (also known as sirocco). Though the term is Italian, the Japanese pronunciation of the studio's name is (IPA: [ˌdʒbɹiː] or [ˌdʒbɝi]). The theory behind the name was that the studio was blowing a new wind into the Japanese anime industry. The company's logo features the character Totoro from the film My Neighbor Totoro.
Founded in 1985, it is headed by the acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki along with his colleague and mentor Isao Takahata, as well as the studio's executive managing director and long-time producer Toshio Suzuki. Its origins date back to 1983, with the film Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, which was popularised as a serialized manga in a publication of Tokuma Shoten's Animage magazine after the original screenplay was rejected. The film was eventually produced by Topcraft and the film's success spurred the formation of Ghibli. Tokuma is the parent company of Studio Ghibli, and has provided Disney with the video rights to eight of the films and global distribution rights to Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Miyazaki's latest film, Howl's Moving Castle, was actually based on a book by British author Diana Wynne Jones, published in several countries including Canada and the United States. Composer Joe Hisaishi has provided the soundtrack for all of Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli films.
The most famous and lauded film from the studio that was not directed by Miyazaki is Grave of the Fireflies, directed by Isao Takahata, a sad film focusing on the lives of two war orphans towards the end of Second World War in Japan.
Over the years, there has been a close relationship between Studio Ghibli and the magazine Animage, which regularly runs exclusive articles about the studio and its members in a section titled "Ghibli Notes." Artwork from Ghibli's films and other works frequently graces the cover of the magazine.
The company is well known for its strict "no-edits" policy in licensing their films abroad. This has stemmed from the disastrous dubbing of Miyazaki's Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind when the film was released in the United States (it was heavily edited and Americanized). There is a rumour that when licensing Princess Mononoke, Miyazaki mailed the respective studio a sword, to underline their "no-editing" policy, although in a recent interview with The Guardian, he claims: "my producer did that".
Works[]

A life-size model of a robot from the animation Castle in the Sky on top of the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo.
Films[]
Year | Title | Director | Screenwriter(s) | Producer(s) | Music | Commercial premiere | Running time | Rotten Tomatoes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1984 | Nausicaä of the Valley of the WindTemplate:Ref label | Hayao Miyazaki | Isao Takahata | Joe Hisaishi | Japan: March 11, 1984 | 117 minutes | 89%[1] | |
1986 | Castle in the Sky | Japan: August 2, 1986 | 124 minutes | 96%[2] | ||||
1988 | Grave of the Fireflies | Isao Takahata | Toru Hara | Michio Mamiya | Japan: April 16, 1988 | 88 minutes | 100%[3] | |
My Neighbor Totoro | Hayao Miyazaki | Joe Hisaishi | 86 minutes | 95%[4] | ||||
1989 | Kiki's Delivery Service | Hayao Miyazaki | Japan: July 29, 1989 | 103 minutes | 98%[5] | |||
1991 | Only Yesterday | Isao Takahata | Toshio Suzuki | Masaru Hoshi | Japan: July 20, 1991 English dub premiere: January 1, 2016 |
119 minutes | 100%[6] | |
1992 | Porco Rosso | Hayao Miyazaki | Joe Hisaishi | Japan: July 18, 1992 | 93 minutes | 95%[7] | ||
1993 | Ocean Waves | Tomomi Mochizuki | Kaori Nakamura (Keiko Niwa) | Nozomu Takahashi, Seiji Okuda & Toshio Suzuki | Shigeru Nagata | Japan: May 5, 1993 United States: December 28, 2016 |
72 minutes | 88%[8] |
1994 | Pom Poko | Isao Takahata | Toshio Suzuki | Shang Shang Typhoon | Japan: July 16, 1994 | 119 minutes | 86%[9] | |
1995 | Whisper of the Heart | Yoshifumi Kondō | Hayao Miyazaki | Yuji Nomi | Japan: July 15, 1995 | 111 minutes | 94%[10] | |
1997 | Princess Mononoke | Hayao Miyazaki | Joe Hisaishi | Japan: July 12, 1997 United States: October 29, 1999 |
133 minutes | 93%[11] | ||
1999 | My Neighbors the Yamadas | Isao Takahata | Akiko Yano | Japan: July 17, 1999 | 103 minutes | 78%[12] | ||
2001 | Spirited Away | Hayao Miyazaki | Joe Hisaishi | Japan: July 20, 2001 United States: September 20, 2002 |
124 minutes | 97%[13] | ||
2002 | The Cat Returns | Hiroyuki Morita | Reiko Yoshida | Nozomu Takahashi & Toshio Suzuki | Yuji Nomi | Japan: July 19, 2002 | 75 minutes | 90%[14] |
2004 | Howl's Moving Castle | Hayao Miyazaki | Toshio Suzuki | Joe Hisaishi | Japan: November 20, 2004 United States: June 10, 2005 |
119 minutes | 87%[15] | |
2006 | Tales from Earthsea | Gorō Miyazaki | Gorō Miyazaki & Keiko Niwa | Tamiya Terashima | Japan: July 29, 2006 United States: August 13, 2010 |
115 minutes | 43%[16] | |
2008 | Ponyo | Hayao Miyazaki | Joe Hisaishi | Japan: July 19, 2008 United States: August 14, 2009 |
101 minutes | 92%[17] | ||
2010 | Arrietty | Hiromasa Yonebayashi | Hayao Miyazaki & Keiko Niwa | Cécile Corbel | Japan: July 17, 2010 United States: February 17, 2012 |
94 minutes | 95%[18] | |
2011 | From Up on Poppy Hill | Gorō Miyazaki | Satoshi Takebe | Japan: July 16, 2011 United States: March 15, 2013 |
91 minutes | 86%[19] | ||
2013 | The Wind Rises[20] | Hayao Miyazaki | Joe Hisaishi | Japan: July 20, 2013 United States: February 21, 2014 |
126 minutes | 88%[21] | ||
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya[20] | Isao Takahata | Isao Takahata & Riko Sakaguchi | Yoshiaki Nishimura | Japan: November 23, 2013 United States: October 17, 2014 |
137 minutes | 100%[22] | ||
2014 | When Marnie Was There[23] | Hiromasa Yonebayashi | Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Keiko Niwa & Masashi Ando | Takatsugu Muramatsu | Japan: July 19, 2014 United States: May 22, 2015 |
102 minutes | 91%[24] | |
2020 | Earwig and the Witch | Gorō Miyazaki | Keiko Niwa & Emi Gunji | Toshio Suzuki | Satoshi Takebe | December 30, 2020 | 82 minutes | 29%[25] |
2023 | How Do You Live? | Hayao Miyazaki | Joe Hisaishi | Japan: July 14, 2023[26] | 125 minutes | TBA |
- Template:Note label Not produced, but released by Studio Ghibli under its label.
Short films[]
- Sora Iro no Tane (1992) (TV short film)
- Nandarou (1992) (TV short film)
- On Your Mark (1995) (a music video created for Chage & Aska)
- Ghiblies (2000) (TV short film)
- Ghiblies Episode 2 (2002) (shown in theaters with The Cat Returns)
- Kusoh no Kikai-tachi no Naka no Hakai no Hatsumei (The Invention of Destruction in the Imaginary Machines) (2002) (Shown at the Ghibli Museum)
- Koro no Daisanpo (Koro's Big Day Out) (2003) (The first of three short films shown at the Ghibli Museum in 2003)
- Kujiratori (The Whale Hunt) (2003)
- Mei to Konekobasu (Mei and the Kittenbus) (2003)
- Yadosagashi (Looking for a Home) (2005) (The first of three short films shown at the Ghibli Museum in 2006)
- Hoshi wo Katta Hi (The Day I Cropped/Harvested a Star) (2005)
- Mizugumo Monmon (Water Spider Monmon) (2005)
- The Night of Taneyamagahara (2006)
Other works[]
The works listed here consist works that don't fall into either category above.
