Studio Ghibli

Name

The name "Ghibli" was chosen by Miyazaki from the Italian noun ghibli (also used in English), the nickname of Italy's Saharan scouting plane Caproni Ca.309, in turn derived from the Italianization of the Libyan Arabic name for a hot desert wind (قبلي qibliyy). The name was chosen by Miyazaki out of his passion for aircraft and for the idea that the studio would "blow a new wind through the anime industry". Although the Italian word would be more accurately transliterated as "Giburi" (ギブリ), with a hard g sound, the studio's name is written in Japanese as Jiburi (ジブリ; [dʑiꜜbɯɾi] ).

History

Tokuma Shoten era

On June 15, 1985, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata founded Studio Ghibli, with support from Toshio Suzuki and his publishing company Tokuma Shoten. The three already had long careers in Japanese film and television animation and had worked together on The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun in 1968 and the Panda! Go, Panda! films in 1972 and 1973. Suzuki had been 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. Miyazaki chose the name himself, referencing both the Arabic term for a warm wind from the Sahara, as well as the Caproni Ca.309 Ghibli, an aircraft used by the Italian military during the Second World War. The intent behind the creation of the studio was to "blow a whirlwind" into a stagnating Japanese animation industry by creating original, high-quality feature films. In a speech at the 1995 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Suzuki said "The idea was to dedicate full energy into each piece of work with sufficient budget and time, never compromising on the quality or content."

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 Kondō, 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, The Walt Disney Company and Tokuma Shoten formed a partnership wherein Walt Disney Studios would be the sole international distributor for Tokuma Shoten's Studio Ghibli animated films. Under this agreement, Disney also agreed to finance 10% of the studio's production costs. Since then, all three of the aforementioned films by Miyazaki at Studio Ghibli that were previously dubbed by Streamline Pictures have been re-dubbed by Disney. On June 1, 1997, Tokuma Shoten Publishing consolidated its media operations by merging Studio Ghibli, Tokuma Shoten Intermedia software and Tokuma International under one location.

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. Saeko Himuro's novel Umi ga Kikoeru was serialised in the magazine and subsequently adapted into Ocean Waves, Studio Ghibli's first animated feature-length film created for television. It was directed by Tomomi Mochizuki.

Independent era

Between 1999 and 2005, Studio Ghibli was a subsidiary brand of Tokuma Shoten; however, that partnership ended in April 2005, when Studio Ghibli was spun off from Tokuma Shoten and was re-established as an independent company with relocated headquarters. In 2004, Studio Ghibli was presented with a Special Golden Osella for Howl's Moving Castle, marking the only occasion that the award was given to a production studio.

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 and has also aided the release of the Princess Mononoke film in the United States. Suzuki still serves on the company's board of directors.

Takahata developed a project for release after Gorō Miyazaki's (director of Tales from Earthsea and Hayao's son) The Tale of the Princess Kaguya – an adaptation of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Miyazaki announced his retirement with The Wind Rises which is about the Mitsubishi A6M Zero and its creator. On September 1, 2013, 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."

In 2013, a documentary directed by Mami Sunada called The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness (Japanese: 夢と狂気の王国, Hepburn: Yume to kyōki no ōkoku) was created delving into the lives of those working at Studio Ghibli and the productions of the animated films The Wind Rises and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, including storyboard sketching, inking, painting, and voice actor selection for the films.

On January 31, 2014, it was announced that Gorō Miyazaki will direct his first anime television 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 producer and assumed the new position of general manager. Yoshiaki Nishimura replaced Suzuki in the producer role.

Nippon Television era

In October 2023, the studio became a subsidiary of Nippon Television Holdings, Inc. Studio Ghibli's leadership transitioned to Hiroyuki Fukuda, a senior executive at NTV. Toshio Suzuki became chairman and Hayao Miyazaki became Honorary Chairman. Nippon TV acquired a 42.3% stake in Studio Ghibli. The decision was driven by the advanced ages of Miyazaki and Suzuki, aged 82 and 75, respectively. The studio had considered Miyazaki's son, Goro Miyazaki, as a successor but opted for external leadership due to concerns and Goro's reluctance. NTV started to handle management, allowing Studio Ghibli to focus on creative endeavors. The takeover took effect on October 6.

In 2024, the studio received an honorary Palme d'Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, the first film production company to receive the award. It was announced in May 2026 that Fukuda was to step down as president in June, to be replaced by Kenichi Yoda.

Ghibli Park announced on July 8th, 2026, that Goro Miyazaki and Akihiko Yamashita co-directed A Night in the Valley of Witches. It will premiere at Cinema Orion in Ghibli's Grand Warehouse at Ghibli Park. The short film was produced by Studio Ghibli and exclusively distributed for their park.

Distribution rights

Theatrical and home media rights

In Japan, most of the company's films are distributed theatrically by Toho, except for Castle in the Sky, Kiki's Delivery Service (which were distributed by Toei Company along with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind) and My Neighbors the Yamadas, which was distributed by Shochiku.

For home media, a majority of Studio Ghibli releases are distributed by Walt Disney Studios Japan. Pony Canyon occasionally releases Ghibli documentaries on home media, and distributes rental versions of Ghibli's movies under a deal with Disney. Pony Canyon also fully distributed the standalone version of Earwig and the Witch on home media.

Before the Disney deal, Tokuma Shoten released Ghibli movies themselves through their "Animage Video" imprint, as well as all LaserDisc releases of the movies, as the Disney deal did not include that format.

After purchasing the global distribution rights from World Film Corporation, Manson International and Showmen, Inc. produced a 95-minute English dub of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, titled Warriors of the Wind, which was released theatrically in the United States by New World Pictures on June 14, 1985, followed by a VHS release in December 1985. The voice actors and actresses were not credited, and the film was heavily edited to give it a faster pace. The film received a PG rating just like Disney's later English dub. By removing several of the longer dialogue scenes, some of the environmentalist themes were simplified as was the main subplot of the Ohmu, altered to remove Nausicaä's childhood connection to them. Most of the characters' names were changed, including the titular character who became Princess Zandra. The North American poster and VHS cover featured a cadre of male characters who are not in the film, riding the resurrected Giant Warrior—including a still-living Warrior shown briefly in a flashback. Overall, approximately 22 minutes was cut for North American release. Warriors of the Wind also prompted Miyazaki to allow translator Toren Smith of Studio Proteus to create an official, faithful translation of the Nausicaä manga for Viz Media.

In the late 1980s, an English dub of Castle in the Sky was produced for international Japan Airlines flights at the request of Tokuma Shoten. The Castle dub was briefly screened in the United States by Streamline Pictures. Carl Macek, the head of Streamline, was disappointed with this dub, deeming it "adequate, but clumsy". Following this, Tokuma allowed Streamline to dub their future acquisitions My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service. In April 1993, Troma Films, under their 50th St. Films banner, distributed the Totoro dub as a theatrical release, and the dub was later released on both VHS and DVD by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. In the early 1990s, an English dub of Porco Rosso was produced by Ward Sexton in Japan, again for international Japan Airlines flights. The original dubs can be seen on the 1996 Ghibli ga Ippai Laserdisc set, the initial copies for the Japanese DVD releases of Totoro, Laputa and Porco, and Fox's VHS and DVD releases of Totoro.

Streaming rights

Prior to 2019, Studio Ghibli opted not to make its films available digitally, feeling that physical media and theatrical events like GKIDS' Studio Ghibli Fest would work more towards their goal of mindful care and curation for their films. Disney had previously lobbied for a streaming deal with Ghibli during their distribution tenure, but such attempts were never materialized. The studio heads changed their minds after hearing a quote from American actor and director Woody Allen about how there should be multiple outlets for feature films.

On October 17, 2019, HBO Max announced it had acquired exclusive streaming rights to Studio Ghibli's catalogue in the United States as part of a deal with GKIDS; these films were available when the service launched in May 2020. On January 20, 2020, it was announced that Netflix acquired the exclusive streaming rights to this catalogue in all regions where it operates except for the United States (in which Netflix does have streaming rights to The Castle of Cagliostro and Mary and the Witch's Flower), as part of a deal with Ghibli's international sales rights partner Wild Bunch. Seven of twenty-one films in the studio's catalogue were released on February 1, 2020, with the others following on March 1 and April 1. Netflix then struck a separate deal with GKIDS for streaming rights in Canada which was announced on June 22, and came into effect on June 25 for most films. As of 2024, no streaming rights deals have yet been announced for Studio Ghibli's home country of Japan, nor for markets such as China where neither Netflix nor HBO Max is available.

Grave of the Fireflies

Most of the above deals exclude Grave of the Fireflies; unlike most of the other films, which were published by Tokuma Shoten, Grave of the Fireflies was produced and is owned by Shinchosha, which also had published the short story it was based on, and as such, fell into different rights holdings. It was released in Japan on VHS by Buena Vista Home Entertainment under the Ghibli ga Ippai Collection on August 7, 1998. On July 29, 2005, a DVD release was distributed through Warner Home Video. Walt Disney Studios Japan released the complete collector's edition DVD on August 6, 2008. Walt Disney Studios Japan released the film on Blu-ray twice on July 18, 2012: one as a single release, and one in a two-film set with My Neighbor Totoro. StudioCanal released a Blu-ray in the United Kingdom on July 1, 2013. Madman Entertainment released the film in Australia and New Zealand.

It was released on VHS in North America by Central Park Media in a subtitled form on June 2, 1993. They later released the film with an English dub on VHS on September 1, 1998 (the same day Disney released Kiki's Delivery Service in North America) and an all-Regions DVD (which also included the original Japanese with English subtitles) on October 7 the same year. It was later released on a two-disc DVD set (which once again included both the English dub and the original Japanese with English subtitles as well as the film's storyboards with the second disc containing more extensive Bonus Features) on October 8, 2002. It was released by Central Park Media one last time on December 7, 2004. Following the May 2009 bankruptcy and liquidation of Central Park Media, ADV Films re-acquired the rights to the film from Central Park Media and re-released on DVD on July 7, 2009. Following the September 1, 2009, shutdown and re-branding of ADV, their successor, Sentai Filmworks, rescued the film and released a remastered DVD on March 6, 2012. A Blu-ray edition was released on November 20, 2012, featuring an all-new English dub produced by Seraphim Digital, along with a digital release that same year. Netflix acquired the distribution rights to the film in 2024 and began featuring it for digital streaming outside of Japan on September 16, 2024. GKIDS re-acquired the rights to the film from Sentai Filmworks and re-released on Blu-ray and DVD on July 8, 2025, under a new deal with Studio Ghibli (which has the original Japanese version and the 1998 and 2012 English dubs). In August 2025, Anime Limited acquired the British and Irish distribution rights to the films following the expiration of StudioCanal rights with Shinchosha and announced they would re-release the film theatrically and on Blu-ray in 2026.

Style and themes

Studio Ghibli films are mostly hand-drawn using rich watercolor and acrylic paints. The films use traditional methods of making animation where every frame is drawn and colored by hand. Computer animation techniques are used sparingly. All the Studio Ghibli films use bright colors, and have a "whimsical and joyful aesthetic". Studio Ghibli's art style tends to be more of a cozy European style that put a lot of undertones on the background and nature in the scene. Notable exceptions are the final two films of Isao Takahata, My Neighbors the Yamadas and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, which "stand out visually from the rest of the Ghibli canon" through intentional visual imperfections such as stray pencil lines. Both films also integrate premodern Japanese visual art forms through soft watercolor palettes and storybook-like aesthetic reminiscent of Japanese folk art. For Kaguya, this approach aimed to reflect the emotions and inner struggles of the characters and highlight the hand-drawn animation.

The films often focus on the lives of youth, especially school children. Common themes include the risks posed by progress to tradition, environmentalism and the natural world, independent female protagonists, the cost of war, and youth.

Music

Much of Studio Ghibli's music is composed by Joe Hisaishi, who has worked with Miyazaki on creating the music for his films for over 30 years. He uses storyboard images, provided by Miyazaki, to create an image album, which is then used to build out the final soundtrack for the movie. The music has elements from Baroque counterpoint, jazz, and modal music to create the unique sound that many associate with both Hisaishi and Studio Ghibli. Early on, the music in the films was known for its eclectic, synth sound, before later moving to more motivic and melody-driven music. Especially present in earlier years, the music does not directly relate to the emotions and rhythms happening on screen. Another defining feature is Hisaishi's unique use of leitmotif, rather than a singular song being associated with one character, the motif is the theme of the film. Hisaishi began using leitmotif in Ghibli films first in Howl's Moving Castle.