Studio Ghibli

Studio Ghibli, Inc. (株式会社スタジオジブリ) is a Japanese animation film studio based in Koganei, Tokyo, Japan. The studio is best known for its anime feature films, and has also produced several short films, television commercials, and one television film. It was founded on June 15, 1985 after the success of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), with funding by Tokuma Shoten.

Eight of Studio Ghibli's films are among the 15 highest-grossing anime films made in Japan, with Spirited Away (2001) being the highest, grossing over US$290 million worldwide. Many of their works have won the Animage Anime Grand Prix award, and four have won the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year. Five of Studio Ghibli's films received Academy Award nominations in the United States. Spirited Away won a Golden Bear in 2002 and an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2003.

On August 3, 2014, Studio Ghibli announced it was temporarily halting production following the retirement of director Hayao Miyazaki, who co-founded the studio with Isao Takahata.

Name
The name Ghibli was given by Hayao Miyazaki with reference to the Caproni Ca.309 Ghibli. The Italian noun "ghibli" is based on the Libyan-Arabic name for the sirocco, or Mediterranean wind, the idea being the studio would "blow a new wind through the anime industry". Although the Italian word is pronounced with a hard, the Japanese pronunciation of the studio's name is with a soft g,

History
Founded on June 15, 1985, the studio is headed by the directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and the producer Toshio Suzuki. Prior to the formation of the studio, Miyazaki and Takahata had already had long careers in Japanese film and television animation and had worked together on Hols: Prince of the Sun and Panda! Go, Panda!; and Suzuki was an editor at Tokuma Shoten's Animage manga magazine.

The studio was founded after the success of the 1984 film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, written and directed by Miyazaki for Topcraft and distributed by Toei Company. The origins of the film lie in the first two volumes of a serialized manga written by Miyazaki for publication in Animage as a way of generating interest in an anime version. Suzuki was part of the production team on the film and founded Studio Ghibli with Miyazaki, who also invited Takahata to join the new studio.

The studio has mainly produced films by Miyazaki, with the second most prolific director being Takahata (most notably with Grave of the Fireflies). Other directors who have worked with Studio Ghibli include Yoshifumi Kondo, Hiroyuki Morita, Gorō Miyazaki, and Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Composer Joe Hisaishi has provided the soundtracks for most of Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli films. In their book Anime Classics Zettai!, Brian Camp and Julie Davis made note of Michiyo Yasuda as "a mainstay of Studio Ghibli’s extraordinary design and production team". At one time the studio was based in Kichijōji, Musashino, Tokyo.

In August 1996, Disney and Tokuma Shoten Publishing agreed that Disney would distribute internationally Tokuma's Studio Ghibli animated films.

Many of Ghibli's films in Japan are theatrically distributed by Toho while home video releases are handled by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Japan. Wild Bunch holds the international sales rights to many of Ghibli's films. Ghibli's main international distribution partners also include Disney (Japan Home Video, Taiwan, North America, France),  GKIDS (North America), StudioCanal UK, and Madman Entertainment (Australia).

Over the years, there has been a close relationship between Studio Ghibli and the magazine Animage, which regularly runs exclusive articles on the studio and its members in a section titled "Ghibli Notes." Artwork from Ghibli's films and other works are frequently featured on the cover of the magazine. Between 1999 and 2005 Studio Ghibli was a subsidiary of Tokuma Shoten, the publisher of Animage.

In October 2001, the Ghibli Museum opened in Mitaka, Tokyo. It contains exhibits based on Studio Ghibli films and shows animations, including a number of short Studio Ghibli films not available elsewhere.

The studio is also known for its strict "no-edits" policy in licensing their films abroad due to Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind being heavily edited for the film's release in the United States as Warriors of the Wind. The "no cuts" policy was highlighted when Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein suggested editing Princess Mononoke to make it more marketable. A Studio Ghibli producer is rumoured to have sent an authentic Japanese sword with a simple message: "No cuts".

On February 1, 2008, Toshio Suzuki stepped down from the position of Studio Ghibli president, which he had held since 2005, and Koji Hoshino (former president of Walt Disney Japan) took over. Suzuki said he wanted to improve films with his own hands as a producer, rather than demanding this from his employees. Suzuki decided to hand over the presidency to Hoshino because Hoshino has helped Studio Ghibli to sell its videos since 1996, also helping to release the Princess Mononoke film in the United States. Suzuki still serves on the company's board of directors.

Two Studio Ghibli short films created for the Ghibli Museum were shown at the Carnegie Hall Citywise Japan NYC Festival: "House Hunting" and "Mon Mon the Water Spider" were screened on March 26, 2011.

