My Hipster Girlfriend

In 1996 Studio Ghibli began to make deals with The Walt Disney Co. to distribute their films worldwide.  In Japan, Studio Ghibli is part of The Tokuma Group who handles the video and theatre distribution of the films domestically, but with the new deal, Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Disney’s international distribution company) would handle all video distribution deals inside and outside of Japan.  The only element The Tokuma Group and Studio Ghibli would continue to handle was the theatre releases in Japan and 14 other Asian countries.  Also previous films already released by Studio Ghibli would be handed to Disney for international release as well (Mizui, 1996).

Recently in 2009 Studio Ghibli has been extending its hand out to other companies in Hollywood to increase its presence in North America.  Pixar Animation Studios; responsible for Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc and many other films will try to help Studio Ghibli continue its anime rampage throughout the world.  Producers and spouses Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy and chief creative officer of Pixar John Lassenger as director collaboratively worked on the most recent movie from studio Ghibli, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (“In brief: ghibli,” 2009).

Studio Ghibli is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world and they are trying to take North America by storm.  Studio Ghibli can be seen as a pioneer for distributing anime outside of Japan.  James Cameron is in the works of creating a live-action adaption of the popular Battle Angel Alita and Steven Spielberg has secured rights to make a 3-D live action adaption of the hugely successful anime Ghost in the Shell (Halsall, 2010).    

(Hayao Miyazaki & John Lassenger)

Halsall, J. (2010, September). Anime goes mainstream. School Library Journal, Retrieved from http://EBSCOHost.com

In brief: ghibli bets on hollywood talent. (2009, January 13). The Nikkei Weekly, Retrieved from http://EBSCOHost.com

Mizui, Y. (1996, August 1). Disney’s animation deal. The Daily Yomiuri, Retrieved from http://EBSCOHost.com

What makes up a studio but the people of that studio?  In the case of Studio Ghibli; Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki are the studio.  Miyazaki was born January 5, 1941in Tokyo to a war torn Japan in.  Miyazaki was 4 years old when Japan surrendered in 1945.  He grew up with three brothers, father, and his bed-ridden mother.  After years of moving around Japan for the best medical care for his mother, Hayao decided to attend Gakushin University and graduated with a degree in political science and economics (Odell, & Le Blanc, 2009).

Isao Takahata was born October 29, 1935 in Ise Japan.  Isao attended the University of Tokyo and graduated in French Literature.  After graduating he applied for a job at Toei Doga studio as an assistant director.  Toei Doga studios is where he met Hayao Miyazaki who was working as an animator (Odell, & Le Blanc, 2009).

At Toei Doga, Isao and Hayao were introduced by Otsuka Yasuo on the animated film Horusu: Prince of the Sun (1968).  After this film Isao decided to leave the studio but he brought Miyazaki with him.  Both men worked on their own separate projects, but they still honored and revered one another which lead them to continue to do projects together such as Panda Kapanda and Conan, the Boy in Future (1978).  Though these projects strengthened their friendship, it wasn’t until Miyazaki began working on a project called Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind did the duo decide to permanently work together.  Besides Takahata, Miyazaki enlisted the help of composer Joe Hisaichi and producer Suzuki Toshio, and from there Isao, Hayao, and Toshio founded Studio Ghibli (Odell, & Le Blanc, 2009).  Studio Ghibli was to be a place of artistic freedom where anything Miyazaki and Takahata wanted to take on they could.

(Isao Takahata & Hayao Miyazaki)

Odell, C., & Le Blanc, M. (2009). Studio ghibli the films of hayao miyazaki and isao takahata. United Kingdom : Kamera Books.

In The United States anime itself is considered a genre, the fact that it is not live-action puts it into a separate category.  Anime is short for animation, but anime is traditionally only associated with Japanese Animation.  As soon as it is associated with the Japanese it becomes alien to the American public and is then associated with American teen fandom, but to change a culture it has to start with the hearts of children and the subculture of anime is ever growing.  Anime is much more than just a cartoon; manga, anime’s comic cousin and mother makes up to 36% of total publication revenue in Japan (Kosei, & Toshihiko, 2009).  Japan has never lost sight of the magic that anime has brought to the world and one Studio, Studio Ghibli has been the catalyst in providing these works of magic.  Lead by the star duo Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, Studio Ghibli has been creating what could easily be considered the greatest works of anime.  In America we might consider anime to be a genre within itself but according to Japanese standards Studio Ghibli has been deploying classical and original tales since 1985.  The prodigal son, forgiving parent, and self-sacrificing sister is one of these and is just as it sounds.  A boy who soon finds he has a destiny to fulfill, a parent who holds the responsibility to let the son go, and the sister who sacrifices material or emotional happiness for the family; Princess Mononoke is the best example of this for Studio Ghibli.  Though, there is a much more prevalent genre that Studio Ghibli exploits and has actually been revolutionary in recreating it.  This classical genre in Japan is the all-suffering female and the weak passive male and many of the Studio Ghibli films deploy this theme (Barrett, 1989).  Most of the main characters from Studio Ghibli films are indeed female who often times suffer some kind of plight, but suffering is not their main purpose.  Studio Ghibli gives power to their young female characters; they are not in the film to be rescued by a male, though often times there is a male counterpart; he is there as a support character who is more like a friend who is part of the learning journey. In the end it is the female character that holds the power to her true liberation.  Studio Ghibli is a revolutionary studio that is challenging traditional Japanese themes but it is also challenging the world by giving us a retrospective of life in animation.   

Barrett, G. (1989). Archetypes in japanese film. London, Toronto: Susquehanna Universtiy Press.

Kosei, A., & Toshihiko, K. (2009, November). Numbers and photos show strength of manga fad. Discover Japan nippon, 4, 24-25.