It’s 6pm, I have set multiple alarms to make sure I do not forget to attend the event (there is a precedent there). On this rainy evening of the 28th of March I make my way down to the Arts University Bournemouth campus. I have been buzzing to attend this event all month.
I could tell you all about how near and dear to my heart the Ghibli Studio movies are to me, but chances are you feel exactly the same way, so let’s skip that part.
At this point I was unsure what to expect, there are people of all ages from 8 to 80. It truly speaks to the influence of the Studio. I head inside, and the room is nearly full, I guess those targeted ads really do work sometimes.
I spot a friend of mine sitting in the front row on one of the reserved seats. Fortunately I am also a nerd who paid up for the prime seating, and since we were quite early we got to catch up before the start of the presentation.
Below is one last photo for you before we share some of the content.
This previous photo had to be here, if for nothing else, just to show the magnificent piece of art Helen is wearing, featuring the Susuwatari (Soot Sprites). She has since shared a link to a website where you may be able to get a similar design. I have added a link to her socials at the bottom of this newsletter.
The presentation
I am immediately relieved, the main concern when attending a talk always is: “Am I going to be able to pick up what the speaker is saying?“
Helen is a fantastic speaker, with good tone and rhythm, and the setup by the organizer SEED TALKS is very good in quality, and so they are worth praising.
There’s more to the presentation than what I am talking about here. I am just going to share some of the themes that meant most to me.
Founding the studio
Learning about the founders was really nice, we all know Hayao, but we forget that he did not do it alone. Helen speaks of the circumstances that led to them meeting up and how they all had different backgrounds and interests and their journeys weaved back and forth until they created the fabric of the studio.
Helen told us about how their upbringing influenced their view of the world, and how being born before or after the American attacks on Japan shaped each of them. In my view this is expected, it is common for society to drastically change after a traumatic event. You can often see it reflected in fashion and architecture for example, and it was also a major catalyst for the entertainment industry. Things like comic books in the west and anime in the east were novel ways of expressions cherished in that Post War era.
Did you know that the word “Japan” is an exonym?
In Japanese or “Nihongo” they commonly use the word “Nihon” but may pronounce it as “Nippon” as a formal variant, they both use the kanji 日本.
Hayao Miyazaki (left) - Likely the most famous amongst them, is a well known animator and accomplished filmmaker.
Toshio Suzuki (middle) - A career Producer, he was co-founder and president of the Studio.
Isao Takahata (right) - He was a Director and Producer and very interestingly had a degree in French literature which influenced some of his works.
In the presentation, we hear a bit about their personalities and early life. How they entered the industry and ultimately founded the studio in 1985.
This is when I started reflecting on my own journey and cemented a fact I already knew. Creative work takes more than one person, a lot more.
The idea of being at the mercy of publishers and production companies is really unappealing to me, but it allowed them to work as a team with adequate investment. And the Japanese work culture is just insane in general, so I know that I will have to carve my own path and that theirs will not be a blueprint for mine, but they serve as inspiration nonetheless.
Inspiration
This was the thing I was hoping to hear about the most, artists constantly have to straddle the line between “inspired by” and “derived from”. When is it copying, and when is it stealing like an artist?
In the presentation, we hear about how some of these works inspired them to start the journey into animation, or how to be bolder and try to learn new techniques to animate. You can use sand or scratch paint off of animation cels to make different textures and light effects, you can even use paper cutouts instead of celluloid sheets altogether and have a painterly character instead of cel shaded. Whatever elevates the final piece. The limitation is budget, not creativity.
I will list some of the influences mentioned in the presentation, and these were all important for different reasons. Also the presentation went into some detail about them that I won’t be able to fully cover here.
Hakujaden (1958) - Toei Animation’s first theatrical release was an adaptation of the Chinese tale of the White Snake, this was a very formative and inspirational film for Hayao Miyazaki, who cites it as the reason he got interested in animation. The production of the film itself was inspired by Walt Disney’s work in Snow White (1937).
The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep (1952) - A French animated film loosely based in the Hans Andersen’s tale, it had production difficulties and was released in an unfinished state. This film was quoted as an influence to both Takahata and Miyazaki.
The Snow Queen (1957) - Another Hans Anderson’s tale, but this time adapted by the Russian animation studio Soyuzmultfilm. If anyone knows where I can find a copy of this film let me know, I am endlessly curious to see it.
Hedgehog and the Fog (1975) - This film was also produced by the same Russian studio, Soyuzmultfilm. The idea of animating characters in a fog, in traditional medium as they did here is mind-boggling to me.
This 10-minute film was also voted best animated film of all time at the 2003 Laputa Animation Festival. When I read this tidbit on the film’s wiki page I was intrigued, but after learning more about the process and story behind the film, it truly is a masterpiece. The animators who created this took 40 years to complete a different film, you can see more about their story and process here.