Takahata developed a project for release after Gorō Miyazaki's (director of Tales from Earthsea and Hayao's son) From Up on Poppy Hill – an adaptation of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. The last film Hayao Miyazaki directed before retiring from feature films was The Wind Rises which is about the Mitsubishi A6M Zero and its founder.

On Sunday, September 1, 2013, Hayao Miyazaki held a press conference in Venice to confirm his retirement, saying: "I know I've said I would retire many times in the past. Many of you must think, 'Once again.' But this time I am quite serious."

On January 31, 2014, it was announced that Gorō Miyazaki will direct his first anime TV series, Sanzoku no Musume Rōnya, an adaptation of Astrid Lindgren's Ronia the Robber's Daughter for NHK. The series is computer-animated, produced by Polygon Pictures, and co-produced by Studio Ghibli.

In March 2014, Toshio Suzuki retired as a producer and assumed a new position of general manager. Yoshiaki Nishimura replaced Suzuki in the producer role.

On August 3, 2014, Toshio Suzuki announced that Studio Ghibli would take a "brief pause" to re-evaluate and restructure in the wake of Miyazaki's retirement. He stated some concerns about where the company would go in the future. This has led to speculation that Studio Ghibli will never produce another feature film again. On November 7, 2014, Miyazaki stated, "That was not my intention, though. All I did was announce that I would be retiring and not making any more features."

Significant achievements

 * The highest-grossing film of 1989 in Japan: Kiki's Delivery Service
 * The highest-grossing film of 1991 in Japan: Only Yesterday
 * The highest-grossing film of 1992 in Japan: Porco Rosso
 * The highest-grossing film of 1994 in Japan: Pom Poko
 * The first Studio Ghibli film to use computer graphics: Pom Poko
 * The first Japanese film in Dolby Digital: Whisper of the Heart
 * The first Miyazaki feature to use computer graphics, and the first Studio Ghibli film to use digital coloring; the first animated feature in Japan's history to gross more than 10 billion yen at the box office and the first animated film ever to win a National Academy Award for Best Picture of the Year: Princess Mononoke
 * The first Studio Ghibli film to be shot using a 100% digital process: My Neighbors the Yamadas
 * The first Miyazaki feature to be shot using a 100% digital process; the first film to gross $200 million worldwide before opening in North America; the film to finally overtake Titanic at the Japanese box office, becoming the top grossing film in the history of Japanese cinema; the only anime, non-English-speaking and traditionally animated winner, so far, of an Academy award for Best Animated Feature: Spirited Away
 * The highest-grossing film of 2013 in Japan: The Wind Rises

Films
While Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is often considered a Studio Ghibli film, it was produced and released before the studio's official founding.

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center; width:100%;" ! colspan="8" style="background:#b8c7d6;"|

Feature films
! # ! Film ! Release date ! Director ! Screenwriter(s) ! Producer(s) ! Music ! RT

