Studio Ghibli’s Creators

Studio Ghibli was founded by directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata (along with producer Toshio Suzuki). Both directors grew up in a Japan destroyed by WWII at a time which, according to Takahata, saw Japan move away from the sustainable system it had upheld until then. That being humans living in tune with nature. 

The two began working together in the late 1960s at Toei. After they left they created several works (together and separately) before the formation of Studio Ghibli. Some of which demonstrated a love for nature and/or man’s relationship to nature. Including Panda! Go Panda, Heidi, Girl of the Alps and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind among others. 

The two went on to found Studio Ghibli in 1985. With Miyazaki often talking about how nature and humanity are intertwined and Takahata saying that the two creators shared many of the same attitudes regarding politics, it’s easy to see why Ghibli’s output consistently focuses on care for the environment.

Princess Mononoke

One of the works that best exemplifies Studio Ghibli’s environmental themes is Princess Mononoke. This 1997 film tells the story of Prince Ashitaka who, after being banished from his village because of a curse inflicted on him for killing a boar, stumbles into a war between the industrialised Irontown run by Lady Eboshi and the creatures of the forest fronted by a human named San.

Princess Mononoke is not subtle with its pro-environmental message. The central conflict revolves around man’s use of technology to kill and subordinate avatars of the natural world. The film focuses on how constant growth through industrial production and arms manufacturing will destroy the environment. Along with humanity.

Many critics have pointed out nuances within the film. For example, the natural world is portrayed as just as capable of violence as Irontown. There are also divisions on both sides of the conflict regarding how to resolve the fighting. Additionally, the potential for certain useful advancements made by industrialisation is raised.

However, this does not lessen the film’s fierce call for humanity to live in harmony with nature. On the contrary, the use of nuanced characters and storytelling along with natural animation for characters and the environment means the film feels like a more realistic depiction of the world than many others. Animated or live-action. This allows audiences to be engaged not merely politically but emotionally. Through showcasing the fine details Princess Mononoke encourages us to find the best way forward based on empathy for all living things.

Environmentalism in Ghibli’s Filmography

While Princess Mononoke is an oft-cited example of Ghibli’s environmentalism many of their other features have themes relating to nature. Films like My Neighbour Totoro, Only Yesterday, Ponyo and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya showcase a love for living in community with humanity and nature. Grave of the Fireflies, Howl’s Moving Castle and The Wind Rises all contrast the beauty of living in tune with nature to humanity’s use of technology in war. Spirited Away and The Story of Yanagawa Horiwari (Ghibli’s only primarily live-action film) argue for the restoration of clean water. Laputa: Castle In The Sky emphasises the possibility of cooperation between natural preservation and futuristic technology. And Pom Poko is just a flat-out plea for humanity to stop destroying wildlife.

Even films directed by other Ghibli creatives feature at least some form of an environmental message. These include The Red Turtle’s (Michaël Dudok de Wit) look at man’s relationship with animals. As well as When Marnie Was Here (Hiromasa Yonebayashi) emphasising nature’s beauty marching on despite personal tragedy.

Across its 40-year history Studio Ghibli has done a good job at not only recruiting other creators who share Ghibli’s environmental consciousness but also entertaining and inspiring generations of film fans to engage with and think about their relationship to the world around them.

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Today we will provide a guide to ease you into the wonderful world of Ghibli. Firstly we will briefly go through the studio’s history and its founders. We will then review their film’s common styles and themes. Before finally listing the five films we think give the best introduction to the studio’s work.

Ghibli’s History

Directors, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata along with producer Toshio Suzuki founded Studio Ghibli in 1985 after Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind’s success. The studio’s name came from an Italian word referring to both a hot desert wind and a WWII plane. The name symbolised the impact Miyazaki wanted to make on animation and his love of aircraft.

Ghibli’s first film, 1986’s steampunk favourite Castle in the Sky immediately caught people’s attention. In 1988 the studio produced Grave of the Fireflies and My Neighbour Totoro simultaneously. Despite the trying production process for the young studio, both films became instant classics. After 1989’s Kiki’s Delivery Service, Ghibli brought animators on staff permanently rather than project by project. These animators subsequently worked on Miyazaki’s and Takahata’s features and helped create projects like Ocean Waves and Whisper of the Heart.

In 1996 Ghibli’s parent company, Tokuma Shoten, partnered with Disney (which continued in Ghibli’s independent era). Several of their projects received dubs and higher-profile international distribution, bringing Ghibli’s work more attention. GKIDS acquired the theatrical rights for several Ghibli films in 2011, but Disney handled home media releases until 2017. During this partnership Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke, for a time, became the highest-grossing film in Japan. Spirited Away became the first anime film to win the best-animated feature Oscar and the Ghibli Museum opened. Additionally, Hiroyuki Morita, Gorō Miyazaki, and Hiromasa Yonebayashi made their Ghibli debuts.

