Studio Ghibli (スタジオジブリ) is a Japanese animation film studio. Its anime films have been provocative, imaginative and emotional and widely praised all over the world.

Its name derives from the nickname the Italians used for their Saharan scouting planes in the Second World War, which derived from the Italian word for hot wind blowing through the Sahara Desert. Though the name is Italian, the pronunciation when relating to the studio is 'ji-bree' or 'ji-bu-ri'. The theory behind the name was that they were blowing a new wind onto the anime industry.

Founded in 1985, it is headed by the highly regarded director Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎 駿 Miyazaki Hayao) along with his colleague and mentor Isao Takahata. Its origins date back to 1983, with the film Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind (風の谷のナウシカ Kaze no tani no Naushika, 1984), which started as a serialized manga in a publication of Tokuma Shoten 's (徳間書店) Animage magazine. Tokuma is the parent company of Studio Ghibli, and has provided Disney with the video rights to eight of the films and global distribution rights to Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫 Mononoke Hime, 1997) and Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, 2001). Composer Joe Hisaishi has provided the soundtrack for numerous Studio Ghibli films.

The most famous and lauded film from the studio that wasn't directed by Miyazaki is Grave of the Fireflies (火垂の墓 Hotaru no Haka, 1988), directed by Isao Takahata, a sad film focusing on the lives - and deaths - of two war orphans in post-Second World War Japan.

Studio Ghibli films

A life-size model of a robot from the animation Laputa on top of the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo

• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
• Castle in the Sky (1986)
• Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
• My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
• Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
• Only Yesterday (1991)
• Porco Rosso (1992)
• Ocean Waves (1993)
• Pom Poko (1994)
• Whisper of the Heart (1995)
• On Your Mark (1995)(a music video)
• Princess Mononoke (1997)
• My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)
• Shiki-Jitsu (2000) (Under a live action division Studio Kajino )
• Spirited Away (2001)
• The Cat Returns (2002)(a sequel to Whisper of the Heart)
• Ghiblies Episode 2 (2002) (shown in theatres with The Cat Returns)
• Innocence: Ghost in the Shell (2004) (A co-production with Production I.G.)
• Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

In addition Isao Takahata adapted Michel Ocelot 's film Kirikou et la sorcière in to Japanese. The film was distributed in Japan by Studio Ghibli. In addition Ghibli did work on Takahata's short in the 2004 experimental animation anthology Winter Days .

External links

• Official Studio Ghibli Website (In Japanese only)
• Studio Ghibli Museum (13 photos, click on the enlarged version again to get the full-screen)
• Tokuma Shoten website (in Japanese)
• The Hayao Miyazaki Web (an extensive English language source on Ghibli's films and other related anime works.)
• Online Ghibli (a Studio Ghibli fan site with updated news and detailed media coverage for the Ghibli movies)
• The Big Cartoon DataBase entry for Studio Ghibli Animation