Founded in June, 1985, the studio is headed by the directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and the producer Toshio Suzuki. Prior to the formation of the studio, Miyazaki and Takahata had already had long careers in Japanese film and television animation and had worked together on Hols: Prince of the Sun and Panda! Go, Panda!; and Suzuki was an editor at Tokuma Shoten's Animage manga magazine.
The studio was founded after the success of the 1984 film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, written and directed by Miyazaki for Topcraft and distributed by Tōei. The origins of the film lie in the first two volumes of a serialized manga written by Miyazaki for publication in Animageas a way of generating interest in an anime version.[2][3] Suzuki was part of the production team on the film and founded Studio Ghibli with Miyazaki, who also invited Takahata to join the new studio.
The studio has mainly produced films by Miyazaki, with the second most prolific director being Takahata (most notably with Grave of the Fireflies). Other directors who have worked with Studio Ghibli include Yoshifumi Kondo, Hiroyuki Morita and Gorō Miyazaki. Composer Joe Hisaishi has provided the soundtrack for all of Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli films.
Many of Ghibli's works are distributed in Japan by Toho. Internationally, the Walt Disney Company has rights to all of Ghibli's output that did not have previous international distribution, including the global, non-Japan distribution rights to Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.[citation needed]
Over the years, there has been a close relationship between Studio Ghibli and the magazine Animage, which regularly runs exclusive articles about the studio and its members in a section titled "Ghibli Notes." Artwork from Ghibli's films and other works frequently features on the cover of the magazine. Between 1999 and 2005 Studio Ghibli was a subsidiary of Tokuma Shoten, the publisher of Animage.
In October 2001, the Ghibli Museum opened in Tokyo. It contains exhibits based on Studio Ghibli films and shows animations, including an number of short Studio Ghibli films not available elsewhere.
The company is well-known for its strict "no-edits" policy in licensing their films abroad. This was a result of the dubbing of Miyazaki'sNausicaä of the Valley of Wind when the film was released in the United States as Warriors of the Wind. The film was heavily edited andAmericanized, with significant portions cut and the plot rewritten. The "no cuts" policy was highlighted when Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein suggested editing Princess Mononoke to make it more marketable. In response, a Studio Ghibli producer sent an authentic katanawith a simple message: "No cuts".[4]
On February 1, 2008, Toshio Suzuki stepped down from the position of Studio Ghibli president, which he had held since 2005, and Koji Hoshino (former president of Walt Disney Japan) took over. Suzuki said he wanted to improve films with his own hands as a producer, rather than demanding this from his employees. Suzuki decided to hand over the presidency to Hoshino because Hoshino has helped Studio Ghibli to sell its videos since 1996, as well as helping to release the Princess Mononoke film in the United States.[5]
Currently, Takahata and Goro Miyazaki (director of Tales from Earthsea and Hayao's son) are developing projects for release after Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.
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