The Japanese animation house, Studio Ghibli, was founded in the mid-80s by Hayao Miyazaki and crew amid bustling anime enterprises. What immediately set Ghibli apart, and continues to serve as its philosophical base, is its humanist aesthetic — present in everything from the studio’s hand-drawn animation to the social and environmental concerns distilled in each and every film. The studio’s work borrows as much from fairy tales (in the manner of Disney) as it does from science fiction. Even when images of industrialization’s contaminating effects saturate the screen, remnants of beauty and the possibility of rebirth are always present in the visual field. Such hybridity is what allows viewers of all ages to take away diverse sentiments from Ghibli’s projects. And with International Women’s Day just behind us, it’s refreshing to see films that predominantly hold women as the drivers of narratives. Yes, there are princesses, but they’re not obsessed with the “colours of the wind” or snagging a prince in times of desperation. Rather, the women of Ghibli are dedicated to preserving the environment, kicking ass, and evolving alongside the demands of modernization. The Varsity recently got a chance to chat with the head of film programmes for TIFF Bell Lightbox, Jesse Wente, who was eager to share his insights on Ghibli’s evolution alongside shifting trends in Japanese animation and his excitement for the green-lighted retrospective, Spirited Away: The Films of Studio Ghibli, taking place at the Lightbox from March 10 to April 13.
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THE VARSITY
People often botch the pronunciation of the studio. How do you say Studio Ghibli?
JESSE WENTE
It is in fact pronounced Studio Ghibli (jib-lee), which is the correct pronunciation from Miyazaki-san himself. It’s one of those weird things where I think it’s a studio name that for so many years people haven’t said, they’ve just seen.
THE VARSITY
How has Disney and Pixar’s exclusive North American distribution of Ghibli films been beneficial to the studio?
JESSE WENTE
It’s an incredibly unique position, and I think it’s been hugely beneficial to Studio Ghibli’s influence in the world, and in the world of cinema in particular, and I applaud them. Disney has been very supportive of us having this series here; they’ve been incredibly generous in us having these films because to them it’s part of their mission to make sure these films are seen by people. When we first opened the building this series was one of the dreams that we would someday mount [in the Bell TIFF Lightbox]. Quite frankly, I thought it was going to be years and years away, because it’s a really monumental task to get both original language and dubbed versions of these films together. The Pixar relationship has been hugely beneficial to Ghibli and has in no way impeached their voice. They still produce exactly the same types of films they produced 20 years ago.
THE VARSITY
Where do you think Ghibli’s aesthetic fits within the changing sphere of Japanese animation?
JESSE WENTE
It really does stand apart. I mean, it’s very interesting to have a studio, which Ghibli very much is. [Ghibli] employs hundreds of people and artists working on these films for years and years — it’s a studio in the way we think of studios. Yet as a company it has an auteur aesthetic, in the sense that the movies are all of the kind and alike. It’s really unique to animation because of the products they churn out. I think that Ghibli always really stood in connection to animation but also very distinctly apart. While they do have talking animals and action sequences that one would normally associate with Japanese animation, they are somewhat of a different sort. I think that comes from the stories, they take very traditional Japanese myths and stories and transfer them to animation in a way you don’t normally see otherwise.
THE VARSITY
What are your three must-see Studio Ghibli films?
JESSE WENTE
Wow, uh, jeez. The first one I ever saw is their very first film, Nausicaa, which I would have seen probably in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s. Nausicaa, at that time, was really quite legendary. Legendary and hard to find. I still think it’s one of their grandest statements. I just think its a stunningly beautiful movie, it really announces their [Ghibli’s] arrival in a way that I think is sort of amazing. I would then put My Neighbor Totoro, which is my all time favourite Ghibli movie. To be honest with you it makes me cry every time.
THE VARSITY
Totally agree with you there!
JESSE WENTE
It’s such a beautiful film. What I love now as a parent, which I didn’t appreciate when I saw the film, is that movies like Totoro are really hard to find in North America — films that have that sensibility and speak to kids … and present the world that the film does. After that I’d probably say Spirited Away. It’s probably their most popular movie in North America, and I remember when it was nominated for the Oscars and it was sort of like ‘Where else would this movie have come from but Studio Ghibli?’
Some films you can expect at Spirited Away: The Films of Studio Ghibli
Howl’s Moving Castle
A talking, crackling fire named Calcifer (Billy Crystal) in Howl’s Moving Castle is proof that director Hayao Miyazaki really can breathe life into anything. Combining magic, technology, and science, Howl follows the tradition of other Studio Ghilbi masterpieces with its fluidity, refusing to ground itself in one particular representation of an alternate world. Sophie (Emily Mortimer), a teenaged hat maker is whimsically cursed by the benevolent Witch of the Waste (Lauren Bacall), and turned into an old woman. In her quest to reverse her transformation, Sophie comes across the soft spoken Adonis wizard Howl (Christian Bale), whose dark and tortured soul desperately seeks restitution. With his penchant for and awe-inspiring ability to make heaps of scrap metal and glossy steampunk machines behave like metallic organisms with minds of their own, Miyazaki showcases the beauty of synergy that exists between humankind and technology and the darkness that pervades our sometimes destructive uses for it.
—BB
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a post-apocalyptic fable directed by Hayao Miyazaki and released in 1984, predating the founding of Studio Ghibli in 1985. Even so, Nausicaä is tied to the studio’s first stirrings, carrying the same humanist and ecological themes the Ghibli name is famous for. The animated film tells the story of a young princess, Nausicaä, who is made responsible for her clan’s safety from nearby warring settlements when her father passes away. Few humans survived the “Seven Days of Fire” that ravaged the planet hundreds of years ago, and the spreading Toxic Jungle (a contaminated forest filled with giant insects) threatens to expunge the scattered tribes that persist. Like all Ghibli films, the warm characters and fantastical creatures effortlessly captivate young children, while adults are drawn in by visible parallels between the squalid planet and our own wasteful, consumerist culture. Despite the ‘80s synth-electro soundtrack, this film is still alarmingly relevant. The environmental struggles present in Nausicaä may very likely reflect our own political impasses in the not-too-distant future.
—DL
Spirited Away
An Oscar win for best animated feature in 2003 helped propel Spirited Away to the top of Studio Ghibli’s must-see list. A coming-of-age fantasy, the film revolves around a gangly 10-year-old girl named Chihiro who stumbles upon a supernatural world when her parents make a detour on the way to their new house. Chihiro can only survive in the spirit world if she obeys a strict set of rules and takes up work at a bathhouse where weary spirits go to rejuvenate themselves. Visually, the film is full of contrasts; moments capturing sublime deities and slapstick humour are juxtaposed with ridiculously grotesque creatures (including Yubaba, a large witch/bird who runs the bathhouse) and life-threatening situations. The characters themselves are complex, and when they blindly engage in selfish or indulgent behaviour, the line between good and evil is blurred. Miyazaki’s ability to combine dreams and nightmares in the same fictional space is beautifully illustrated in this greatly admired children’s tale.
—DL
