Studio Ghibli, one of the most renowned studios in Japan, is known for its beautifully crafted animated films, rich storytelling, deep emotional impact, and more. Established in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki, the studio has created some of the most beloved animated movies of all time. However, the studio didn’t gain a solid footing in Japan from the get-go. Its fame grew steadily in Japan, becoming prominent in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with My Neighbor Totoro (1988) securing the studio’s financial viability through merchandise sales. The studio didn’t get a stable footing until 1997, after Princess Mononoke broke box office records.
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Miyazaki even once mentioned that they put all their money on this film. Had it been a flop, there was a major chance that Ghibli would’ve closed. Luckily, the film remains one of Miyazaki’s most iconic works to this date. By the time Spirited Away, the 2001 film, received the Academy Award, Ghibli had already established its footing in the global film market. However, although the studio’s popularity was solidified after several years since its establishment, 1988 was a major turning point for Ghibli. My Neighbor Totoro was released alongside Isao Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies as a double feature. Both stories are set in Japan, following contrasting themes.
Miyazaki Revealed the Reason Behind Creating My Neighbor Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies
The official X handle of Nippon TV’s Friday Roadshow is famous for sharing movie highlights and behind-the-scenes stories. The account shared that during the production announcement of both films, Miyazaki said, “Until now, I have continuously created works set in foreign countries or fictional countries with unclear nationalities, and I gradually felt like I was accumulating a debt to the country of ‘Japan,’ where I was born and raised.”
Miyazaki’s career as an animator began in 1963 when he joined Toei Animation, the first animation studio in Japan, established in 1948. Since then, Miyazaki worked for several studios, including Shin-Ei Animation (the studio behind Doraemon) and Nippon Animation. Before establishing Studio Ghibli, some of his best works were The Castle of Cagliostro and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (released one year before Ghibli’s establishment and is now placed under its banner). The anime director also worked on several manga, but most of his works had one thing in common: they were based outside of Japan.
This is why two of Ghibli’s most iconic works were set in Japan. My Neighbor Totoro follows the heartwarming story of two sisters who move to the countryside with their father and encounter friendly forest spirits. Totoro serves as a mascot for Ghibli even to this day, and he is considered one of the most famous characters in Japanese animation. On the other hand, Grave of the Fireflies is still considered one of the saddest anime of all time. Set in 1945, during the final months of World War II in Japan, the film follows two siblings who struggle to make ends meet during the Second World War.
It’s an interesting move that shows the mood spectrum at play with Studio Ghibli’s works under Miyazaki. What’s especially noteworthy is not only their position among Studio Ghibli fans compared to other movies, but among all-time greatest animated movies in their own right, so setting them both in Japan certainly paid off for Miyazaki. It marked a turning point, allowing them to produce many more genre-defining films from then on.
Creating two movies of wildly opposing tones like My Neighbor Totoro and Grave of the Fireflies is an interesting way for Hayao Miyazaki to repay, in his own words, “a debt to the country of Japan.”
H/T: @kinro_ntv on X
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