The studio is currently experiencing a period of change. Isao Takahata passed away in 2018. The studio also released its first entirely CG film and made its entire back catalogue available on streaming for the first time. Hayao Miyazaki is currently working on a new feature but his continual retirement announcements have made many wonder what will happen to Ghibli in the future.

Ghibli’s Style

One thing that sets Ghibli apart is that it mainly sticks to using traditional hand-drawn techniques to realise its films. It uses CG sparingly (aside from Earwig and the Witch). Even the upcoming How Do You Live? uses hand-drawn animation. Making Ghibli an outlier in the modern animation industry.

Ghibli also has many elements and themes that their films continually return to. Including the interaction between humanity and nature, children or young adults coming of age, mundane situations interacting with the fantastical or extraordinary, strong women characters, and an anti-war stance.

Ghibli’s Best

Finally, which Ghibli films provide the best entry point for audiences?

Grave of the Fireflies

Isao Takahata’s first Ghibli film is a heartbreaking story about two children attempting to survive in a world made cruel by war.

My Neighbor Totoro

When a family moves to the countryside their two children discover and begin interacting with woodland spirits. My Neighbor Totoro is the equivalent of an 86-minute warm hug.

Princess Mononoke

The story of a Prince caught in the middle of a war between forest-dwelling spirits, gods and warriors and the technologically advancing humans encroaching on their territory is an exhilarating epic that everyone must see.

Spirited Away

Spirited Away is about Chihiro who begins working at a bath house for spirits and gods while trying to save her parents who were transformed into pigs. A fantastic coming-of-age film and the only anime film to win the best-animated film at the Oscars.

When Marnie Was There

This bittersweet drama is a wonderful supernatural-inflected tale about finding friends and yourself through exploring the past that hits as hard as any live-action drama.

Hopefully, this article has given you enough insight into Studio Ghibli to encourage you to start your Ghibli journey. Enjoy.

Also Read: How Anime Went International

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Steampunk’s Aesthetic

Steampunk is a retro-futuristic aesthetic. The genre largely focuses on the fashion and/or settings of the Victorian/American Wild West era. And juxtaposes this against intricate technology. Which is too advanced or fantastical for that time. Often it emphasises adventure stories and a sense of discovery.

But creators aren’t restricted to working in the specific time period mentioned above. Steampunk stories have been set in many periods between the industrial revolution and the Edwardian era. Some creators make science fantasy stories divorced from our world. Others tell of futuristic/post-apocalyptic scenarios where the world we know is replaced by continuations of the steampunk era. Meaning the genre’s aesthetics allow for a lot of possibilities.

Genre Origins

Author K.W. Jeter coined the name in a 1987 letter to Locus magazine. In this letter, he jokingly referred to a group of writers who like him were writing Victorian fantasy science fiction as “steampunks”.

The genre also has roots in the Victorian science fiction stories of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. Works like The Time Machine and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea contributed a lot to the genre. And there are examples of steampunk works that predate the name such as The Wild Wild West TV show, books like Michael Moorcock’s The Warlord of the Air, and some of the manga of Osamu Tezuka. But how has cinema represented the genre?

Steampunk Precursor Movies

Arguably one of the earliest films to use elements that steampunk would later incorporate was Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon (1902). Which features anachronistic technology, rocket ships landing on the moon, alongside characters from the Edwardian period. It was also influenced by Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon and H.G. Wells’ First Men in the Moon.

Other titles that would influence steampunk include Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and Karel Zeman’s The Deadly Invention (1958). Both are Jules Verne book adaptations. Both also feature advanced machinery and submarines in Victorianesque settings. George Pal’s The Time Machine (1960) and Nicholas Meyer’s Time After Time (1979), are also examples of early cinema steampunk. Both having Victorian heroes with retro-futuristic time travel devices.

Modern Steampunk Movies

1986 saw the release of Hayao Miyazaki’s Castle in the Sky, considered one of the first true steampunk films. Then the 90s saw the release of the big-budget Hollywood adaptation of Wild Wild West (1999) and Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s wildly imaginative The City of Lost Children (1995). Which takes place in an undetermined time full of retro clothing, oil rigs, sea mines, and eyepieces that seem both advanced and simple.

However, steampunk cinema arguably became most popular in the 21st century. This time saw the big-screen adaptation of Alan Moore’s popular steampunk comic The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003). Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) employed retro-futurist technology alongside a magical fantasy world to showcase the wonders and atrocities that mankind is capable of. And short films like the Oscar-nominated The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello (2005) helped to showcase the genres growing popularity. Even films like Martin Scorsese’s Hugo (2011) showcased a fascination with the genre’s aesthetics. Despite being set after the steampunk era. Hugo’s world is full of steam trains, old-fashioned dress, and mechanical automatons. Eventually, the film even becomes a tribute to genre influencer Georges Méliès. And that’s only a few examples of steampunk cinema throughout this time.

