When a studio gets nature right...
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- čas přidán 8. 05. 2024
- Studio Ghibli is one of the best when it comes to creating immersive worlds. They put so much efffort into all of their environments, be it Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Kiki's delivery service, you name it, they are all known for their beautiful worlds. But for me, if there's something that Studio Ghibli is the very best at, I believe it is at portraying nature. And in this nature retrospective, I want to explore the luxuriously lazy natural worlds of Studio Ghibli and why they feel much more immersive than Disney?
➤ Chapters
0:00 Princess Mononoke vs Tangled
1:50 The many dimensions of nature
4:32 The sounds of Ghibli's nature
8:58 'Biophilia' in Ghibli
13:48 How culture impacts Cinema
16:12 Shintoism in Ghibli
21:20 The simplicity of Ghibli's nature (That Ghibli feeling)
Well, if you are a Studio Ghibli fan, I pretty sure you must've heard of 'that Ghibli feeling'. I feel like there is something magical about their movies that you simply can't explain them, you can only feel them. And after watching a lot of these movies, I'm convinced that it has got a lot to do with how they portray or animate nature. There's so much love and affection they put in to their environments that you simply can't stop caring for them.
In this analysis, I look at how this portrayal of nature is impacted by Japanese culture, and how eastern values of shintoism creeps into the nature of Ghibli. And this is something that is entirely absent in western animation such as Disney, where nature is considered more of a background element than things that are alive. I also talk about how nature presents itself as something that heals people, in 'My Neighbor Totoro', which aligns with the concept of 'biophilia', and how the frequent usage of ambient natural sounds acts as a medium to connect the viewer to nature.
And this is something that you'd probably never see in western animation, where most studios are character-centric. I think animating the natural world has its benefits as it creates beautiful moments of human-nature relationships. And in these moments, Studio Ghibli shows us that the natural world can be portrayed in a movie if your really pay attention to it. And this is one of the biggest reasons why I gravitate to their movies. Because of their appreciation towards the human-nature connection. - Zábava
What is your favorite nature scene from Studio Ghibli?
awww whys no one responded! Ill be the first then! Mines gonna have to be scenes of the garden at the centre of laputa in castle in the sky. Those scenes are absolutely beautiful and show such an amazing appreciation for the natural world. Great video btw!
@@bouncycow3010 Thank you so much! Oh yes, that's so calming! One of their first and one of their best. It was like the starter to that 'peaceful Studio Ghibli nature' environments.
chihiro crying while eating the rice balls Haku gave her will be something that sticks with me forever!
I really like when Howl shows Sophie his garden, is such a beautiful place.
@@cherrylikesclouds4796 Yeah, love the scene, and that place!
Miyazaki said once in an interview, how he noticed that his animators, when asked to colour the ground, coloured the ground slightly different colours - depending on where in japan they hailed from, and their different environments. His perception is incredible.
I've never heard this story, but that's interesting. It goes to show how far he goes to get every bit of detail right! I mean...when you pass a certain level of expertise, some animators are just that good!
It doesn't surprise me. It's a different green whether you look at a German forest in the valley or mountain, or a forest in Spain, or somewhere in the tropics. I can't tell the colour of grass near as well, but it wouldn't surprise me...
His perception, or the animators’?
I live in Japan, on North side of Japan from tokyo to hokkaido, it's all quite bland darker green, then down to west side Tokyo to Okinawa it all goes greener. while in Okinawa it's pretty much tropical type of grasses
@@wonderescence right? His conclusion was that even when instructed to colour the ground, he had to be specific because what people feel like is 'the norm' (whether it's the ground, the colour of sunsets or something else) actually depends on where they grew up, and what feels like home to them - they might not even be aware of it themselves. He was really interested in the psychological aspect of it, realising what felt 'standard' for people was different. I'm bilingual - this was from a japanese interview he conducted on stage for something a few years ago. Ps. I also recommend nhk world - a free broadcasting service from the japanese broadcasting network with english news and programmes. There was a great miyazaki documentary and interview on there a few years ago.
I feel like in Disney movies nature is a backdrop, while in Ghibli movies it's more of a character in itself. In Disney movies, it literally doesn't matter to the plot, it's just a pretty background. Ghibli sees nature as crucial to the plot, the rain isn't arbitrary, the forest isn't there just because it's a pretty environment. Then again, sometimes I feel like people are comparing the two studios based on nothing but the fact they are both a global success; they don't really have much in common.
This is a very perceptive analysis, thanks for sharing with us. I think you've hit the nail on the head here.
If you look at WISH you can't help noticing that the backgrounds are flat and static; only in the front and center is anything actually happening.
In Ghibli movies there is no such disconnect between the action and the background.
You’re so right!!
I only just started the video, so maybe it's talked about, but one thing I like about Ghibli is how the main characters often exist in the world. The world exists, and the main characters just happen to be part of it. The main characters sometimes drive the plot and through it change the world, but sometimes the characters just exist as part of the world. In Disney, the world exists because of the main characters. If there's no interaction with the main characters, it doesn't exist. Anything is on screen to interact with the main characters. It's nothing more than a backdrop or a prop. Take the main characters out of a Disney movie and the world grinds to a halt, because everything's only there to serve the main characters and their plot. Remove the main characters in a Ghibli movie and the world will continue to do its thing.