The King and the Mockingbird (1980) - After nearly three decades after the Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep came out, Paul Grimault managed to regain control of the film and finish it, reshuffling some of the old animation and complementing it with new work, transforming it into a feature length film.
The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun (1968) - All the work and inspiration that they had along the years culminated into this film, where Isao Takahata directed and Miyazaki also worked on. The style that was created for this film carried on into their future works.
This again was very important for me to hear and internalize, we will always be influenced by the works we experience and people will draw comparisons between what we create and other stories. We do stand on the shoulders of giants after all, and so did those we look up to.
What else?
The presentation goes on to tell us about other books and literary works that influenced the artists.
How Japan’s history, culture and religion are deeply embedded into the studio's productions.
And as well as a short list of artists who were part of the studio's success, and masters of their craft.
Kazuo Oga
Nizo Yamamoto
Michiyo Yasuda
Yoshifumi Kondo (I think he was likely my favourite artist in the studio's history)
I found this article in Italian, but you can read more about Yoshifumi Kondo here.
It is of special interest to me to read the book named “Futofuri Kaeru To” that displays a collection of his works, as mentioned in the article.
But I won’t give any more details than these because if you have the opportunity, you should go and hear it from Helen herself, or get one of her books to really dive into it. But now a little bit more from our esteemed speaker.
Interview with the speaker Helen McCarthy
Helen McCarthy has been researching and writing about anime since 1981. She talks about anime all over the world to a wide variety of audiences. She's currently writing her 14th book, and her second on Hayao Miyazaki.
After the talk I reached out trough socials for a couple of questions that sounded interesting to me, some of my midnight musings you could call them. But I hope you enjoy them nevertheless.
See below for the questions in question.
“Hello! It was brilliant to hear you speak yesterday, and I feel like you could do day's worth of presentations on the subject. I was hoping I could ask you two questions for me to share in my publication.
1- Since so much of Ghibli is influenced by the Shinto doctrine, do you think it is possible to capture the reverence for nature and preservation of culture in a western work?
2- Many artists manage to capture a derivative look of their style but not the feeling, In a future without Hayao, what do you think is the future of the Studio in 20 years?
I hope your arthritis didn't give you much trouble after all that standing.”
Marco D Blanco - 28th of March 2024
And shortly after she replied the following:
1) I think many Western artists, and artists in Australasia and the pan-Pacific world, in Africa and in Asian beyond Japan, do capture that reverence for nature and culture. Mediaeval art, especially in illuminated manuscripts, is overflowing with love of nature, funny or tender moments observed from life, and much silliness and invention. The art of the Renaissance in Western and Northern Europe is similar. You could not say the Impressionists lacked reverence for nature. Many Western and non-Japanese Asian film-makers also have a similar sense of wonder and delight in their approach to nature. No one nation, belief system, culture or studio has a monopoly on sensitivity to and reverence for the natural world. Some consciously choose not to use that or foreground that in their work, because they're interested in different aspects of life, but it would be very shortsighted to assign an entire spectrum of sensitivity to a single culture, art form or studio.
2) Artists who are considered derivative are often still building or working towards their own style. Of course, some may also want to follow fashion to make their work more saleable but if the market wants that kind of work and they can supply it, why would they not? It's both a necessary stage in development and a survival tactic. Miyazaki talks about having to reject the very strong influence of Osamu Tezuka to find his own voice, and destroyed juvenile work that was strongly influenced by Tezuka.
2.1) I think the future of Studio Ghibli in 20 years is a separate question from how other artists are influenced by the studio, and I have no idea what it will be. Given the technological advances in both CGI/SFX and AI, it's difficult to predict what either the anime industry or the film industry will be like in 20 years. I think the certainties, barring global war, environmental disaster or the collapse of capitalism, are: first, there will still be a huge demand for entertainment; second, the technologies through which we access that entertainment will continue to change in ways we have not yet foreseen, and third, that major corporations and the super-rich will seek to exert more control over entertainment, both to entrench their own position as culturally acceptable and to channel more of the profits from entertainment to themselves.
I immediately realized I had another ten thousand follow-up questions I would love to ask, but neither of us has the infinite number of hours necessary to properly explore all the interesting things about art and animation. Alas, some other day, perhaps.
Thank you very much, Helen, for your time and knowledge.
Below you can find a link to her blog - Helen Mccarthy: A face made for radio https://helenmccarthy.wordpress.com/
As well as the socials - helenmccarthy51 https://www.instagram.com/helenmccarthy51/
To you, from the home of magic.
Marco D Blanco.
OMG I AM JEALOUS!
Ah, thank you for your comprehensive report! I had a ticket for this talk too, but unfortunately was unable to go so I was very interested to hear about it here. And if you'd like to see the animation you mention, The Snow Queen from 1957, you can find it (in English dubbed form) on Youtube. There's quite a lot of old animation on there if you know what you're looking for.