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Thursday, August 27, 2015

Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki Retrospective

Studio Ghibli is one of the only foreign animation studios to reach relative mainstream success in North America and Europe. Chances are you might have already seen one of Studio Ghibli's films or have at least heard of them, even if you did not realize it, thanks to Disney's brilliant marketing. A few of the studio's most recognizable works include Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Howl's Moving Castle, although their work spans more than 20 feature films.

Pixar producer and director, John Lasseter, often cites Studio Ghibli founder, Hayao Miyazaki, as an inspiration for his work, and he has worked personally with Miyazaki as the director of Disney's English dubs of Ghibli films. There is even a Totoro plushie in Toy Story 3.

In short, regardless of your opinion of Japanese animation, if you consider yourself a film fan, especially of animation, you need to at least watch the studio's most critically acclaimed works. Fans of Pixar, Disney, or family films should also check out the studio's work.

My inspiration for this Studio Ghibli retrospective comes a request from reader, Matthew Birkhofer, who requested "You should make a list of the best Pixar & Studio Ghibli movies, in one list to see where movies add up!" during the "Ask Me Anything" post, which I will answer soon. Since ranking Studio Ghibli and Pixar would result in the bottom half being mostly Pixar and the top half mostly Ghibli, it felt redundant. So, instead, I plan to review every single Studio Ghibli film over the course of this year, including the early work of Hayao Miyazaki before he started Studio Ghibli. The retrospective begins tomorrow with a review of Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro. Please give me some feedback on your opinion this idea in the comment, and whether or not you are interesting.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.

4 comments:

  1. Can't wait to see the reviews! I really need to get around to watching more of their movies; like you said they are extremely loved by critics. I plan of reviewing 'Grave of the Fireflies' at some point before the year ends. Interesting to see which ones are your favorites!

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    1. Thanks again for the idea! Sounds great. I will be looking for your review of film. By the way, my first review never was updated on the Blogger dashboard, so here is a link to it.
      http://jandjproductions1809.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-castle-of-cagliostro-review.html

      -James

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  2. I love Studio Ghibli and the excellent dubbing Disney has done for those films! Disney fans would love these movies if they knew which to watch. :)

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    Replies
    1. Exactly! Disney fans should watch these movies!

      -James

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One rule: No strong profanity. If you want to link to one of your posts, please do; I am always interested in other reviews and such.

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