JAPANESE CULTURE, EXPLAINED
スタジオジブリ
Studio Ghibli began operating in 1985 as a Japanese animation studio. Directors, producers, animators, background artists, photography teams, musicians and distributors contribute different work. Its films are collaborative productions.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind appeared in 1984, before the studio began with Tokuma Shoten’s support in 1985. Laputa pairs Miyazaki’s direction with Isao Takahata’s production role. The studio now includes Nausicaä in its works archive.
Early staff assembled for individual films and dispersed afterwards. Regular employment and trainee recruitment began in November 1989, providing a more continuous organisational basis. The move into a purpose-built Koganei studio in 1992 changed the workplace too. Regular employment allowed the studio to retain a team between films.
Yoshifumi Kondō directed Whisper of the Heart, with Miyazaki contributing script and storyboards. For 2023’s The Boy and the Heron, Miyazaki is credited with original work, script and direction, Toshio Suzuki with production, Joe Hisaishi with music and Toho with distribution. Roles can overlap without eliminating the work of other contributors. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) was directed by Miyazaki; The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013) by Takahata. The paired stills belong to films by different directors.
Selected credits show different roles in one film.
The official history identifies CG shots in Pom Poko, digital compositing in Whisper of the Heart and digital painting in Princess Mononoke. My Neighbors the Yamadas retained hand-drawn animation and backgrounds while using computers in subsequent processing. These films used digital techniques at specific stages of production.
The production department closed at the end of 2014, but museum, release and other activities continued. Recruitment in 2017 rebuilt production, followed by a new feature in 2023.
Ghibli merged with Tokuma in 1997, restarted as a company inheriting works and business in 2005, and became a Nippon Television subsidiary in October 2023. The production company, the Mitaka museum and Ghibli Park remain different entities.
No. The film appeared in 1984; studio activity began in 1985.
No. Different techniques can be used at different production stages.
No. Other business continued, and production was later rebuilt.