@@DanAndHoe Oh, absolutely! The world is a thriving character. It's such good fantasy world-building in Ghibli movies.
I think ghibli also just gives a lot more reverence for nature. They don't skip details.
With the tangled scene, they are laying on thick even grass. Forest floors don't look like that. They made it look like that because it's cheaper to make a repetitive texture than a complex one, and 3D dirt is known for not looking very good. Theyre hiding their weaknesses.
Ghibli shows the dirt, implies the leaf litter, the moss, the patchy grass, the soft range of diverse colors you'd find in reality. Ghibli loves the fine details and doesn't ever hide them.
Yes, spot on mate! It is kinda like how they used to prefer darker environments to daytime scenes back in the day because the latter required more details. But I think 3D animation has come a long way since then...Do you think there is a 3D film out there which portrays well-crafted, emotive environments like Ghibli?
@@wonderescence I think Moana is probably one of the better examples. The quality has definitely improved in general but Moana highlights its nature really well. You get to really soak in the environment. I think Rise of the Guardians is another good example of nature having that extra level of care put in.
@@wow4everyo Yes, Moana is a good one. Not the kind of style that I prefer, but 'nature' plays important role in the storyline. I've never watched 'Rise of the Guardians', but sounds like I need to... For me personally, How to Train Your Dragon and Kung Fu Panda...I don't know what it is, but there is something about these movies, and how they portray certain scenes involving nature, that is so calming!
This was my first thought as well, before he started talking about the sound I said to myself " the disney scene is too clean". Miyazaki movies show nature with much more details, and it feels more real and alive because of that.
Those movies are Dreamworks animation! I totally agree with this. Dreamworks does something different when it comes to their animation. I loved the way you explained this video.@@wonderescence
To put it in a nutshell.
Ghibli depicts nature as how we feel it.
Disney depicts nature as how we see it.
One is a concept interpretation
The other a direct interpretation
I feel like it's more like Ghibli views the natural surroundings as an integral part of the artwork, whereas for disney it's more often than not just a set piece like in a theatre show. It's only in the back, with the characters projected onto it. In Ghibli the characters are inside of, and part of the nature. There's more feelings of the sublime and grandiosity of the natural world. The nature isn't aware it's being portrayed, it's wild and lively. In Disney, the nature always looks posed.
Ghibli also has a lot of silent closeups and details, the details make the whole lively and active, in Disney it's much more static these days, and the camera is always on the characters or something relevant for them, never on the world that contains them.
Disagree. Modern Disney depecits nature like its a level in mario. It's sterile. Go take a walk in the woods
@@Anne-wf1voi totally agree!
@@Anne-wf1vo That's exactly what I was thinking while watching the video
Then you watch Fantasia. 😆
There's just something about Studio Ghibli nature scenes that makes me instantly take a deep breath and relax. I can't think of another film that can pull that off as well as Ghibli
YES! 'That Ghibli feeling' is why people seem to cherish their movies!
@@wonderescence I always think of the opening to Kiki's or Porco Rosso, it makes the world feel so lived in and inviting! I love your videos by the way, keep it up 🙂
@@someguynamedlewis Yes! Kiki's opening is one of my favorites as well! And thank you! I really appreciate the support!!
I love this invwioment
@@wonderescence Disney tend to focus your attention on the character's behaviors, like the guy sleeping where your attention goes to his funny face and breath... but Ghibli focused on the nature itself where the guy was silent and quiet, so your attention could go to the ambiance, to the nature... that's cool.
Something else to note is that these two styles have very different inspirations. Disney is much more dream oriented, everything becomes very focused on the individual and their influences. Miyazaki's inspirations tends to come from the beauty in daily life, so you can often find a great amount of emphasis placed on smaller relationships and quiet moments throughout his works.
Something intresting to note is that if you go back to earlier disney movies that focus on daily life tasks is way more prevelant. Theres a lot of scenes that simply exist to showcase existence, it doesn't particularly move the plot forward. Like the scene of the dwarfs washing their hands before supper in snow white, or like, the entirety of Bambi.
Something i find fascinating going throught disneys catalogue of movies is that the closer you get to modern movies the more the movies shifts to be more "plot focused". Sometimes i wonder if that advice i keep seeing circling around "cut out everything irrelelvant to the plot in a script" is the mentality that has on some level led to that change. The idea that a movie must allways in the most literal way have every moment be soley focused on getting to the end point i feel is an unfortunate interpetation of that advice. Someitmes it feels like the point of a movie in and of itself is to showcase existence. Thereby, scenes that focus on that is not irrelevant to the plot, its not filler, its integral, it IS the plot.
Im not saying disney saw that advice and suddenly changed their movies, rather it feels like that type of mentality on how to write a story has become very dominant in modern media in general. Idk what led to that change, but i feel like its clearly there when contrasting older and newer movies, at least in the west imo. I think its a bit sad, it feels like its lead to a fundamental misunderstanding of slice of life stories, or stories that have slice of life elements, as boring or useless.
