Holly and I both love Studio Ghibli films, so we didn’t hesitate for a moment after getting a request from listener Lissa to talk about the studio.  Our thoughts:

• My first exposure to Miyazaki: I claim it was “Howl’s Moving Castle,” but upon looking at the dates, I’m almost certain that’s wrong
• “My Neighbor Totoro“
• “Princess Mononoke“
• “Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind“
• The basics: Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio was co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki and and Isao Takahata in 1985
• Disney’s distribution of Studio Ghibli
• Some of the other more well-known Ghibli films in the U.S.: “Spirited Away,” “Ponyo” and “The Secret World of Arrietty“
• Some of the less well-known Ghibli films in the U.S.: “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” “Castle in the Sky,” “Porco Rosso,” and “Whisper of the Heart“
• The saddest of them all: “Grave of the Fireflies“
• How to watch: Japanese with subtitles or re-recorded with American voice actors?
• The preponderance of young female heroines in Studio Ghibli movies, especially in “Spirited Away”
• The influence of Japanese mythology in the art and background elements of Studio Ghibli films
• The “Spirited Beasts” exhibit at Epcot
• Tengu, which are human-bird warriors in  Japanese mythology, and their similarity to Howl in “Howl’s Moving Castle”
• “Howl’s Moving Castle” papercraft!
• My favorites: “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Howl’s Moving Castle”
• Holly’s favorite: “Spirited Away” and “The Cat Returns“
• Miyazaki’s lack of outlining or writing before storyboarding
• The speed of artwork in Japanese animation studios
• Miyazaki’s candor about how his movies have to be profitable as well as satisfying him artistically
• No cuts! And a possibly apocryphal story involving a samurai sword
• Our theories on why Studio Ghibli movies are drawing an audience in the U.S.
• “Paprika” and how I need to watch “Akira” and have already watched “Ghost in the Shell“
• Not having to do with any of this, but with movies that don’t go the way you expect: “Once“
• “The Secret World of Arrietty,” “The Borrowers” and “The Littles” (which you can find on Hulu!)
• “Tales from Earthsea“
• Listener mail! Another from “How to Build a Southerner for Your TV Show or Movie.” It’s from Susan, and it’s about dialects and accents in the South
• How Movie Distribution Works

My research:

• An Audience with Miyazaki, Japan’s Animation King
• Midnight Eye: Hayao Miyazaki
• Hayao Miyazaki: Drawn to Perfection
• Riding Through Air and Water – The Relationship Between Character, Background, Fantasy, and Realism in Hayao Miyazaki’s Films
• Ghibli Museum
• A God Among Animators
• An Interview with Isao Takahata
• A Personal Conversation with Studio Ghibli’s Director Isao Takahata

Holly’s research:

• When Pigs Fly: Anime, Auteurism, and Miyazaki’s Porco Rosso

Episode link: Introduction to Studio Ghibli

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