! colspan="8" style="background:#b8c7d6;"|
 * style="text-align:left"|1
 * style="text-align:left"|Castle in the Sky
 * style="text-align:left"|1986-08-02
 * colspan="2" | Hayao Miyazaki
 * Isao Takahata
 * Joe Hisaishi
 * 95%
 * style="text-align:left"|2
 * style="text-align:left"|Grave of the Fireflies
 * style="text-align:left" rowspan="2"|1988-04-16
 * colspan="2" | Isao Takahata
 * rowspan="2" | Toru Hara
 * Michio Mamiya
 * 97%
 * style="text-align:left"|3
 * style="text-align:left"|My Neighbor Totoro
 * colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Hayao Miyazaki
 * rowspan="2" | Joe Hisaishi
 * 93%
 * style="text-align:left"|4
 * style="text-align:left"|Kiki's Delivery Service
 * style="text-align:left"|1989-07-29
 * Hayao Miyazaki
 * 96%
 * style="text-align:left"|5
 * style="text-align:left"|Only Yesterday
 * style="text-align:left"|1991-07-20
 * colspan="2" | Isao Takahata
 * rowspan="7" | Toshio Suzuki
 * Katz Hoshi
 * 100%
 * style="text-align:left"|6
 * style="text-align:left"|Porco Rosso
 * style="text-align:left"|1992-07-18
 * colspan="2" | Hayao Miyazaki
 * Joe Hisaishi
 * 94%
 * style="text-align:left"|7
 * style="text-align:left"|Pom Poko
 * style="text-align:left"|1994-07-16
 * colspan="2" | Isao Takahata
 * Shang Shang Typhoon
 * 78%
 * style="text-align:left"|8
 * style="text-align:left"|Whisper of the Heart
 * style="text-align:left"|1995-07-15
 * Yoshifumi Kondō
 * Hayao Miyazaki
 * Yuji Nomi
 * 91%
 * style="text-align:left"|9
 * style="text-align:left"|Princess Mononoke
 * style="text-align:left"|1997-07-12
 * colspan="2" | Hayao Miyazaki
 * Joe Hisaishi
 * 92%
 * style="text-align:left"|10
 * style="text-align:left"|My Neighbors the Yamadas
 * style="text-align:left"|1999-07-17
 * colspan="2" | Isao Takahata
 * Akiko Yano
 * 75%
 * style="text-align:left"|11
 * style="text-align:left"|Spirited Away
 * style="text-align:left"| 2001-07-20
 * colspan="2" | Hayao Miyazaki
 * Joe Hisaishi
 * 97%
 * style="text-align:left"|12
 * style="text-align:left"| The Cat Returns
 * style="text-align:left"| 2002-07-20
 * Hiroyuki Morita
 * Reiko Yoshida
 * Nozomu Takahashi & Toshio Suzuki
 * Yuji Nomi
 * 89%
 * style="text-align:left"|13
 * style="text-align:left"| Howl's Moving Castle
 * style="text-align:left" | 2004-11-20
 * colspan="2" | Hayao Miyazaki
 * rowspan="6" | Toshio Suzuki
 * Joe Hisaishi
 * 87%
 * style="text-align:left"|14
 * style="text-align:left"| Tales from Earthsea
 * style="text-align:left" | 2006-07-29
 * Gorō Miyazaki
 * Gorō Miyazaki & Keiko Niwa
 * Tamiya Terashima
 * 41%
 * style="text-align:left"|15
 * style="text-align:left"| Ponyo
 * style="text-align:left" | 2008-07-19
 * colspan="2" | Hayao Miyazaki
 * Joe Hisaishi
 * 92%
 * style="text-align:left"|16
 * style="text-align:left"| Arrietty
 * style="text-align:left" | 2010-07-17
 * Hiromasa Yonebayashi
 * rowspan="2" | Hayao Miyazaki & Keiko Niwa
 * Cécile Corbel
 * 95%
 * style="text-align:left"|17
 * style="text-align:left"| From Up on Poppy Hill
 * style="text-align:left" | 2011-07-16
 * Gorō Miyazaki
 * Satoshi Takebe
 * 83%
 * style="text-align:left"|18
 * style="text-align:left"| The Wind Rises
 * style="text-align:left"| 2013-07-20
 * colspan="2" | Hayao Miyazaki
 * rowspan="2" | Joe Hisaishi
 * 89%
 * style="text-align:left"|19
 * style="text-align:left"| The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
 * style="text-align:left"| 2013-11-23
 * Isao Takahata
 * Isao Takahata & Riko Sakaguchi
 * Yoshiaki Nishimura & Seiichiro Ujiie
 * 100%
 * style="text-align:left"|20
 * style="text-align:left"|When Marnie Was There
 * style="text-align:left"| 2014-7-19
 * Hiromasa Yonebayashi
 * Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Keiko Niwa & Masashi Ando
 * Yoshiaki Nishimura & Toshio Suzuki
 * Takatsugu Muramatsu
 * 90%
 * rowspan="2" | Joe Hisaishi
 * 89%
 * style="text-align:left"|19
 * style="text-align:left"| The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
 * style="text-align:left"| 2013-11-23
 * Isao Takahata
 * Isao Takahata & Riko Sakaguchi
 * Yoshiaki Nishimura & Seiichiro Ujiie
 * 100%
 * style="text-align:left"|20
 * style="text-align:left"|When Marnie Was There
 * style="text-align:left"| 2014-7-19
 * Hiromasa Yonebayashi
 * Hiromasa Yonebayashi, Keiko Niwa & Masashi Ando
 * Yoshiaki Nishimura & Toshio Suzuki
 * Takatsugu Muramatsu
 * 90%
 * Takatsugu Muramatsu
 * 90%

Television films

 * style="text-align:left"|
 * style="text-align:left"|Ocean Waves
 * style="text-align:left"|1993-05-05
 * Tomomi Mochizuki
 * Kaori Nakamura
 * Toshio Suzuki, Nozomu Takahashi & Seiji Okuda
 * Shigeru Nagata
 * N/A
 * }
 * }

Anime series

 * Sanzoku no Musume Rōnya (2014), director Gorō Miyazaki, based on Ronia the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren. Animation production by Polygon Pictures, co-produced by Studio Ghibli.