Idk where i was going with this its just something i've been ruminating on lol
@@lucyandecember2843 - Modern life getting faster and busier, shrinking attentions spans from lack of sleep, stress, social media and the growing habit of tasks switching with their immediate reward of small dopamine hits.
Our brains are getting less and less used to slow paced moments, patience, boredom, staying focused on one thing...
This translates to the way we consume media. (And therefore to the kind of advice you'll see regarding writing.)
Like with books. Looking at the "classics" they were usually a lot denser, more convoluted and often quite challenging for modern audiences compared to current literature.
Add to that consumerism and the growth imperatives of capitalism.
Nowadays companies want formulaic, easily marketable products. They push writers to hook you from the first sentence of the first page, put cliffhangers everywhere and streamline everything as much as possible to keep the consumer engaged in hopes of staying competitive in the age of fingertip entertainment.
A good example is Netflix canceling every show after only a season or two if it doesn't generate record numbers in the first few days of airing.
@@lucyandecember2843I miss those kinds of quiet moments too, so full of life and mannerism. It’s so cute to notice. There’s not much charm anymore, everything is to advance the plot. But why would a movie goer care about the plot advancing without a reason to care for the characters? To see them as actual moving, lazing, breathing people?
Plot is to move forward, but filler is to make you want to stay :)
I don't see Disney as "dream oriented", to be honest. I don't know what kinds of dreams you have, but the ones I have don't look like hypersaturated, hyperfocused plastic. There's nothing spiritual in Disney movies. If anything, Miyazaki's films seem a lot more dream like, regardless of where he might have gotten his influences.
Disney has definitely lost its spark over the years, it tends to feel very fake or forced now. The dreams they tend of focus on are more about what kids want to be, achieving your aspirations in life despite challenges. They use to do that very well but a lot of that is 30 or 40 years ago now. Miyazaki's works feel much more alive and magical, but I guess its hard not to be that way when you build your inspiration from loving life rather than a lot of this corperate plastic that disney is struggling to make. I hope miyazaki's works continue this way. Hopefully, Disney learns to get a bit better soon@@bluenorth3965
As a botanist, Studio Ghibli films are not just better at capturing the essence and feeling of being in nature, but it is truly accurate to what you would find in a true forest and the plants growing with each other. There are moss growing on trees, but not just one moss or lichen, but at least 5 different species growing throughout. The forests are not only one tree species, but many. Moss is an indicator or a thriving and healthy natural environment. Studio Ghibli artists are so observant of nature and have mastered the ability to capture it. Literally every time I go on a hike through a lush forest I say "it feels like I'm in a Ghibli movie" because of how perfectly they have captured a healthy natural environment.
Disney and other western animation studios tend to put various plants into one environment-- plants that aren't natural to that environment or naturally found growing together. They also make one-plant forests and completely forego forest diversity. It's a real shame how little America values nature and the natural world.
Disney/Pixar makes forests and nature just a backdrop. Studio Ghibli makes forests and nature feel alive and like their own character.
It's lovely to hear the perspective of a botanist on this topic. Because you right, some of the places that Miyzaki portrays in his movies are places in the real world. Since you mentioned moss growing on trees, the forest in Princess Mononoke comes to mind. It is a fictional place, inspired by a real forest called 'Shiratani Unsuikyo ravine'.
Japanese people are generally better at identifying wild species of plants, birds, fish, and insects.
A popular summer holiday science project for Japanese kids is to catch insects and record their findings, essentially creating a personal encyclopedia. People are extremely aware of seasonal changes, when plants flower, when vegetables are in season, when birds or fish migrate, etc.
I suppose perhaps Gibli animators probably know more about plants themselves, and animated with discerning Japanese audiences in mind?
I've noticed this ability does seem to be lost in younger generations, especially Japanese children who've grown up in large cities with hardly any kid-friendly outdoor spaces with any nature at all. Perhaps Miyazaki wanted to preserve a part of this Japanese fascination with nature, leave a legacy in animated form, for future Japanese children.
@@AnnaMorimoto I know that in Japan they're much more insect and fungi-friendly than the USA and UK, but I didn't know they would encourage kids to go out like that. That's something we're desperately missing in our modern world.
biodiversity
背景の自然描写への指摘は、日本の庭園とヨーロッパの庭園の違いにも通じるように思う。
ヨーロッパ庭園では苔は洗い落とし、日本庭園では洗い落とさない。
Many of the critiques of Studio Ghibli's anime by Westerners on CZcams often seem to completely miss the understanding of the Japanese spiritual philosophy that 'everything has a god.' When I see statements like 'Totoro is a ghost' or descriptions of the bathhouse in 'Spirited Away,' a place where gods gather, being referred to as a 'brothel,' it's both surprising and disheartening.
The Japanese belief that 'everything has a god' does not solely come from the modern anthropomorphism found in Shinto; it originates from ancient religions that date back even further. While modern Shinto has anthropomorphized some of these ancient deities, ancient shrines continue to enshrine colossal trees or rocks as 'shintai' deep within their precincts.
