Known for its distinct animation style and worldbuilding, Studio Ghibli films offer important lessons that still hold up to this day
Watching “Spirited Away” on Disney Channel was my earliest memory of being introduced to the world of Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation studio known for its animated feature films. It was an experience I didn’t completely understand until later in my teenage years when I would revisit the film with my family.
There is such nuance in the stories of Studio Ghibli films that you have to rewatch them to fully understand them. Most of the time, important social issues are interwoven into the film’s stories—hidden behind fantastic metaphors younger audiences might not understand during their first watch.
On Aug. 31, Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, one of the founders of Studio Ghibli, was one of the five recipients of the 2024 Ramon Magsaysay award for “his lifelong commitment to the use of art, specifically animation, to illuminate the human condition, especially lauding his devotion to children as the torchbearers of the imagination, to whom he has passed the light and spark of his own.”
In honor of the award, Studio Ghibli, along with The Japan Foundation in Manila and the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, organized “The Studio Ghibli Weekend,” a mini film festival that will hold free screenings of Miyazaki titles.
All tickets for the screenings were sold out weeks before the festival, reflecting the impact of these films particularly on Filipino viewers.
But what exactly are the morals taught by Studio Ghibli films? Here are some of the most important lessons we’ve picked up from the renowned animation studio.
READ: “The Boy and the Heron” review: Hayao Miyazaki’s exploration into Grief
1. Exhibit kindness at all times
One of the most consistent elements in Studio Ghibli films is the ability of its main character to exhibit kindness at all times—even to the supposed villains in the story.
An example is depicted in the family fantasy film “My Neighbor Totoro,” when sisters Satsuki and Mei move to an old house closer to their mother’s hospital. The sisters discover that the house is inhabited by various spirits—ranging from dust-like house spirits such as susuwatari and larger spirits such as Totoro. Despite their unhuman characteristics, the sisters act kindly to the spirits, even playing and enjoying a ceremonial dance with them.
This kindness pays off in the end when Mei disappears after an argument with Satsuki. The older sister, due to her kindness, is assisted by the spirits, particularly Totoro, to find Mei. Apart from its nostalgia and childlike wonder, the whimsical family film shows that with every kindness given, it is also eventually returned.
2. Be a steward of the environment
As a staunch environmentalist, much of Miyazaki’s films tackle the pressing issue of humans’ effect on nature, using devastating scenarios and memorable visuals to illustrate the consequences brought by our irresponsibility towards the environment.
Miyazaki raises the stakes by first focusing on the beautiful depiction of nature in these Ghibli films, highlighting the lush forests that serve as habitats of bright fantastical creatures and the delightful array of flowers that viewers can almost smell from their screens.
This serenity and beauty is then followed by an ugly, terrifying natural disaster, as illustrated by the raging tsunamis seen in “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea,” the polluting black fog in “Howl’s Moving Castle,” the sea of decay in “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” and the threatened ecological utopia in “Laputa: Castle in the Sky.”
At its core, Miyazaki drives his point repeatedly: Human brutality towards nature will result in irreversible consequences. And the only way this can be undone is by doing our duty as stewards of the environment.
3. Greed will always lead to repercussions
“Spirited Away,” arguably the most popular Miyazaki film under Studio Ghibli, heavily tackles the repercussions brought by excessive greed.
The film centers on 10-year-old Chihiro or “Sen” who accidentally enters the world of spirits. Much of the story revolves around her mission to free herself and her parents, who gave into gluttony after gorging on endless food in an abandoned restaurant.
In her adventure through this fantastical world, she encounters others suffering from their greed: a boy named Haku, who is revealed to be a river spirit unable to return to his original home in the Kohaku river because it had become occupied by apartment buildings, and No-Face whose character of consuming everything he encounters prompts him to imbibe the greed of the workers in the bathhouse run by Yabubu.
This emphasis on the consequences of greed is sprinkled throughout the film—from the horrifying transformation of No-Face to the overarching plot of Chihiro having to save her cursed parents—stands out as a memorable visual moral lesson.
4. Go back to your roots
“Whisper of the Heart” and “Kiki’s Delivery Service” are coming-of-age films that center on artists and the importance of going back to your roots during a phase of insecurity or creative slump.
In “Whisper of the Heart,” the romance drama film tells the story of aspiring writer and bookworm Shizuku. During the film, Shizuku is seen doubting her skill as a writer, with the story’s climax involving a scene of her crying in relief after finally finishing the fantasy novel she’s working on.
One of the most significant lines in the English dub is Shizuku saying, “Now that I’ve written it, I get it. Wanting isn’t enough. I have to learn more.”
This line alone summarizes the lesson behind Shizuku’s journey: While pursuing our goals may consist of endless romanticization, dreaming alone is insufficient. Instead, we have to actually act on these goals in order to actually reach them.
The same goes for Kiki, the main character in the fantasy adventure film “Kiki’s Delivery Service.” While Shizuku dreams of becoming a writer, Kiki’s journey revolves on being a powerful witch and discovering her special skill of flying.
Kiki, too, deals with doubts about her own skills, especially when she suddenly loses her flying abilities after taking advantage of it and turning it into a delivery business.
Most viewers interpreted this loss as a form of creative block, which refers to being stagnant in the artistic process and unable to continue making art like before.
This is particularly true for artists today who are forced to turn their passion as a means of compensation, making something that once was enjoyable into a mere chore.
But just like Shizuku, Kiki deals with this crisis by going back to her roots and discovering her true purpose. By the end of the story, Kiki regains her flying ability when she helps avert an airship accident. This newfound confidence and purpose of assisting the townspeople reconcile Kiki with her identity.
5. History and culture are equally important to the present and future
Amid the lessons about social issues and dealing with internal struggles, Studio Ghibli also emphasizes the importance of history and culture in its stories. The best example is another underrated coming-of-age romance film “From Up on Poppy Hill.”
Set in Yokohama, Japan, the film revolves around a high school girl named Umi who meets Shun, a member of their school’s newspaper club. Both characters along with their friends and classmates set out to restore their school’s old clubhouse, which they call the “Latin Quartin,” and defend it from authorities who plan to demolish the building for the 1964 Summer Olympics.
The teenagers’ determination to preserve the building eventually leads to the cancellation of the demolition.
While this may be the obvious literal example of the importance of persevering history, the film delves deeper into this theme through its two main characters who develop romantic feelings for each other.
One of the main discussions among fans is the controversiality of its plot for tricking viewers into thinking that Shun and Umi are “siblings.” This comes after Umi shows a photo of three young naval men to Shun, saying that Yūichirō Sawamura, one of the men in the photo, was her father. Unfortunately, Shun believes that Sawamura is also his father as he was the man who gave him to his adoptive parents.
However, what most viewers fail to understand and remember is the conclusion of the film that reveals the two aren’t siblings at all.
Sawamura merely was a friend of Shun’s true father who died during World War II. In an act of kindness for his friend, Sawamura registered Shun as his own to avoid him from becoming an orphan, before eventually giving him to Shun’s current adoptive parents.
While the Latin Quarter serves as the literal representation of preserving history, the plot between Umi and Shun’s true father serves as a metaphorical lesson to not only preserve history but also trace your roots in order to actually understand the present.
With this, “From Up on Poppy Hill” shows that the past serves as a mirror for the present and eventually the future. In today’s world of heated politics and social issues, viewers can apply this lesson by realizing that there is always something in our history that we can learn from in order to avoid making the same mistakes.