The Closet Genius of Studio Ghibli.
Thanks to lockdown 6.0, I managed to finish an e-book written by Toshio Suzuki, the producer of Studio Ghibli.
(Do I need to explain what is a Studio Ghibli? Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Totoro, Princess Kaguya, the Japanese Pixar? We good? )
天才の思考 高畑勲と宮崎駿 translates to ‘The Thinking of Geniuses Isao Takahata & Hayao Miyazaki’. I read the Chinese version, unsure if there’ll ever be an English version.
It’s a memoir of his life being the business mind of the most famous animation studio in Japan.
I didn’t grow up with Studio Ghibli.
Unlike my wife, I don’t have the urge to revisit ‘Nausicaa: The Valley of the Wind’ every year.
I do not carry all that cultural baggage or ownership.
Sure I know of Totoro and The Castle in the Sky but they’re always dubbed in Cantonese. They were also fighting with the likes of Disney, Warner Bros, Doraemon, Transformers to occupy the mind share of my third-world country childhood.
Like most westerners, Ghibli for me started from Spirited Away.
It’s the highest-grossing movie ever in Japanese history.
Only to be dethroned in 2021, by another animated movie.
Can you imagine that?
A cartoon, holding the top spot for 20 years.
It’s basically the national treasure of Japan.
Easter egg from the book: Disney CEO Michael Eisner’s first remark after finishing the movie was ‘I don’t understand why this movie is doing so well?’
Of course, you don’t.
The mouse only cares about plot devices, princesses, merchandise, and theme parks. Has Disney made any animated feature that is philosophical and also original, apart from The Emperor’s New Groove?
Anyway, Spirited Away went on to win an Oscar beating Disney so that felt great.
Sure, after that, we had Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo etc, but you can tell, every time a new Ghibli movie came out, the fanboys will collectively mutter: it’s good, but not Spirited Away good.
Easter egg #2: according to Suzuki, the lead of Spirited Away is Chihiro and No-Face; not Chihiro and Haku the dragon.
It’s been two paragraphs and I’ve yet to make my point, so I think this will be another two-part newsletter.
Because I wanted to talk about the other genius, Isao Takahata.
Miyazaki is the flamboyant genius.
The diva.
The one who has ears everywhere and who likes to give comments on every little detail.
According to Suzuki, staff refuses to drive him because he’ll backseat drive so hard, telling them what speed to go, which route to take, how to handle the steering wheel, and when to signal.
The micromanager from hell, but also the boss, with indisposable talent.
That sort of pain.
Takahata is a different beast of pain.
He’s passive and most of the time was not willing to work. But once he starts he focuses on the process and ignores the deadline.
Easter egg #3: While making Only Yesterday, Miyazaki called a meeting and yelled at everyone for the slow pace. Takahata said ‘I understand’ and once he left the office, told everyone to ignore his comments. Brutal.
Why not just fire the guy?
The subtext, is that Miyazaki simply saw Takahata as the bigger talent. Suzuki heavily hinted a number of times of Miyazaki’s love-hate relationship with him, trying to copy his linework, coming up with projects for him. Observe their relationship from this trailer.
If you look at the work, Miyazaki is the blockbuster, ‘Disney’ side of Ghibli - Totoro, Kiki, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Ponyo … focusing on characters, action, fantasy to lure the market age 8 - 85.
Takahata directed Grave of the Fireflies, Only Yesterday, Pompoko, The Yamada’s, and his final work - The Tale of Princess Kaguya which took 8 years to make.
I’m willing to bet money that most of you have not watched any of his work. At the very least, those are the dusty ones in the boxset.
In comparison, his work anchors deeper into Japan’s history, culture, realism.
Realism, the word we use when we mean slow, boring, and not very action-packed.
Grave of Fireflies is about children during the war and I’ll never watch it a second time, Only Yesterday aims to speak to the 95% of females who were struggling in the workforce, Pompoko is about the legends of Tanuki and Tokyo’s deforestation, The Yamada’s being a classic comic book only comprehended by Japanese, and Princess Kaguya, a common folk tale from 10th century about the baby who came out from a bamboo.
It’s not obvious to the masses, but from a technical standpoint, Princess Kaguya is one of the best animated movies ever.
And rightfully so, because they’re not catering for the masses.
They made it just to make a point.
What do we call that again?
Oh yea, art.
One more thing that sets his films apart is the theme of family.
Miyazaki’s movies are 95% about girl meets boy vs the world (which is why I said Disney), but Takahata always comes back to the humane side of story-telling - loss, death, acceptance, unity.
Sometimes, it feels like Miyazaki is trying to make money so Takahata can make the movies they wanted to make.
Takahata passed away in 2018 from lung cancer.
Princess Kaguya might be his last directed work, but he managed to produce The Red Turtle, a joint project between Ghibli and a Dutch director Michaël Dudok de Wit.
The whole movie has no dialogue.
True to Takahata’s nature. Beautiful, unique.
Takahata said his favourite Miyazaki movie was Totoro.
And Miyazaki’s favourite Takahata work is, surprisingly, Heidi - The Girl from The Alps, a 1974 TV series. So ancient, that you can watch on YouTube.
Another body of work so recognisable within Japan, yet confusing for outsiders.
What is a Japanese post from me without a chart?
If you’re contemplating watching a Takahata movie but not sure how to start, refer to this:
If Takahata is too artsy for you, I recommend From Up on Poppy Hill.
It’s directed by Goro Miyazaki, the son of Miyazaki.
My focus for the next newsletter.
I remember 10 years ago, Studio Ghibli Bluray discs were only sold at the Museum in Tokyo at 3900 yen apiece. Nowadays you can stream all of them on Netflix.
Crazy. I want my money back.
Enjoy the lockdown.
Okay one last easter egg: The ‘Ghi’ in Ghibli is pronounced ‘ghee’ like ‘geewiz’, but it should’ve sounded like the ‘gui’ from ‘guitar’. They wanted to use the Italian word to represent the hot dust-bearing wind of the desert, but no one did any spell-check. Today you learn Asians also make money and fame from cultural appropriation.