This concept of 'everything having a god' seems to be understood by non-Japanese individuals, such as Hindus or Native Americans. In this video, spiritual beings are referred to as 'KAMI,' and I believe the major misunderstanding for Westerners lies in not grasping that 'KAMI' could actually be akin to the polytheistic concept of 'God.'
In fact, the true name of 'Haku' from 'Spirited Away,' 'NOGOHAYAKOHAKUNUHINOMIKOTO,' signifies his divine nature, but in the English version, possibly to avoid resistance from Western monotheistic views, it's kept ambiguous. However, he is the river itself, a deity, and a dragon god.
You might be one of the few who noticed that the giant tree next to Totoro is a revered camphor tree with 'shimenawa' (sacred rope) wound around its trunk. To Japanese viewers, this easily signifies its sacredness, but Westerners might not have noticed this in the past.
Your understanding of the Japanese sensitivity to nature and your positive critique is commendable.
Thank you for taking time to explain. Although I don't know too much about Japanese culture and religion, from what I have read, it did feel as if the beliefs and ideologies surrounding nature is relatively common in ancient relgions all around Asia. Probably why the tree shrines felt so relatable, coz we have it in India too!
I thought the bathhouse being like a brothel was intended by Miyazaki though, in the way Yubaba takes away Chihiro’s name and such. Obviously it’s not literally depicted as a brothel in the movie but the similarities were intentional.
@@CampingforCool41Some also saw it as a metaphor for how crushing capitalism can be. How greed and the capitalist system can take away one’s very essence and soul.
As smn who grew up in family who are mostly animists, the nature itself has soul and divinity inside its very core to us.
Different mountains, lakes, forests have different deities or ‘ lus savdag’ as we call them in our native language, different rivers have different gods protecting and literally embodying it.
These deities are not anthropomorphic humanoid things that are bound by human limitations. They’re their own beings, they’re neither human or animals so me personally witnessing such humanized version of nature and its protectors was a bizarre experience.
@@megumintobuna-4537 Thanks for sharing. So, based on what you said, are they more like symbolic entitites then if not personifications? Because in certain cultures you can actually got to a temple or something and see a picture of a deity that represents a natural element.
Being a Westerner myself I have to say I like the Eastern approach to nature better. I feel like westerners are more inclined to view nature as something we benefit from more than as something to be respected in of itself.
I can't remember which movie it was, but I feel like there are a few western portrayals of nature that's pretty good. But in terms of the overall narrative, yes, in the east, especially in Japanese culture, nature is extremely important, and it always seeps into the animation industry as a result!
I don't know, I think that's idealizing the Eastern approach. It's true that nature is more intertwined with spiritual traditions in the east so that definitely is part of it, but I think what you called the Western approach is more a function of places being more industrialized or city vs country dwellers. There's also a lot of prestigious nature writers in the west!
@@Nightmartlet Yes, I fully agree. I don't think neither is ideal. But from the perspective of a filmmaker, if you've lived your life around people who worship trees and consider rivers and a mountains as spirits, I feel like it would be much more easier to personify them in a visual medium like cinema. And that personification of nature would connect to the audience on a deeper level than others. But in terms of conservation, I whole heartedly agree, it's very complex. People cut down trees for industrial use pretty much everywhere. So, I can't really say one is definitely better than the other.
I would say that the Western approach runs the risk of skewing our perseption of ourselves and nature into distorted territory. Westerners (and I'll include myself here) grow up with this mentality of extreme individualism, to the point where it may become difficult to concieve of yourself as part of anything that isn't man-made. The example given in the video actually quite nicely exemplifies this: we think of nature as something to visit, not as something we ARE or at the very least something we are a small part of. (Tangent: you see this all the time in discussions about climate change: people will express their worry for the destruction of the planet, for the extermination of wild life, for the loss of biodiversity and so on and so forth, but no one will say "Our own lives are on the line", as if there's a life 'after' climate change. As if we're somehow separate from nature.) That's really the worst part about the Western idea of nature imo.
Now I'm not able to comment on the Eastern pov in the same way due to not having grown up in an Eastern country, but that doesn't mean it's perfect or even better than the Western one. I just simply lack the experience to articulate something on the same level.
in the case we see for this video, nature is a very important part of the whole story, while it's just a setting in Disney movies. two different companies, two different focuses. the only way that location of these studios would effect the depictions of the scenery would be the scenery already around us, as a forest in the US would look much different from one in Japan
This is why I love studio ghibli, it takes you into the setting and it’s almost like you are there with the characters
Yes, it is incredibly immersive for 2D animation!
Those silent moments adds much meaning, more than any dialogue could do
It sure does! It's that 'gap' between spaces, Japanese people call it 'Ma'...
@@wonderescence that's interesting.. didn't know there's a term for that!
Glad yt recommended your channel yesterday.. looking forward to see more interesting videos like this :)
@@error_4zero4 Yes, it is an interesting term to do some research on! And, thank you for the support! Channel is starting to do well now. And I've got some good videos lined up!
Yeah, that's why I love Ghibli. The films might be pretty slow compared to many modern American films, but I like it. Not everything has to serve the plot, and it's nice that the world can just exist for a moment, that the main characters can just be one with their surroundings. It's okay if nothing happens for a moment, and it can be an important part of storytelling. Ghibli truly took "show, don't tell" to heart.
