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The summer I inhaled the 2D animated movies made by Studio Ghibli. I did some digging into my favorite one, “From up on Poppy Hill,” (2011) and learned about Ghibli’s really interesting process that combines both software and hand-drawn art. Studio Ghibli uses a software called OpenToonz, which is a free software also used for TV shows like Steven Universe. It’s free and commercial, however it’s an open software, so you can code in whatever tools you want. Studio Ghibli created a tool for themselves- a GTS scanning tool. The founder of the studio and one of the most successful directors perhaps of all time, Hayao Miyazaki, believes firmly that the root of animation is hand drawn art. This means that they need a great scanner to stitch the characters into the sets and the frames into scenes. Miyazaki stresses using minimal cgi for the films.
For “From up on Poppy Hill,” there was a massive production team of both the original movie and the English dub. There were 21 animators, and the film was directed by Miyazaki’s oldest son. The film’s production was interrupted by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster and the blackouts following. It forced the team to work mostly at night to avoid disruptions, and slowed production significantly. However, even though some staff members had to go on break for ‘mental affectedness’ from both the quake and the long hours, the studio was determined to release on time and they did just that.
The inspiration for Miyazaki was that there was no inspiration. He made his studio to revolutionize and revitalize the anime movie world, and he did that. He did work previously in Japanese film and television, but he values the ideas most. Every film of his started with an idea and a story. Miyazaki just retired, so people have wondered about the future of the company, but I think that this film most notably points to the director’s ability to create success as well.
This is the English dubbed trailer for the 2011 Studio Ghibli film, “From up on Poppy Hill”