Studio Ghibli Inc. is a Japanese animation studio based in Tokyo. Studio Ghibli was founded on June 15, 1985, by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and producer Toshio Suzuki. Many popular films have been produced by Studio Ghibli Inc., some being “My Neighbor Totoro” (1988), “Spirited Away” (2001), and “Ponyo” (2008). These movies are originally in Japanese, but many famous English actors like Robert Pattinson, Christian Bale, and Florence Pugh are voice actors for the English dubbed versions. Aside from the adorable animation style and captivating music score, Studio Ghibli movies incorporate serious themes into each movie. Although the movies are catered toward a young audience, the messages produced in each movie apply to anyone of all ages, and that is one of the reasons why these movies are so impactful.
In this article, I will be writing about two of my favorite Ghibli movies and their important themes. I will attempt to avoid spoilers, but I highly suggest that everyone watch these movies!
HOWL’s Moving castle (2004)
“Howl’s Moving Castle” is about a girl named Sophie who struggles with self-confidence. She gets cursed by a witch and turns into a 90-year-old woman. Sophie gets tangled up with Howl, a local wizard in her town, Markl, Howl’s apprentice, and Calcifer, Howl’s familiar. Disguised as a cleaning lady, Sophie navigates through her war-stricken town while attempting to break her curse.
Anti-war themes are important in “Howl’s Moving Castle.” When the movie begins, viewers see that a war is brewing between Sophie’s country and an unnamed “enemy.” The “enemy” is never stated in the movie, which adds to each character’s complexity. Viewers are unaware of the reason why there is a war, and we see how each character acts in the face of violence. When the King of the land summons every witch and wizard to help fight in the war, Howl is forced to go into hiding. Howl avoids the King’s summons and uses his magic to fight against the King’s army. He uses his ability to transform into a bird, which slowly causes him to lose his humanity. An internal conflict that Howl faces is that he can either lose himself to save the world, or he can “selfishly” run away from the war and live with Sophie. While Sophie’s hometown is attacked by the King’s army, she focuses on saving her family and friends. This topic represents that there are no clear-cut sides in a war. The idea that change is possible is also key: Howl is portrayed as egotistical and rude, but at the end of the movie, his personality changes for the better. At the beginning of the war, both sides engage in violence, but in the end, both sides agree to stop the meaningless conflict.
Hayao Miyazaki’s opinions about U.S. foreign involvement strongly influence his films when it comes to war. No matter what movie, each of his characters shows compassion and kindness despite conflict, which is something that we can all learn from.
PRincess mononoke (1997)
“Princess Mononoke” is about a young prince named Ashitaka who struggles in a conflict between forest gods and humans. Ashitaka gets bitten by a possessed boar god, and he is slowly being corrupted by a curse that will eventually kill him. Ashitaka leaves his village in hopes of finding the cause of the curse and eventually putting a stop to it. Ashitaka meets many different people in this story that can be categorized into two groups: humans and forest creatures. The humans in this story have many different goals. Some want to expand Iron Town (a refuge/place of work), which means they need to cut down the nearby forests for resources and space. Another group wants to kill the rumored spirit of the Forest for recognition and money. The forest wildlife and mystical creatures defend their home against these humans and want to live in peace. San is a human who was abandoned and raised by wolves, and she often resorts to violence when it comes to human activity. Ashitaka prevents her from engaging in violent acts, but he must find a way to promote peace to all of the groups involved in the main conflict. After a lot of violence, negotiation, and death, the main conflict of the story is resolved, and the humans and forest coexist in peace.
An important theme in this movie is environmentalism. Ashitaka grapples with the humans because they want to expand for survival at the expense of the forest habitat. San and Ashitaka both want to save the forest and must convince the other humans to show compassion and not spread hate. Similar to “Howl’s Moving Castle”, none of the characters are necessarily evil. Each character is justified in their act but is blinded by hate and personal desires which causes them to act irrationally. This conflict highlights the difficulty of the recent environmental catastrophe. This movie emphasizes the need for empathy for everyone: humans, wildlife, and even the “non-human.”
Conclusion
I chose to write about my favorite movies, but Studio Ghibli has many more to offer that cover ideas of love, conflict, and even some more light-hearted topics. The unique characters, symbolism, and music scores of Studio Ghibli movies makes them one of my favorites, and I hope that this article inspires you to watch more of their movies!