@@DanAndHoe totally agree with you. The fact that despite being slow paced it never felt boring is beautiful about Ghibli. Personally, when scenes serve the plot I understand the story; but when scenes doesn't serve the plot, it is those moments when I actually start to feel/experience the story.
Ghibli films are beautiful because they're not afraid of ugliness. Like other commenters have said, the forest floor isn't a soft carpet of freshly cut grass with an even color; it's mossy, earthy, multiple colors. There are dead plants and misshapen trees and creepy creatures. Ok, that one isn't realistic, but my point is that those movies don't sugarcoat and flatten nature, it gives it a complex personality that isn't all easy, likeable or comfortable. It's unforgiving and it doesn't care about people above any other resident. Yet it beckons, and we are enticed to want to protect it instead of exploiting it for ourselves.
This is a reflection of how the western attitude is to conquer nature, and impose man's wishes on it, while asian/japanese attitudes is to cultivate it or live alongside it. Reading the bible vs reading asian/japanese ancient lore makes this very evident.
i bumped into ghibli's movies when the pandemic started, bored doing nothing at home i turned on netflix and kiki's delivery service suggested to me. i gave it a try despite animation from ghibli wasn't my thing (idk why i feel like that before). i sat down, turned play and slowly mesmerised by the arts, story-telling and the most shocking me was the 'quietness and silence' it offers. then i marathon the other ghibli's and i'm in love. maybe because i struggled and had hectic life, ghibli's has gave me the calmness i looking for.
Kiki's Delivery Service is all about that burnout in life that you mentioned. And you are right, Ghibli movies makes you feel like a kid again!
With CGI you can create every single little piece of grass, the sweat on someone's forehead, the bark on a tree, millions of insects, all in one scene. It hard work, but you draw a few grass and then just duplicate it all over the scene. It's gorgeously beautiful, but boring. It makes your brain lazy. With hand drawn animation, it's impossible to draw all that grass, so the artist with draw the "idea" of grass with a few lines, and paint it with different shades of color. It forces your brain to fill the grass, to actually work and this forces you to pay attention. CGI is amazing, but it feels cold compared to hand drawn
As a Japanese fan of Disney and Ghibli, it’s really interesting to read insightful comments here. One of the differences I think is that Disney focus on people while Ghibli treats people as just a part of the nature.
Scenes from these movies feel so real to me, as if I were actually there, that I feel like I can experience them as my own memories when I call them back...
Yes, it is quite unique in that aspect!
The tradition of Shintoism has blended so much into Japanese culture that the people say they are not religious but still celebrate festivals and visit shrines. Due to this, the Japanese psyche itself feels a great reverence at best or deep respect at the least and this is why in Ghibli movies nature feels so different due to the strong presence and attachment of Shinto.
Tl;dr: Japan has a very old tree hugging religion and even non-religious people do Shinto stuff to the point of it being part of them and it is in Ghibli movies too.
I agree. Feel like Japanese visit Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples rather as their culture than for religious things. Both most of religious places locates in nature such as in forest or mountains. I guess their sense of nature grows by such habitats
another thing that we can point out is how Ghibli present nature in a very imperfect manner. Using Tangled again as an example, sure we have bushes and things like that but the forest is so wierdly perfect? There are no jagged rocks, weeds, mushrooms or piles of leaves, which is a really common thing in a lot of animated Disney movies, the scenes are pretty, yes, but they're also so empty because they lack imperfection. Ghibli absolutely stuffs their nature scenes with thick walls of plants and there's uneven ground, wild flowers and dead leaves everywhere, it adds so much life
From what i've seen, Ghibli studio creates an environment for their characters to live in whereas Disney setup a stage for the characters to act in it.
one of the most magical scenes in mononoke is when the forest spirit walks. the plants rising and falling, growing then dying. it portrays this terrifying sublimity. in these scenes, theres either no music, or no sound whatsoever. it makes you feel like youre experiencing that moment and holding your breath because youre in the presence of a god.
Studio Ghibli makes the scenes beautiful and calm.. Disney is more like action without a moment of calm...
I feel like the older Disney films used to have that...But Ghibli takes it to a whole different level!
but tangled had the moment of calm ness remember the lantern scene when they were on the boat
@@Amziiwa it is still very much focus on the characters, disney doesn't really put much mind to the environment.
@@Amziiwa that wasn't a moment of calm, that was like the peak of the plot
I think one more comparison of nature could be drawn from Ponyo and the Little Mermaid. It comes from the rulers of the waters. In The Little Mermaid, it’s Triton, Ariel’s father, someone harsh and a bit bitter toward humans. But in Ponyo, it’s her mother. And of course, we have Mother Nature and all, but they both represent different things. Triton is the unforgiving nature of the ocean-the harsh storms and the destructive waves. But Ponyo’s mother is the kind nature of the ocean. She is the soft waves that ebb and flow along beaches, ecosystems that flourish with a caring touch, and, with Fujimoto, it’s how humans can connect to the water.
