スタジオジブリ作品
STUDIO GHIBLI


Studio Ghibli

Studio Ghibli , Inc. (株式会社スタジオジブリ Kabushiki-kaisha Sutajio Jiburi), known simply as Ghibli, is a Japanese animation film studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo. They were founded by Isao Takahata, Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki, and Yasuyoshi Tokuma.
The company began operations in June 1985 as a subsidiary of Tokuma Shoten Co., Ltd. for the purpose of producing animated films directed by Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. Initially based in Kichijōji, they moved to Kajino-cho, Koganei in August 1992. In June 1997, the company merged with Tokuma Shoten Co., Ltd. and became Tokuma Shoten Co., Ltd./Studio Ghibli Company (later Studio Ghibli Business Headquarters). In April 2005, Studio Ghibli Co., Ltd. became independent from Tokuma Shoten.
The company's logo features the character Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's film My Neighbor Totoro.
Several anime features created by Ghibli have won the Animage Anime Grand Prix Award including Castle in the Sky in 1986, My Neighbor Totoro in 1988, and Kiki's Delivery Service in 1989. In 2002, Spirited Away won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, the first anime film to win an Academy Award.

Representatives

Activities

Name

The name "Ghibli" is derived from the nickname the Italians used for their Saharan scouting planes (Caproni Ca.309 Ghibli) in the Second World War (and later for the AMX International AMX and Maserati Ghibli), which is derived from the Libyan word for hot wind blowing through the Sahara Desert (also known as sirocco).
Though the Italian word is pronounced with a hard "g", the Japanese pronunciation of the studio's name is [dʑíbɯɺi], as in with a "soft g". The theory behind the name was that the studio was blowing a new wind into the Japanese anime industry. Prior to their independence from Tokuma Shoten in 2005, the name "Ghibli" had to be purchased from Tokuma Shoten. Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki were initially reluctant to buy, with Miyazaki proposing the studio go by a new name, "Sirocco". They ended up relenting as the name "Ghibli" carried far too much goodwill.

History

Early Years

Founded on June 15, 1985, the studio is headed by Hayao Miyazaki along with Isao Takahata, as well as the studio's executive managing director and producer Toshio Suzuki. Its origins date back to 1984, with the film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which was popularized as a serialized manga in a publication of Tokuma Shoten's Animage magazine after the original screenplay was rejected. Suzuki, who worked as a tabloid reporter before working at Animage, was the lynchpin that helped convince Miyazaki to pursue his manga work for Nausicaä and eventually create its film adaptation. The film was eventually produced by Topcraft, which went bankrupt on June 15, 1985, shortly after the film was released. Toru Hara, president of Topcraft, then sold the company to Toshio Suzuki and Takahata, renaming it to "Studio Ghibli". Hara would be retained as producer for a handful of the studio's early films.
The formal establishment of the studio signaled a sea change for Miyazaki, "We can no longer overcome inferior working conditions by staff spirit alone. Since we have had some financial success, we have to take the risk and reinvest what we have accumulated. We need to hire new staff, train and nurture them, and we also need to improve work conditions for our experienced staff... We want to create an attractive workplace and maintain it."
To prevent creative stagnation, Miyazaki help a belief that, "To keep Ghibli going, we must create a proper corporate structure. We need to stop assembling staff to make a film only to dismiss them once the project is completed. If we don't change this policy, we will have to quit being Ghibli. For us, it is too exhausting, at our age and with our limited physical abilities, to keep recreating a new workplace in Japan. This is why we have to leverage the foundation that we have built and improve Ghibli."
Much of Ghibli's works are distributed in Japan by the noted film distributor Toho. While some Ghibli films received distribution outside Japan, such as by Streamline Pictures, it was often without a wide theatrical release.

