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Hollywood Animal: the glitz, sleaze and glamour of Tinseltown
by Kim Muntinga
Studio Ghibli turns 40 – a flashback to their iconic movies
15.6.2025
Translation: Elicia Payne
From breathing trees, to walking castles – in movies such as My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, Studio Ghibli creates unforgettable worlds with unique characters and difficult themes at their core. Let’s take a look back at some of its movies.
On 15 June 1985, Studio Ghibli was born. Two directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki laid the foundations for a moving story. Together, they turned the style of Japanese cartoons on its head and simultaneously shaped cinema worldwide.
Thanks to Hayao Miyazaki’s strong personality and vision, profound stories were created, wrapped in unique worlds and memorable characters. Scenes like the parents turned into pigs from Spirited Away are still with me today. This was just one outcome of Miyazaki’s personal story which is characterised by war experiences, family challenges and an early decision to take up a career in the art of animated film.
In harmony with nature
Courage to be a strong female
War’s addressed even more intensely in the biographically inspired movie The Wind Rises from 2013. This is about Jirō Horikoshi, a real life engineer. He designed the famous Japanese Zero fighter aircraft Mitsubishi A6M during the Second World War. The movie’s about Jirō’s passion for flying, but also about the dilemma of his ideas being misused for war.
Between dream, fantasy and reality
Studio Ghibli is known for wrapping real themes in fantastic stories full of magic. In addition to Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, the studio has many more movies that take you into a world of dreams and fantasies.
Leave lasting impressions
The numerous stories that Studio Ghibli has brought to life so lovingly and by hand have a few things in common. In addition to the unmistakable drawing style, the unique characters and worlds, the movies also impress with their depth. A cat-and-mouse game of dream and reality, war and reconciliation.
In the 40 years since the company was founded, we’ve been richly blessed with these movies, and they’ve proven to be topical to this day. Respect for nature and questioning the purpose of war have never been so important. Not to mention that many more children and female characters get to play the lead role in order to save humanity from itself.
It’s hard to tell what the future holds for Studio Ghibli. There’s no doubt about it that Hayao Miyazaki is the driving force. At the age of 84, however, it’s uncertain how much longer he will carry on. It remains unknown who the successor will be. But what we do know is that it’s left a legacy and an impact on the global cinema industry that even Miyazaki, Takahata and Suzuki would never have dreamed of. Or maybe they did?
Feel free to share your nostalgia, kind words and your recommendations from the Studio Ghibli movie world in the comments section.
Header image: Michelle Brändle
In my world, Super Mario chases Stormtroopers with a unicorn and Harley Quinn mixes cocktails for Eddie and Peter at the beach bar. Wherever I can live out my creativity, my fingers tingle. Or maybe it's because nothing flows through my veins but chocolate, glitter and coffee.
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