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Throughout January, FilmFour is screening a season of films by the masters of animation at Studio Ghibli. Daniel Etherington traces the story of the company behind the Oscar-winning Spirited Away
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Miyazaki had intended to hand over the reigns of Ghibli to more youthful directors. Neither he nor Takahata were getting any younger, and the former, who had a working policy of checking all the artwork of his animators, doubted he could sustain the output. Alongside Miyazaki's incredible array of masterpieces and those of Takahata, the studio has also released works from other directors. Key among these was 1995's Whisper Of The Heart, which was directed by Kondo. Miyazaki saw the younger man as his successor but tragically he died in 1998 aged just 47.
Although Miyazaki formally quit Ghibli in January 1998, he "formally returned" as shocho ("head of the office") in January 1999. Little by little he's changed his working practices, even starting to accept the use of computers in the production process.
Despite the older Miyazaki playing down politics - "Just because I make films about the environment doesn't mean I'm contributing something to society" - films like Princess Mononoke speak with a quiet, poetic assertiveness about the delicate balance between man and nature, as does Takahata's Pom Poko, a singular tale of shape-shifting raccoon dogs fighting urbanisation.
There's never been a studio like Ghibli, which is the world's most successful animation house outside the US. This is despite it being, in the words of Suzuki, "a small company", one where even the founders have punch-cards. As well as the incredible skill and dedication of the founders, the company is unique in that it produces commercially successful films that are frequently profound and ethical. No other production companies can consistently boast the same virtues - of steeping their work in social significance while making the most marvellous entertainment. Yep, John Lasseter was probably right - but even more so, Miyazaki can even be considered one of the greatest filmmakers living today.
The Studio Ghibli season on FilmFour runs throughout January and February as follows
Princess Mononoke shows Sun 1, Thur 5 Jan, Sat 4, Wed 8 Feb
Little Norse Prince shows Sat 7, Wed 11 Jan
The Castle Of Cagliostro shows Sun 8, Thur 12 Jan
Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind shows Sat 14, Wed 18 Jan
Pom Poko shows Sun 15, Thur 19 Jan
Laputa: Castle In The Sky shows Sat 21, Wed 25 Jan
Kiki's Delivery Service shows Sun 22, Thur 26 Jan
Only Yesterday shows Sat 28 Jan at 6pm, Wed 1 Feb at 6pm
Porco Rosso shows Sun 29 Jan, Thur 2 Feb
Grave Of The Fireflies shows Sat 4 Feb at 2am, Wed 8 Feb at 1.45am
The Cat Returns shows Sun 5, Thur 9 Feb
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