Short films
These are short films, including those created for television, theatrical release, and the Ghibli Museum. Original video animation releases and music videos (theatrical and television) are also listed in this section.

Video games

 * Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu, with Genki (PlayStation, 1998)
 * Jade Cocoon 2, with Genki (PlayStation 2, 2001)
 * Magic Pengel, with Garakuda-Studio and Taito (PlayStation 2, 2002)
 * Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn, with Level-5 (Nintendo DS, 2010)
 * Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, with Level-5 (PlayStation 3, 2011)

Stage productions

 * Princess Mononoke (2013)

Other works
The works listed here consist of works that do not fall into the above categories. All of these films have been released on DVD or Blu-ray in Japan as part of the Ghibli Gakujutsu Library.
 * Sekai Waga Kokoro no Tabi (1998) (documentary following Isao Takahata to Canada to meet Frédéric Back)
 * Sekai Waga Kokoro no Tabi (1999) (documentary travelling with Hayao Miyazaki as he follows the footsteps of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)
 * Mononoke Hime wa Koushite Umareta. ("How Princess Mononoke Was Born", 2001; behind the scenes film directed by Toshio Uratani, documenting the production of Princess Mononoke. Shot over a 2-year period, split into 3 chapters with a total running time of 400 minutes).
 * Lasseter-san, Arigatou ("Thank You, Mr. Lasseter", 2003; thank you video created for John Lasseter)
 * Miyazaki Hayao Produce no Ichimai no CD ha Kōshite Umareta (2003; a film about Tsunehiko Kamijo's Okaasa no Shashin CD)
 * Yanagawa Horiwari Monogatari ("The Story of Yanagawa's Canals") (2003; a part-animated documentary originally broadcast on NHK in 1987)
 * Otsuka Yasuo no Ugokasu Yorokobi (2004; a documentary about animator Yasuo Otsuka)
 * Miyazaki Hayao to Ghibli Bijutsukan (2005; a film featuring Gorō Miyazaki and Isao Takahata touring the Ghibli Museum)
 * Jiburi no Eshokunin – Oga Kazuo Ten – Totoro no Mori o Kaita Hito ("A Ghibli Artisan – Kazuo Oga Exhibition – The Man Who Painted Totoro's Forest") (2007; a documentary to commemorate an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, featuring the work of Studio Ghibli background artist Kazuo Oga)
 * Ghibli no Fūkei ("Scenery of Ghibli") (2009; a documentary hosted by Japanese actresses Mayu Tsuruta, Yui Natsukawa and actor Tetsuta Sugimoto, that follows them around Europe and Japan matching Miyazaki's storyboards to the real world scenery and attractions that served as inspiration to the settings of his animated films)
 * Suzuki Toshio no Ghibli Asemamire, 99 no Kotoba ("Suzuki Toshio's Ghibli Asemamire, 99 Words") (2009; a compilation of 49 interviews conducted by Toshio Suzuki on his weekly radio program Ghibli Asemamire, broadcasting on Tokyo FM)
 * Joe Hisaishi in Budokan – 25 years with the Animations of Hayao Miyazaki (2009; concert footage of Joe Hisaishi's 3 nights at the Nippon Budokan venue in August 2008, where he played various pieces from throughout his 25-year collaboration with Studio Ghibli. Originally broadcast on NHK)
 * . Explores the influence of children's literature on Miyazaki and Takahata's body of work and on Studio Ghibli as a whole.
 * Yume to Kyōki no ōkoku (The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness) (2013; director Mami Sunada follows Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki and Isao Takahata over the course of a year as Studio Ghibli prepares to release two films. Released theatrically in Japan in 2013 and in the United States in 2014)
 * The Making of The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2014; 3-hour behind-the-scenes film documenting the production of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Released on Blu-ray in Japan in December 2014)

Exhibitions
A selection of layout designs for animated productions was exhibited in the Studio Ghibli Layout Designs: Understanding the Secrets of Takahata and Miyazaki Animation exhibition tour, which started in the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (July 28, 2008 to September 28, 2008) and subsequently travelled to different museums throughout Japan and Asia, concluding its tour of Japan in the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (October 12, 2013 to January 26, 2014) and its tour of Asia in the Hong Kong Heritage Museum (May 14, 2014 to August 31, 2014). Between October 4, 2014 and March 1, 2015 the layout designs were exhibited at Art Ludique in Paris. The exhibition catalogues contain annotated reproductions of the displayed artwork.