I love the comparison! I feel like you can always find these kinds of interesting contrasts between Studio Ghibli and Disney if you look into it!
Laputa: Castle in the Sky's line "One cannot live apart from the earth" is my favorite.
I think Disney is storybook and Ghibli is dreamlike. Disney is reality idealized and simplified and Ghibli is meaning heightened.
I think I get what you're trying to say, but to me there's nothing "storybook" about Disney. Well, at least not a good storybook, because there are amazing storybooks that are a lot closer to Ghibli than to Disney. I was very lucky growing up because I always had beautiful and deep storybooks. I see some of the ones that are Disney like, in the sense that they're filled with hypersaturated colors or have a dumbed down aesthetic (because they're meant for children and children need to be pandered to and treated like idiots, of course) and I feel very fortunate that my caretakers could provide me with meaningful storybooks that I cherish to this day.
That's probably the reason why Ghibli movies always feel so calming.
Don't forget how Ghibli frame their scene. How the camera moves.
In Ghibli's movies, the camera is static most of the time. The only movements are tilting, panning, and zooming. It makes the framing feels grounded, as if we were right there with the character. In contrast with Disney's movies. They move the camera a lot, they fly here and there, it disconnects us.
I quite liked the nature depicted in tangled actually; It was a version of nature as how I perceived it *felt* as a child. Soft, colorful, and non threatening. And I loved the way the animators portrayed that in tangled. They're different art styles, neither is better than the other, they both achieved effects and 3D animation is by no means easy. Look at Miyazaki's 3D work and you'll understand. They're different mediums and require different approaches. But it's okay they're different.
Every shot of nature in Ghibl movies is like a painting.
It’s not like a painting, it is a painting
Bcs it is lol
There are a few little CG shots here and there that his studio manages to slip in behind his back. But they work because they look like paintings. They match the aesthetic.
Every frame a painting.
I always rewatch Ghibli movies once per week at 4 AM, they can change how I feel about my surrounding, like from heavy and dark, to a peaceful place.
It makes a lot more sense as to why I started collecting plants and getting more into gardening after my dad passed away after a year and a half of pancreatic cancer. It was a coping technique but I also find great comfort in watching things grow, rather than watching them fade away. Nature and plants are beautiful in such a unique way. Something calm and tranquil about nature that is very ingrained into us.
I'm sorry to hear that...
Yes, nature has that quality that helps you heal! It's something that has been documented really well. But anyway, I hope you are doing well now!
I like to call the moments that Ghibli captures little moments. It’s a time for you to stop and breathe. Where you notice something new because you chose to take a closer look (and are rewarded when you do so). You can see these being actively animated in ghibli films. The way the grass moves in the wind is different to how the flowers move. The sunlight shines in imperfect patterns through the leaves. Little tiny fish swim in the shallows of the lake. Small stuff that is important but often overlooked. The Disney environments feel static and stage like in comparison because the small stuff isn’t moving. It instead focuses on the big stuff, the things that everyone sees first. It functions while ghibli environments thrive.
Yes, very keen observation! It's about seeing the whole picture. Miyazaki has often said how and why it's important to animate the whole ecosytem, than just the individual parts of it! It makes it more believable!
Another thing I like about Studio Ghibli is that I know the characters aren't going to start singing out of nowhere. Sometimes I enjoy musicals, sometimes I want to know that there will be moments to rest my mind and stop processing information.
It is not out of nowhere, but anyway...
The main thing I've noticed with Ghibli movies is how it lets there be relative silence. They don't feel the need to fill in every waking moment with music or talking or a chase scene or flashing lights like Disney does to keep its audience entertained, they understand the importance of peace and moments of pure rest in the story where there are no stakes, where everything is perfectly fine in a single moment, to make the action filled moments all that more exciting. Disney feels like it wants to make the characters talk out the plot, rarely leaving a single scene empty of characters. Ghibli knows how to craft a beautiful world and perfect that feeling of calm, so no character would have to say that things are calm and they are happy.
Sound design is one of those aspects of Ghibli films that people do not ever give them enough credit for.
Those Tangled scenes have a "misleading mobile game ad" vibe
One Disney depiction of nature that I love is the forest in Sleeping Beauty, the large widescreen format and Aurora’s singing voice echoing in the trees when she sings to the birds makes it feel so vast. And I love how stylised it is, with strange geometric shapes - it simultaneously feels very 2 dimensional, like a set piece on a stage, but also full of depth and texture, as If you could explore it for hours on end.
Nothing quite matches Ghibli’s forests though.
I think another reason is cuz painting has texture, 3D is incredibly smooth and lacks texture
Yes, maybe...But I think it's also because of the lack of variation they provide in 3D. I mean look at movies like Spider verse and even Arcane, it's mostly 3D with 2D stylization. You probably can do the same thing while portrayng nature as well, but perhaps it takes more money, more effort, and you know how that works out...but hopefully they'll explore better ways of improving it.
@@wonderescence
ARCANE mentioned! Also are you exited for season 2? I believe it’s not exactly a technology issue but more of a priority issue. Disney’s priority is to look as comfortable as possible. Ghibli’s work/Spiderverse/Arcane is about exploring reality in artwork. That’s the key difference.