- Nandarou (1992) (TV commercial for NHK)
- Umacha (2001) (TV commercials)
- Lasseter-san, Arigatou (2003) (thank you video created for John Lasseter)
Related works[]
These works were not created by Studio Ghibli, but were produced by members of Topcraft that went on to create Studio Ghibli in 1985 or created in cooperation with Studio Ghibli.
Pre-Ghibli[]
- Hols: Prince of the Sun (1968) (Takahata's directorial debut, with a screenplay by Kazuo Fukazawa; Hayao Miyazaki was scenic designer and a key animator)
- Puss 'n Boots (1969) (Directed by Kimio Yabuki, written by Hisashi Inoue and Morihisa Yamamoto with gag supervision by Nakahara Yumihiko, key animators include Yasuo Otsuka, Yoichi Kotabe, Reiko Okuyama, Takuo Kikuchi, Akemi Ota, Hayao Miyazaki, and Akira Daikubara)
- Animal Treasure Island (1971) (Directed by Hiroshi Ikeda, written by Hiroshi Ikeda and Takashi Iijima with idea construction/adaptation by Hayao Miyazaki; Hayao Miyazaki was also scenic designer and a key animator)
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1972) (by Topcraft for Rankin-Bass)
- The Hobbit (1977) (by Topcraft for Rankin-Bass; won the Peabody Award; artists include: Hidetoshi Kaneko, Kazuko Ito and Minoru Nishida;)
- Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
- The Return of the King (1980) (by Topcraft for Rankin-Bass; done by basically the same team that did The Hobbit, with the addition of Tadakatsu Yoshida)
- The Last Unicorn (1982) (by Topcraft for Rankin-Bass [1])
- The Flight of Dragons (1982) (by Topcraft for Rankin-Bass)
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Topcraft, 1984)
- ThunderCats (1985) (an animated series created by Topcraft for Rankin-Bass)
- Angel's Egg (1985) (a Mamoru Oshii film co-produced by Tokuma Shoten, the parent company of Studio Ghibli)
Cooperative works[]
- The Story of Yanagawa's Canals (1987) (a documentary by Isao Takahata)
- Ozanari Dungeon (1991) (an OVA series for which Studio Ghibli did some animation work)
- Kirikou et la sorcière (1998) (a Michel Ocelot adapted into Japanese by Isao Takahata and distributed by Studio Ghibli)
- Shiki-Jitsu (2000) (directed by Hideaki Anno under a live action division of Tokuma Shoten, Studio Kajino)
- Innocence: Ghost in the Shell (2004) (a film by Production I.G.)
In addition, Ghibli did work on Takahata's short in the 2004 experimental animation anthology Winter Days.
See also[]
- The Ghibli Museum is in Mitaka, Tokyo.
- Yasuo Ōtsuka
External links[]
- Official Japanese website
- Official USA website
- Official Australian website
- Official UK & Ireland website
- Tokuma Shoten website (in Japanese)
- Nausicaa.net: The Hayao Miyazaki Web (the largest English language source on Ghibli's films and other related anime works)
- GhibliWorld.com: The Ultimate Ghibli Collection Site (English Ghibli source with news updates straight from Japan and info about Studio Ghibli goods)
- The Big Cartoon DataBase entry for Studio Ghibli Animation
- Topcraft/Studio Ghibli: The Complete History (English and Italian)
Studio Ghibli
株式会社スタジオジブリ Pre-Ghibli Films
Hols: Prince of the Sun (1968) • Puss 'n Boots (1969) • Flying Ghost Ship (1969) • Animal Treasure Island (1971) • Ali-Baba and the 40 Thieves (1971) • Yuki no Taiyo (1972) • Panda Go Panda (1972–1973) • The Castle of Cagliostro (1977) • Chie the Brat (1981) • Gauche the Cellist (1982) • Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) Ghibli Films
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) • Castle in the Sky (1986) • The Story of Yanagawa's Canals (1987) • Grave of the Fireflies (1988) • My Neighbor Totoro (1988) • Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) • Only Yesterday (1991) • Porco Rosso (1992) • Ocean Waves (1993) • Pom Poko (1994) • Whisper of the Heart (1995) • Princess Mononoke (1997) • My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999) • Spirited Away (2001) • The Cat Returns (2002) • Howl's Moving Castle (2004) • Tales from Earthsea (2006)• Ponyo (2008) • The Secret World of Arrietty (2010) From Up On Poppy Hill (2011) • The Wind Rises (2013) • The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013) • When Marnie Was There (2014) • Earwig and the Witch (2020) • How Do You Live? (2023) • Short Films
