Trailer
Studio Ghibli has long been in the habit of producing art books for their animated works – I own several. They look great, on their own or as part of a collection, and the content of each is a perfect compliment to the feature itself.
This book then, shows off the various projects, together in this single, sizeable collection. Like a “best of”, each page turn shows a new incredible work of art – 844 in total.
So many of these beautiful works go largely unnoticed, as they create a stage for more dynamic, eye-catching foregrounds. And whilst Ghibli will create hundreds of backgrounds for each film, most only see a few seconds of screen time, meaning they naturally become less memorable than the characters who catch our attention throughout.
Incredible details made this piece from Pom Poko stand out for me; the scene fading from what remains of the natural environment – now utilised as a golf course, as it builds into a more complex and dense city scape. Every light in the city, delicately hand painted.
The book also contains a short interview with the author, Yoji Takeshige. Whilst the interview is in Japanese, even if you are unable to read it, the wealth of imagery held in this volume will not lose any of its value.
The complete list of 27 works which are featured in this book:
- Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
- Castle in the Sky (1986)
- My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
- Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
- Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
- Only Yesterday (1991)
- Porco Rosso (1992)
- Ocean Waves (1993)
- Pom Poko (1994)
- Whisper of the Heart (1995)
- On Your Mark (1995)
- Princess Mononoke (1997)
- My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)
- Spirited Away (2001)
- The Cat Returns (2002)
- Ghiblies Episode 2 (2002)
- Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
- Tales from Earthsea (2006)
- Ponyo (2008)
- The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)
- From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)
- The Wind Rises (2013)
- The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013)
- When Marnie Was There (2014)
- The Red Turtle (2016)
- Earwig and the Witch (2020)
- The Boy and the Heron (2023)
Links to buy this book
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Let me know your thoughts, if you’ve had a chance to explore this book.