@@soysource3218 Yes, of course mate! Arcane was elite! More original art please!
Agreed to me it just seems sterile, I get 3D is meant to be stylized but sometimes it comes off as artificial.
A lot of 3D movies just look like real life toys that move on their own. Could be linked to Toy Story pioneering 3D animation, but I think it's more of a marketing scheme aimed at kids. Paw Patrol may have zero substance but I give it credit for making the most realistic looking toy dogs I've ever seen animated. No wonder kids go berserk for it.
Myazaki dosen't have Disney pointing a gun at him trying to achieve a commercial product with the Need to be actually a movie
Also great video, tour reasons keep me thinking for quite a bit
I am Japanese and I heard that Japanese gardens have trees and grasses grow as naturally as possible, while western gardens try to control them as much as possible by cutting them into symmetrical or geometrical shapes.
In Japanese gardens, a pond is there from the beginning and stones are in natural shapes. In Western Gardens, a fountain is made artificially and stones are carved into sculptures.
I grew up watching Ghibli just like every other Japanese, but I never noticed the differences in drawing nature between Ghibli and Disney.
Thank you for noticing such an interesting thing!
Thank you for the support! I guess just 'letting nature be nature' is the best way to live. And not surprising now that you've mentioned why Ghibli portrays nature exactly like it's meant to be. In fact, thank you for sharing this interesting fact!!
Interesting comparison.
I just wanted to add, that there is more than one form of gardening in the western world. You described gardens that are inspired by french gardens but there is also the English garden that tries to immitate nature.
It looks the best on a bigger scale. This means you won't find it very often outside of big parks.
Overall I have seen 3 types of gardens in Germany
A garden with bushes cut into geometric shapes
a garden with grass or stones on the ground and one or a few trees standing around.
And everything in-between.
The garden at our house is with most of the bushes cut loosely into a round shape there is also. Some kind of ' meadow' in front of the bushes facing to the street. It's mostly overgrown with wild strawberries. I also have a private garden it's about 1 square meter big but it's difficult to shrink the English garden down to that scale.
@@Kaktusgurke-id4dd
And then, there's the Russian garden, which is neither Eastern, nor Western, but an expention of English parks that exists on even bigger scale than English parks. It's "Forestpark" and it's what people in populated areas of Western Europe and probably Japan as well call forest. It's a forest being made minimally human-friendly, with added paths, benches, sometimes light and bushes being removed or aspent from most parts. It's not an English lawn, it's a natural lawn, it often exists around a natural water object and it's a place for people to enjoy nature.
Compared to both Japanese garden and English park, it's very low maintenance. The 20% effort 80% result of an English park.
The intro to Kiki’s delivery service takes me back to when I was 7 lying in the tall grass on a windy day in the field of my parents home. It felt like it was part of the world and not an observer, it was a great feeling to experience that again.
Have a thump up! I think what the Japanese do very well is that they leave room for a scene - and the story - to breathe. And Ghibli want to tell a good, heartfelt, layered story. Modern Disney on the other hand is a master at creating a movie mainly for merch reasons. The characters prattle a lot and some iconic scenes and designs are created to milk them later. Is how I personally feel.
That's a very good perspective on what makes Ghibli different from modern Disney. I agree with you, Disney is very corporate in the way the create these movies. And I also feel like most of them are character driven mainly because of the reason that you just mentioned. Selling merch!
@@wonderescence What I also appreciate about Ghibli is, that they take out sexuality as much as possible, as it'd interfere with the depth, the real emotions and atmosphere. That makes their characters true persons. The western movie industry couldn't do that if their life depended on it and that's why their characters often feel objectified.
@@nettorak Haha, yeah, you're right. I mean it has to be a bit of a culture thing as well...
@@wonderescence Hmmm. Maybe. But to draw every character robbed off their sexual attractiveness, maybe just with a nice face, doesn't seem super cultural to me, compared to all the other Anime and Mangas. It feels deliberate and I appreciate it a lot. Modern stories, be it a drawn or filmed or sung story, often revolve around sex nowadays (and sexual attributes, like attractiveness) and that, in most cases, dumbs the stories down quite a bit. We lose a great deal of what makes us human in a cultural, wise way, because that creates a great focus on our old, animal-like brain stem attributes. Sex and status and so on. That's why I feel Ghibli deliberately chose to take it out to make us experience real characters, their dignity and emotions. And nature. And what's precious about all of them. I don't know any other studio who'd do this.
studio ghibli movies are just so beautiful. i find myself rewatching them time after time to never feel bored and am able to appreciate the beauty each time.
For me, the scene from Spirited Away when Chihiro is riding the train, those views from the window, ghosts, and Numa Hara station.
Yes, those scenes feel quite ethereal! Some of their best work!
I agree. I love how it captures the train and the rails themselves as a character.
From the first scenes comparison: in my view it isn't only the addition of sound... In mononoke, we see the viewpoint of Achitaka waking up. It is very powerful as an immersive tool. We see the forest in a more immersive way. Then we have more use of wind, and the water drop, which gives a feeling of touch. Miyazaki uses the wind in every scene you showed and this is very different from the disney counterparts you showed.