Conclusion

Steampunk is a fascinating movement. Full of imaginative stories and worlds. And while it isn’t the biggest genre in terms of cinematic content its roots stretch back to the birth of cinema. And it has continued to grow in popularity over recent years. Not bad for a genre that got its name from a joke.

Also Read: From Blockbuster to Mockbuster: Big Films and Their Copies

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1. Netflix Original Sci-Fi – Okja

A corporation sends 26 creatures, which were developed as a food source, across the world as a PR stunt. However, when they take one of the creatures (Okja) away, Mija (Seo-Hyun Ahn), sets out to get her back. What makes Okja special is its direction, which mixes many different elements (Science fiction, horror, comedy) together without feeling tonally confused, and Seo-Hyun Ahn’s performance which easily invests us in her struggle to get Okja back.

2. Hard Sci-Fi – The Martian

Mark Watney (Matt Damon) becomes stranded on Mars after his expedition team evacuates. Mark has one goal, survive. Thankfully, the world’s space agencies begin mounting a mission to rescue him. The Martian is great sci-fi. The entire cast makes their characters and the technical dialogue feel very natural. The special effects really sell the experience. And, it does a great job making the science feel accurate.

3. Sci-Fi Comedy – The Truman Show

Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) slowly realises that his life is a TV show. He’s being filmed from every angle 24 hours a day. And lives inside the world’s biggest set. The Truman Show is a fantastic dark comedy that uses its sci-fi trappings to make great statements on humanity’s voyeuristic nature. In fact, with the continual expansion of surveillance technology, the Truman Show is more relevant now than ever.

4. Sci-Fi Action – Dredd

While on a training exercise Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) and rookie judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) get locked inside a futuristic skyscraper full of bloodthirsty gang members. With no retreat, the only option is to fight to the top to get out. Dredd’s futuristic setting explores many pressing issues such as the justice system and overpopulation, but it also facilitates some of the best action of the past decade.

5. Sci-Fi Horror – A Cure for Wellness

Lockhart (Dane DeHaan) goes to a remote wellness centre to retrieve his CEO. However, he soon becomes injured, meaning he can’t leave, and he begins to believe the facility is hiding something sinister. But what is happening and can Lockhart escape? A Cure for Wellness feels like a classic Universal horror film. Where the gothic atmosphere is thick and engaging. And the minor sci-fi ingredients greatly amplify the horror.

6. Sci-Fi Drama – Proxima

Sarah (Eva Green) is training to become an astronaut but she must try to balance her training with her family life, particularly preparing her daughter Stella (Zélie Boulant) for when she leaves. Proxima is an amazing look at the physical and emotional hardships astronauts go through to prepare for space travel, but it’s also an affecting family drama and an inspiring tribute to female astronauts. It’s also buoyed by Green and Boulant’s excellent performances.

7. Alien Sci-Fi – Close Encounters of the Third Kind

After Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) has a mysterious encounter with an unidentified flying object he and the government begin investigating and trying to contact alien life. Close Encounters is a fantastic exploration of how obsession with the unexplainable can negatively affect people and can also be used to cross boundaries.

8. Steampunk Sci-Fi – Castle in the Sky

Sheeta (Keiko Yokozawa) holds the key to finding Laputa, the castle in the sky, and along with Pazu (Mayumi Tanaka), she must try to outrun the pirates and a government agent trying to find Laputa for greed and conquest. A touchstone of modern steampunk fiction, Castle in the Sky is a thrilling adventure with a fun story and wonderful characters who populate an inventive fantasy world that melds modern and primitive technology together beautifully.

9. Children’s Sci-Fi – Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

When Peter Parker dies Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) must become his world’s Spider-man and defeat the Kingpin with the help of the spider-people of several realities. Into the Spider-Verse is perfect kids science fiction because it’s full of great action, gorgeous visuals, and creative use of sci-fi concepts like alternate realities. But it’s also grounded by a fantastic lead, a great supporting cast, and a positive message about carving your own path.

10. Surreal Sci-Fi – Sorry to Bother You

Cassius (LaKeith Stanfield) begins losing touch with his roots after being promoted at his telemarketing company until he discovers a new project the company is working on. Sorry to Bother You is a vehicle for social commentary. This movie critiques capitalism, race, media and uses sci-fi elements to create a riveting dystopian portrait of contemporary life.

Those are just 10 great sci-fi movies available on Netflix. If you have any favourites we missed, let us know.

Also Read: The Future Is Now: How Sci-Fi Imagined the Future

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