[Discussion] Studio Ghibli

[``saito akira]

Rules for Discussion:
This is a discussion, not a chat thread. Please contribute more than just a few sentences to each post. You may wish to tell us which of Studio Ghibli's productions you have seen and what you thought of each of them. Provide a summary of them if you wish to. Comment on artwork, character-style, characters in particular. Anything you like, as long as there is no abusive language.
Please also be prepared for spoilers. If you are going to say something which is a spoiler for the production you are discussing, please enclose it in the following tag:
[color=E2DEBA]WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY HERE[/color]
This topic will be closed on the 6th of August!

About Studio Ghibli:
Widely considered as Japan's premiere animation studio, Studio Ghibli was formed in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Ghibli's productions are constantly praised for their originality, dazzling animation and epic storytelling, and have received numerous awards for their efforts. Most notable among Ghibli's productions are Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and Laputa: Castle in the Sky, all directed by Miyazaki, perhaps the more well-known of the two who formed the studio. However, Takahata's films are no less of masterpieces, with his 1988 film Grave of the Fireflies being claimed as one of the most powerful anti-war movies ever made.

Discuss:
So, please go ahead and discuss anything you want to about Studio Ghibli ^^

[Watashi Natsumi]

Okay I'm first to post- yay!

Studio Ghibli films I've seen:

Howl's Moving Castle
Princess Mononoke
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds
Laputa: Castle in the Sky
and I've seen a little of My Neighbour Totoro, which I want to see all of.

I really love Hayao Miazaki movies like the ones above for several reasons but the main one is that I love how real they are. They're so honest and real such as the scene in Princess Mononoke where San has to mouth feed Ashitaka the bark she's got for him. I have never seen a western film where mouth-to-mouth situations such as these don't result in a commericalised romance/kiss scene. The fact that she really is just feeding him is refreshing to watch. The same with the ending of this film where San and Ashitaka don't actually get together. It's just refreshing to know that there's one director out there at least that doesn't fall prey to the commercialism of the west.

And actually that is one of the points of my Film Studies coursework which I'm doing at the moment based on Hayao Miazaki as an auteur (a director with a certain style/stamp/trademark eg. Tim Burton).

I also like the way that Studio Ghibli confronts issues that are of historical or social importance to Japan and their culture, such as vanity/appearance and the spiritual/mythical stories of their past. It's nice to see someone 1) take pride in their heritage instead of taking the mick of it like a lot of blockbusters do, and 2) making it enjoyable to watch with a little bit of fantasy and thought-provoking narrative.

Then you have the art of course- Studio Ghibli's films are full of spectacular artwork that is just so easy and enjoyable to watch while never being kiddie. I read that Hayao Miazaki has the nickname of the Japanese Walt Disney and hates it because his films aren't solely for children and he believes Walt Disney are commercialised and unrealistic.

I'm gonna shut up now because I could be here for ages on this topic lol.