The Sky-Colored Seed (1992) • Nandarou (1992) • On Your Mark (1995) • Ghiblies (2000) • Ghiblies Episode II (2002) • Mei and the Kittenbus (2003) • Koro's Big Day Out (2003) • The Whale Hunt (2003) • The Invention of Destruction in the Imaginary Machines (2004) • Imaginary Flying Machines (2004) • The Ornithopter Story: Fly to the Sky Hiyodiro Tengu! (2004) • The Day I Harvested a Star (2006) • House-hunting (2006) • Monmon the Water Spider (2006) • The Night of Taneyamagahara (2006) People
Masashi Andō • Hideaki Anno • Mamoru Hosoda • Megumi Kagawa • Kazuo Komatsubara • Katsuya Kondō • Yoshifumi Kondō • Yoichi Kotabe • Gorō Miyazaki • Hayao Miyazaki • Yoshiyuki Momose • Tomomi Mochizuki • [[Yasuji Mori • [[Hiroyuki Morita • Mamoru Oshii • Shinji Otsuka • Yasuo Ōtsuka • Toshio Suzuki • Isao Takahata • Kazuo Oga • Tsukasa Tannai Places
Studio Ghibli • Ghibli Museum |
References[]
- ↑ Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Kaze no tani no Naushika). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media.)
- ↑ Castle in the Sky (1989). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. (1989 was the year of its U.S. release.)
- ↑ Hotaru no haka (Grave of the Fireflies) (1988). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media.
- ↑ My neighbor Totoro (1988). Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster.
- ↑ Kiki's delivery service (1989). Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster.
- ↑ Only Yesterday (2016). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. (2016 was the year of its U.S. release.)
- ↑ Porco Rosso (Kurenai no buta) (1992). Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster.
- ↑ Ocean Waves(2016). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media.
- ↑ Pom Poko (Heisei tanuki gassen pompoko) (The Raccoon War) (1994). Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster.
- ↑ Whisper of the Heart (Mimi wo sumaseba) (If You Listen Closely) (2006). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. (2006 was the year of its U.S. TV & DVD release.)
- ↑ Princess Mononoke (1999). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. (1999 was the year of its U.S. release.)
- ↑ My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999). Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster.
- ↑ Spirited Away (2001). Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster.
- ↑ The Cat Returns (2002). Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster.
- ↑ Howl's Moving Castle (2005). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. (2005 was the year of its U.S. release.)
- ↑ Gedo senki (Tales from Earthsea) (2010). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. (2010 was the year of its U.S. release.)
- ↑ Ponyo (2009). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. (2009 was the year of its U.S. release.)
- ↑ The Secret World of Arrietty (2012). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. (It was released in the U.S. under this title in 2012.)
- ↑ From Up On Poppy Hill (2013). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. (2013 was the year of its U.S. release.)
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Studio Ghibli to release Miyazaki, Takahata films in Summer 2013. The Asahi Shimbun (December 21, 2012).
- ↑ The Wind Rises (2014). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. (2014 was the year of its U.S. release.)
- ↑ The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2014). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. (2014 was the year of its U.S. release.)
- ↑ "Ghibli Adapts Joan G. Robinson's When Marnie Was There Novel Into Anime", Anime News Network, December 12, 2013.
- ↑ When Marnie Was There (2015). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. (2015 was the year of its U.S. release.)
- ↑ Earwig and the Witch (2020). Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media.
- ↑ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (December 13, 2022). Hayao Miyazaki's How Do You Live? Film Opens in Japan on July 14, 2023.