Related works
These works were not created by Studio Ghibli, but were produced by a variety of studios and people who went on to form or join Studio Ghibli. This includes members of Topcraft that went on to create Studio Ghibli in 1985; works produced by Toei Animation, TMS Entertainment, Nippon Animation or other studios and featuring involvement by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata or other Ghibli staffers. The list also includes works created in cooperation with Studio Ghibli.

Pre-Ghibli

 * Wanpaku Ōji no Orochi Taiji (1963) (by Toei; Isao Takahata was the assistant director)
 * Gulliver's Travels Beyond the Moon (1965) (by Toei; Hayao Miyazaki was one of the in between animators)
 * Sally the Witch (1966) (by Toei Animation; Hayao Miyazaki was a key animator on this series, based on a manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama.)
 * GeGeGe no Kitaro (1968-1972) (by Toei Animation; first and second TV series directed by Isao Takahata, based on the manga series by Shigeru Mizuki)
 * Hols: Prince of the Sun (1968) (by Toei Animation, Takahata's directorial debut; Hayao Miyazaki was chief animator, concept artist, and scene designer)
 * Himitsu no Akko-chan (1969) (by Toei Animation, directed by Hiroshi Ikeda; Miyazaki was a key animator)
 * The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots (1969) (Directed by Kimio Yabuki for Toei, written by Hisashi Inoue with gag supervision by Nakahara Yumihiko, key animators include Yasuo Otsuka, Yoichi Kotabe, Reiko Okuyama, Takuo Kikuchi, Akemi Ota, Hayao Miyazaki, and Akira Daikubara) (The main character of the film; Pero would become the mascot for Toei Animation)
 * Moomin (1969) (by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and Mushi Production, key animation by Hayao Miyazaki)
 * Animal Treasure Island (1971) (Directed by Hiroshi Ikeda for Toei with idea construction by Hayao Miyazaki; Hayao Miyazaki was also scene designer and chief animator)
 * Lupin III Part 1 (1971 by Tokyo Movie Shinsha; the rest of the episodes were directed by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, based on the manga series by Monkey Punch)
 * Panda! Go, Panda! (1972) (Made by Tokyo Movie Shinsha) (Directed by Isao Takahata and written by Hayao Miyazaki)
 * Panda! Go, Panda!: The Rainy-Day Circus (1973) (Made by Tokyo Movie Shinsha) (Directed by Isao Takahata and written by Hayao Miyazaki)
 * Heidi, Girl of the Alps (1974, by Studio Gallop; directed by Isao Takahata)
 * Dog of Flanders (1975) (made by Studio Comet; animation by Hayao Miyazaki)
 * 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother (1976, by Studio Comet; directed by Isao Takahata; Scene setting, Layout: Hayao Miyazaki)
 * Lupin III Part II (1977 by Tokyo Movie Shinsha); two episodes directed by Hayao Miyazaki)
 * Rascal the Raccoon (1977, by Studio Jungle Gym; key animation by Hayao Miyazaki)
 * Future Boy Conan (1978) (by Studio Jungle Gym; directed by Hayao Miyazaki, with two episode directed by Isao Takahata, and featured animation work by many future Ghibli staffers)
 * Anne of Green Gables (1979) (by Studio Comet; directed by Isao Takahata)
 * The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) (by TMS Entertainment, Miyazaki's directorial feature debut)
 * Tatsu no ko Taro (1979) (by Toei Animation, original concept by Isao Takahata)
 * Jarinko Chie (1981) (by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and Toho; directed by Isao Takahata)
 * Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie (1982) (by Tokyo Movie Shinsha, key animation by Hayao Miyazaki)
 * Gauche the Cellist (1982, by OH Production, directed by Isao Takahata)
 * Sherlock Hound (1984, Tokyo Movie Shinsha, six episodes directed by Hayao Miyazaki)
 * Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984, Topcraft, many who worked on this film went on to found Studio Ghibli)

Distributive works
These Western animated films (plus one Japanese film) have been distributed by Studio Ghibli, and now through their label, Ghibli Museum Library.

Contributive works
Studio Ghibli has made contributions to the following anime series and movies:

Notable animators and character designers from Studio Ghibli

 * Kitarō Kōsaka (Monster, Master Keaton, and Nasu)
 * Masashi Ando (Paranoia Agent and Paprika)
 * Kenichi Yoshida (Overman King Gainer and Eureka Seven)
 * Akihiko Yamashita (Tide-Line Blue, Princess Nine, Strange Dawn, and Relic Armor Legacium)

Documentaries

 * This Is How Ghibli Was Born (ジブリはこうして生まれた). 1998 documentary, Nippon TV, 28 min.
 * The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (夢と狂気の王国). 2013 documentary by Mami Sunada, 118 min.