ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Japan’s renowned Studio Ghibli in terms of the distinctive characteristics that helped it to become an increasingly significant alternative to Hollywood, especially Disney, animation in the twenty-first century. The chapter explores four films—My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and The Tale of Princess Kaguya—that express the three most significant characteristics of Ghibli’s films: (1) a willingness to accept and even celebrate ambiguity rather than enforce a “happily ever after ending”; (2) female complexity and agency; and (3) most significant, an essentially animistic vision that places humanity as only one part of a multifaceted and profoundly connected world. These elements add up to the “Ghibli Worldview,” which is appropriate for the complexities and challenges of the twenty-first century. This chapter argues that this vision, along with Ghibli’s rich narratives, imaginative world-building, and sublimely beautiful imagery, are the reasons behind the growth of Ghibli’s influence and popularity.