Tokuma/Disney Alliance

Tokuma Shoten, the parent company of Studio Ghibli, has provided the Walt Disney Company with the video rights to all of Ghibli's output that did not have previous international distribution, including the global, non-Japan distribution rights to Princess Mononoke (1997), Spirited Away (2001), Howl's Moving Castle (2004), Ponyo (2008), and The Wind Rises (2013). Composer Joe Hisaishi has provided the soundtrack for all of Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli films.
Ghibli's co-founder, Isao Takahata, on the other hand, would go on to direct more down-to-earth dramas and folktales such as Grave of the Fireflies (1988), a film focusing on the lives of two war orphans towards the end of the Second World War in Japan, Only Yesterday (1991), Pom Poko (1994), My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999) and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013). Many directors would also release works under the studio title, such as Yoshifumi Kondō's Whisper of the Heart (1995), Hiroyuki Morita's The Cat Returns (2002), Tomomi Mochizuki's Ocean Waves (1993), and Goro Miyazaki's Tales from Earthsea (2006), From Up on Poppy Hill (2011), and Earwig and the Witch (2020).
A dinner at Hotel Okura was held to celebrate the conclusion of the contract and Disney and the Tokuma Group's historic alliance. Eight were present during the meeting, with the Disney side being Buena Vista president Michael O. Johnson, chief of staff Greg Probert, senior corporate lawyer Brett Chapman, and Koji Hoshino, the head of Disney of Japan, while on the Tokuma there was its chairman Yasuyoshi Tokuma, Toshio Suzuki, a liaison who worked at Tokuma International named Steve Alpert, and their translator Haruyo Moriyoshi. The contract had gone through many challenges over the course of two years, often due to turnover of staff and disputes such as Disney demanding they hold the rights to Ghibli films for ten instead of five years. Some Disney executives even scoffed at having to deal with what they saw was a "small time publisher" like Tokuma Shoten.
Suzuki and Mr. Tokuma wisely held on to the digital rights, which included DVD distribution rights from Disney, as they were still bullish about the VHS home market and DVD had not taken ahold of the market at the time. This was partly to do with Mr. Shoten having a business relationship with Sony, who understood where the market was headed.
The evening had gone well enough, until Mr. Tokuma gave a speech demanding a higher minimum guarantee for the distribution rights of Princess Mononoke (which had been the highest of any film at the time due to its prestige and reputation). This incensed Michael O. Johnson, who began ranting until he his chief of staff Probert advised him to work out the deal the day after with Suzuki. A day later, they worked out the contract to reflect Mr. Tokuma's demands of a higher minimum guarantee, but since he never read the fine legal print, his wishes were never really actually met. It turns out Mr. Tokuma had intentionally provoked the Disney executives so that he could boast to the press that he had "achieved victory" against Disney.
Disney would later renegotiate for the DVD and digital rights from Tokuma Shoten, and in exchange, Ghibli was able to get back the rights to films in countries where Disney had declined to release them. Ghibli was then free to seek out other distributors in those countries. For Ghibli's filmmakers, nothing was more important than having all their films seen in movie theaters. Hayao Miyazaki and all the Ghibli's directors and animators think themselves as theatrical filmmakers. They see their art as meant to be seen on the big screen, with a sound system that would allow the audience to hear the nuanced and carefully mixed soundtrack. Nobody at the time could have foreseen the importance of the DVD home market, except Mr. Tokuma and Suzuki.
A press conference was held on July 23, 1996. A thousand guests were in attendance, many of whom were from the Japanese and American press (This was despite the on-going 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta). Buena Vista's president, Michael O. Johnson, was originally supposed to come to Japan to attend but couldn't due to an injury, and instead gave a statement via a satellite. Suzuki organized the event thinking, " I liked the idea of the press conference being held in Japan, and I wanted to make it the most amazing one. What is great is that, when it comes to what it means, these are our customers, including reporters. With that in mind, I'd like to have "1000" people come. This is the goal I have set."
Another effect Suzuki intended for such a large press event was to raise the profile of Princess Mononoke worldwide, which was set to be released internationally in 1997
Disney would also help provide financial support for My Neighbors the Yamadas by Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata.