Studio Ghibli, Inc. is a Japanese studio founded on June 5, 1985, in Tokyo, Japan. The studio is known for producing animation movies, short-films, anime series, stage productions, music vídeos, exhibitions, TV commercials, etc. Ghibli was founded after the success of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), which had its funds by Tokuma Shoten. The highest-grossing movie that the studio produced was ‘’Spirited Away’’, which won a Golden Bear Award and an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Many of the films Ghibli makes have won the Animage Anime Grand Prix award while four of them won the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.
The name ‘ghibli’ is derived from the Arabic name for ‘sirocco’, which means ‘Mediterranean wind’. The idea of the name is to symbolize that the company is like a new wind blowing through the anime industry. The headers of Studio Ghibli are: Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata (directors) and Toshio Suzuki (producer). They created it after Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind became a huge success. That movie was inspired by its two manga volumes, which was written by Miyazaki. Other directors, who were invited later to work on the studio, include: Yoshifumi Kondo, Hiroyuki Morita, Gor? Miyazaki and Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Most of the soundtracks were composed by Joe Hisaishi and Michiyo Yasuda takes part on the design and helps in the production of the movies.
In August of 1996, Disney and Tokuma Shoten Publishing made an agreement, which was estabilished that Disney would start to distribute all the movies from Studio Ghibli internationally. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Japan distributes the movies via home video, while Toho distributes them theatrically. Other Ghibli’s international distribution partners are: GKIDS (North America), StudioCanal UK and Madman Entertainment (Australia). The studio has strict rules about its films: no cuts or editions when distributed internationally. Studio Ghibli also has a close relationship with the magazine, Animage, which has been reporting news about the company since its beginings. That happens, because the studio is a subsidiary of Tokuma Shoten, aka the publisher of Animage. There’s also a museum dedicated to Ghibli, in Tokyo, which was founded in October, 2001. Two of the movies created for that museum were shown during the Carnegie Hall Citywise Japan NYC Festival, in March, 2011.
In February, 2008, Toshio Suzuki decided to move away from his position of Ghibli’s president and gave it to Koji Hoshino, who is the former president of Walt Disney Japan. Suzuki was selected president back in 2005. Toshio Suzuki also retired from producer, in March, 2014, and took over the position of general manager. The new producer selected was Yoshiaki Nishimura. In 2014 was also announced that Gor? Miyazaki would direct his first anime, Sanzoku no Musume R?nya, a computer-animated series produced by Polygon Pictures, and co-produced by Studio Ghibli. Unfortunatly, it was also announced that Hayo Miyazaki would retire and that the company would take a hiatus due to his departure.
Here are all the movies that Studio Ghibli produced:
1984: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Kaze no Tani no Naushika) – pre-Ghibli
1986: Laputa: Castle in the Sky (Tenkuu no Shiro Rapyuta)
1988: Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no Haka)
1988: My Neighbor Totoro (Tonari no Totoro)
1989: Kiki’s Delivery Service (Majo no Takkyuubin)
1991: Only Yesterday (Omohide Poro Poro)
1992: Porco Rosso (Kurenai no Buta)
1993: Oceans waves (Umi ga Kikoeru)
1994: Pom Poko (Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko)
1995: Whisper of the Heart (Mimi wo Sumaseba),
1997: Princess Mononoke (Mononoke Hime)
1999: My Neighbors the Yamadas (Houhokekyo Tonari no Yamada-kun)
2001: Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi)
2002: The Cat Returns (Neko no Ongaeshi)
2004: Howl’s Moving Castle (Hauru no Ugoku Shiro)
2006: Tales From Earthsea (Gedo Senki)
2008: Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Gake no Ue no Ponyo)
2010: The Borrower Arrietty (Karigurashi no Arietti)
2011: From Up on Poppy Hill (Kokuriko-Zaka Kara)
2013: The Wind Rises
2013: The Tale Of Princess Kaguya
2013: When Marnie Was There
Short Films:
2000: Ghiblies (TV short film)
2001: Kujiratori [The Whale Hunt], The Ghibli Museum
2001–9: Film Guru Guru (short film series), The Ghibli Museum
2002: Anno, Hideaki, K?s? no Kikaitachi no Naka no Hakai no Hatsumei
2002: Ghiblies Episode 2 (shown theatrically before The Cat Returns)
2002: Koro’s Big Day Out, The Ghibli Museum
2002: Imaginary Flying Machines, The Ghibli Museum
2002: Mei and the Kittenbus, The Ghibli Museum
2005: Looking for a Home, The Ghibli Museum
2005: The Day I Raised/Harvested a Planet, The Ghibli Museum
2005: Water Spider Monmon, The Ghibli Museum
2006: The Night of Taneyamagahara (DVD)
2007: Iblard Jikan (DVD and Blu-ray)
2010: Chu Zumo (shown at the Ghibli Museum)
2009: The Theory of Evolution
2010: Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess (shown at the Ghibli Museum)
2011: The Treasure Hunt (shown at the Ghibli Museum)
2013: Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo (shown at Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo)