The Case of Our Studio Ghibli Top 10 (Part 2)
Well, last week we outlined the first half of our Top 10 Studio Ghibli movies! This week, AniMAY continues with the second half, as we count down our top five choices for our favorite Studio G movies. So, let’s just jump right into it with number five!
5. Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Summary
A young woman named Sophie is cursed to age prematurely by the evil Witch of the Waste. Now in the body of an old woman, she is unable to tell anyone what happened, and she must leave her job in her mother’s hat shop. Sophie goes into the waste and finds the gigantic walking castle of the young and beautiful wizard, Howl. After hopping on board, she meets Calcifer, the fire demon who powers the castle and who is bound to Howl. Sophie agrees to help Calcifer break free of Howl as long as he promises to lift her curse as well. When Howl discovers Sophie, he can see through the Witch's spell. The two of them fall in love and together confront his former teacher about trying to steal away his magic.
Making of
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Howl’s Moving Castle is based on a book by Diana Wynne Jones. Like many other Studio Ghibli films, Miyazaki also wrote the screenplay. Originally, Miyazaki was not planning on directing the movie, but the original director, Mamoru Hosoda, left the project early on. Hosoda is another talented director who went on to helm the animated film Mirai.
Howl’s Moving Castle is known to be one of the most beautiful Ghibli films ever made, with artwork that mirrors the intricate illustrations of a book. The complex and disorganized castle was meant to represent Howl himself.
After the major success of Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, American actors were thrilled to sign on for the English dub of Howl’s Moving Castle. The Disney producers and directors (including Pete Doctor of PIXAR fame) watched the film in Japanese to get an understanding of how Miyazaki directed the characters.
Cindy and Don Hewitt adapted the Japanese script, making the dialogue feel more conversational to American audiences.
The actors then watched the animation while delivering their lines to see how much time they had to get the words out before the character stopped talking. This was a challenge because the length of sentences could vary from one language to another.
Christian Bale lent his Batman-like voice to Howl, which he would have been working on around the same time as this film. He actually volunteered to play any role in the film that they would like, and they chose him to play the title character.
In the original Japanese version, the same woman, Chieko Baishô, played both young and old Sophie. In the English dub, Emily Mortimer and Jean Simmons play the two versions of the same character.
Music
Joe Hisaishi once again composed a fantastic and memorable score for Howl’s Moving Castle. The film’s music is one of the reasons that this is one of the most beloved Ghibli films. The stand-out theme is called “Merry-go-Round of Life” which captures the magic of the film and the feeling of falling in love.
4. Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
Summary
Kiki, a teenage witch-in-training, has reached the age of 13. According to tradition, all witches of that age must leave home for one year, so that they can learn how to live on their own. Kiki, along with her talking cat Jiji, flies away to live in the seaside town of Koriko. After starting her own delivery service (using her broom as the delivery vehicle) Kiki must learn how to deal with her new life, especially after she loses the power to fly.
Making of
This film was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and it was adapted from a children’s novel of the same name written by Eiko Kadono and published in 1985.
Miyazaki was originally not set to direct but when production was falling apart he had to step in and take over as director.
Miyazaki intentionally made the time period vague. An example of this vagueness is when you see a black and white tv but also a biplane flying in the same scene.
He dreamed of a world where World War II did not happen and what the ’50s would have been like with that timeline. He combined elements from several cities to make a conglomerate for Kiki. He used Ireland, Stockholm, San Francisco, Paris, and somewhere in Italy. Although Miyazaki did not personally visit these places he had his team go, especially to the major influence for Kiki’s town which was Visby in Sweden. He had only been there once but he wanted his team of artists to see it for themselves and make their own memories.
The European audience could tell right away it was a mixture but the Japanese audience thought it was just a town in Europe. He enjoyed tricking them a little.
The most challenging scenes were when Kiki was on a broomstick flying. The trickiest part was making it look like a natural action.
Miyazaki considered the fact that if you were to ride a broomstick it would hurt after a while (just think about how much even a bike does lol.) In order to circumvent this, he came up with the idea of the broomstick flying and Kiki floating with it.
When asked about why Jiji could not speak at the end, Miyazaki said “Sometimes we become speechless. When we’re together at the end, there’s nothing to say.” His actions seemed to be more important than what he said. The simple fact that Jiji was there in the end for Kiki was enough. Kiki’s powers increased and she became who she was meant to be. Miyazaki said that “When you gain, you also lose.”
At the end of the film Miyazaki wanted to continue the story instead of merely having credits roll. He wanted the audience to see that Kiki was happy. He considered it almost like a little mini sequel. In Japan most people will politely sit through the credits but Miyazaki is aware that it is not customary everywhere. He therefore wanted to entertain the audience that stayed.
There are actually two dubs for the film, and the first non-Disney dubbing is considered to be a more accurate translation of the original film. The Disney dub was done almost 10 years later with Phil Hartman as the voice of Jiji. Unfortunately, Hartman died before the dubbed version was released and it is dedicated in his honor.
Music
Joe Hisaishi wrote the upbeat score for the film, giving it a signature Ghibli sound.
Miyazaki said that Kiki’s Delivery Service was the first “hit” that Studio Ghibli had as every single age group went to see it. It was their first box office success. The movie cost just over 6 million dollars and made just over 10 million dollars.
3. My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Summary
Satsuki and her younger sister, Mei, settle into an old country house with their father and wait for their mother to recover from an illness in the local hospital. As the sisters explore their new home, they come across and make friends with many playful spirits in the nearby forest; most notably the massive cuddly creature, Totoro.
The film’s title character became a trademark for Studio Ghibli, and the film is regarded as one of the most-loved children’s films of all time.
Making of
This film was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
Kazuo Oga was responsible for the beautiful background art.
My Neighbor Totoro started way back in the 1970s while Hayao Miyazaki was working at Telecom Animation. He drew early image boards of a 5-year-old girl who had a similar design to Mei, but the personality of Satsuki. Totoro was originally intended to be published as a children's picture book, but as proposals for the film slowly developed, the main character was changed to be two sisters.
This also meant expanding the runtime of the story to meet feature-length.
Miyazaki knew what he wanted to achieve: a warm story, offering young audiences a film with no conflict or confrontation.
After the release of Castle in the Sky, Miyazaki submitted his proposal for Totoro to Tokuma Shoten (Studio Ghibli's parent company at the time) in November 1986. However, its post-war setting, lighthearted subject matter, and 60-minute length led to its rejection. Because feature-length animated films were not yet box office hits in Japan, distributors did not believe in the story of two little girls and a monster in modern Japan. A worthwhile animated movie would need to be something more.
But producer Toshio Suzuki was convinced of the allure of seeing Totoro animated on the big screen. He proposed a simultaneous release of Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies; however, the proposal was also rejected. Shinchôsha Publishing, who originally released the novel Grave of the Fireflies, then stepped in and decided to help produce Isao Takahata's film adaptation. They knew that if a film is adapted from one of their novels, schools would likely see it for educational purposes. Then, this same audience would be able to attend the screening of a second film, included in the price of the ticket. Tokuma finally agreed, establishing a joint partnership.
Thus, the only two-year-old Studio Ghibli, found itself managing and producing two films with seemingly no real commercial appeal at the same time, over a record period of only one year.
During a special retrospective program in July 2008, Toshio Suzuki recalls that Grave of the Fireflies was originally planned to be 60 minutes, but was extended to 90 minutes. Because of this, Suzuki then fought to extend Totoro to 80 minutes or longer.
Mei and the Kittenbus is a 13-minute sequel to My Neighbor Totoro, also directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is shown exclusively at the Saturn Theater at the Ghibli Museum. It centers around Mei and her misadventures with the Kittenbus.
Miyazaki’s mother suffered from spinal tuberculosis when he was a child, and spent a lot of time in the hospital. The film is said to be semi-autobiographical in that sense, though it never reveals the mother’s condition. He allegedly said that the film would have been too difficult for him to make if the protagonists had been boys like him and his brother.
The name Totoro is very similar to the Japanese word for “troll.” In the original version, Mei mispronounces the word “Totoro” and that’s where the name comes from.
Totoro is the name of the species, and the big gray Totoro is called, “Oh-Totoro,” The middle one is, “Chuu-Totoro” and the tiny one is “Chibi-Totoro”
Music
For this film Joe Hisaishi kept it upbeat and lighthearted, adding synthesizers. It helped to create a sense of innocence.
2. Princess Mononoke (1997)
Summary
While protecting his village from rampaging demon boar, Ashitaka is stricken by a deadly curse. To save his life, he must journey to the forests of the west. Once there, he gets tied up in a fierce campaign that humans were waging on the forest. The ambitious Lady Eboshi and her loyal clan use their guns against the gods of the forest and a brave young woman, Princess Mononoke, who was raised by a wolf god. Ashitaka sees the good on both sides and tries to stop the bloodshed.
Making of
This film was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, with an adapted English screenplay by Neil Gaiman.
We talked about this film in our Studio Ghibli episode a while ago and one of our favorite stories is about when it was sent to America to release.
When a certain convicted felonious film producer (Harvey Weinstein) obtained the rights to the film, he insisted on a cut version. Miyasaki refused and Studio Ghibli sent his office a Katana sword with the words, “no cuts” etched into the blade. The film was released in its entirety and when Miyasaki was later asked about it, he reportedly just smiled and said, “I defeated him.”
Before our number one pick came onto the scene, Princess Mononke was their first wonderful dive into the Japanese myths and legends.
Before premiering the English dub at a film festival, Miyazaki was quoted saying,"With Princess Mononoke, I intentionally threw out all the rules of entertainment movie-making, which is why it will take some time for a true evaluation of this film to emerge. I hope you will enjoy all of the ridiculously long 2 hours and 13 minutes."
Princess Monoke on an approximate budget of 19 million dollars made almost 170 million dollars worldwide.
Music
Princess Mononoke is unlike many other Studio Ghibli films in that it has a much darker subject matter with intense visuals. Joe Hisaishi provided an intense score that matched the tone of the film.
1. Spirited Away (2001)
Summary
Young Chihiro and her parents are riding along during a family outing through the countryside when they stumble across a mysterious tunnel with a seemingly abandoned amusement park on the other side. Despite Chihiro's hesitations and creepy feelings, her parents explore the area and eventually discover and indulge in an eatery filled with fresh food. As a result of their trespassing and taking of food, they are magically turned into pigs, which scares away Chihiro. She meets the enigmatic Haku, who explains to her that this land is actually a gathering place for spirits, a kind of holiday resort, where these beings seek comfort away from the earthly realm. He tells her that she must work here, as laziness is not permitted, to free both herself and her parents from the mystical land.
Making of
This film was written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
Instead of writing scripts, Miyazaki likes to draw storyboards.
Because of this, no one knows how the films will be in the end, even Miyazaki himself...
Miyazaki commented on this and said, “This may sound ridiculous, but I’ve had staff tell me they have no idea what is going on in my films. When we were making Spirited Away, even I didn’t know.” (The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness) He then likens this lack of understanding to how people do not fully understand the world. “The World isn’t simple enough to understand in words.”
It began without a script. It was unstructured and an organic way for the process to begin.
The young Chihiro was inspired by Miyazaki’s friend’s 10 year old daughter. Every summer Miyazaki would take the summer off for a sabbatical and one summer (while on one of his many retirement stages) he took inspiration from the young apathetic girl and began on a film that would once again bring him back to the studio.
After reading young women’s magazines to get a better understanding of his target demographic, he was saddened by the fact that these manga magazines focused too heavily on love and romance.
The most well-known character in the film is probably no-face, the faceless spirit. This character borrows the design of a silkworm both in looks and actions.
Each character has meaning behind their name
Chihiro- a thousand searches
Yubaba- bathhouse witch
Boh- baby or little boy
The cleansing of the earth spirit was based on a Miyazaki’s experience of cleaning a river near his home. There was a bicycle with its wheel out of the water, and he thought it would be easy to pull out but the mud had caked on for years.
After winning the 2003 Oscar for Best Animated Film, Miyazaki did not attend the award ceremony. He could not bring himself to visit a country that was bombing Iraq.
Music
Joe Hisaishi
Many people remember the piece called “One Summer’s Day” when Chihiro is riding in the car to her new home. It is memorable due to its beautiful piano sections that convey a sadness of moving away from a place that you loved. Here’s a link to Joe Hisaishi playing this piece on the piano.
Spirited Away was incredibly popular, and was responsible for introducing an entire generation of westerners to Anime. The high profile film convinced actors to lend their voices to English dubs, and even though Studio Ghibli had been making great films for several years, it seemed to become a household name to American audiences.
Before we wrap up this episode, here are some honorable mentions!
Honorable Mentions:
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Porco Rosso
Whisper of the Heart
The Cat Returns
Tales from Earthsea
Grave of the Fireflies
Studio Ghibli is one of the most magical animation studios in existence. Their imagery is breathtaking, and their stories are timeless. Ghibli films have something for every viewer, whether you’re looking for a sweet story full of magic and wonder, or an intense drama. So, if you’re not sure what to watch, pop in a Studio Ghibli film. You aniMAY find exactly what you need.
Sources:
Kiki’s Delivery Service