You could mostly pin this down on most Disney movies being musicals, their sound design takes a back seat usually to the film score. It affects all scenes, but it's most noticeable in nature scenes.
lesson from Studio Ghibli: Allow the quiet space and time to breathe.
It's impossible to pick a specific scene to be a favorite...they are intricate, beautiful, and play key roles in their specific scenes...
A memorable one that does stand out is the aerial scenes in Kiki's delivery service, as it is a blend of natural scenery and man made structures, which makes it feel like a place that actually exists in real life. It helps solidify the setting of a magical girl trying to make it in the real world, and it's somewhat a unique vibe even among Ghibli films.
Yes, Kiki's delivery service especially has that distinction between modern/ natural. For me, it's the cabin scene towards the end of the movie, I don't know, there's something elegant about that scene...
For me, Bambi is the best Disney representation of nature
Funny because there's talks of the live action remake not having Bambi's mother die, which I think is a mistake. I think him grieving his mother's loss is important. Death is after all part of Nature, and its part of what makes living and things, from plants to wildlife, being born again beautiful.
@@juangalton999 A live action Bambi is a mistake, period. Disney is a mistake.
@@juangalton999 There going to be a horror movie of Bambi unfortunely
I'd have said Ghibli's take looks more like a fairy tale - ethereal, magical, close to nature
while Disneys' looks theatrical, like props and backgrounds only there to set the scene
Such a cool analysis thank you. I miss the old hand-drawn Disney. It felt a lot more magical. Like Bambi and Fantasia and Snow White. Loved those. Ghibli are amazing and will always be one of my favorite studios.
Thank you so much! Yes, it would be really cool to see more 2D animated films in general. It might take some extra effort, but you are right, that hand-drawn magic can't be replicated in 3D animation!!
@@wonderescence Not yet. They're getting there. In a sense they're headed the hyperrealistic way. The thing is just: It wont "help". Aka if someone of the mindset of Miyazaki were to use new technicology, the outcome would still be different, due to the way they choose to frame things. :3 Yet, because ppl love his work and learn from it, they are getting there more and more, with their own means. So, we'll be seeing more interesting things in future.
Actually, I saw a movie recently that is Chinese and caught me off guard. It was - in many ways - quoting Miyazaki's work. And it didn't work with forest, but with foods, water and sealife. And a mad amount of colour!!
It was more busy and fast paced, and the story was - ultimately - more on the side of tearing your heart into shreds (though still not as traumatic as e.g. "Grave of the Fireflies", I'll never overcome that trauma!!!). But it had some of that magical and immersive sth. to it. With the elements being very visceral! It's called "Shen Hai" aka "Deep Sea (2023)". And it's worth giving a shot.
It's on the list of the movies I go back to, to look into certain sequences, just because they're so fascinating. But again the heads-up not to watch it on a depressed day! :'3 It starts out sad, comes around and heck, does it then reveal itself as "not what it seems". I'm glad I had an inkling as to what is going on, out of - I guess - a lot of experience with fantasy, but it still came as a punch to my gut.
@KxNOxUTA no it will never be as good as 2d
Ghibli shows a proper, natural forest
Disney shows a park in a city
Gihbli shows a forest that grows in a natural environment, where there's not just one type of grass, but a multitude, where the shadowed, more moist parts have moss in between the tufts of grass. Where water starts with falling on branches, falling down to moisten the ground, gather in small brooks who flows into streams into rivers. Where stone is intermingled with sand and dirt in a ever changing landscape that's neither flat nor structured. Its a beautiful ordered chaos.
Disney shows mono cultures planted with spaces, few species on flat monolithic grass fields. It's not a living forest but a dull park. It's a repetitive structure without soul.
You know what this video made me realize? I approach my own story making in a very Japanese way. This was made evident to me in my creative writing class in highschool. I had moments where my story breathed and either my character took in the environment or I would take time to paint a picture in your head the setting. I had moments of genuine dialogue where characters would get to know each other. All things that my teacher said slowed the pace and weren't necessary.
To be fair, my writing back in highschool wasn't very well paced, but those slow scenes were important to me. I didn't realize that I had been influenced by Japanese animation so heavily. American movies and shows do tend to be more fast paced. We criticize the existence of "filler episodes" and skip them. I always loved fillers! We got to see the characters interact with one another outside of the story!
I feel like in a lot of American media I don't get a chance to breathe. Action movies have me tense and by the end of the movie I feel tired! One movie I like is called "Summer Wars." It has action scenes but also slow setting/character scenes. We learn about all the characters and the family in the movie because they're all important. The characters in that movie feel so real and human because they're touched on all the time and treated as people rather than side characters. The slow moments where they are a family and eat dinner and establish connections is important so we can see how tense it becomes when a family outcast is introduced.
I really do wish that more American media was like this. It would upset me to know if I ever made a story that the slow moments were harshly criticized as boring and unneeded.
You made a good point. I think day by day, they are getting rid of those 'filler' moments from television and movies. It feels a bit too organized and algorithmic. So, I don't know if they'll ever go back to doing that, but I do hope that animation as a medium, atleast try to achieve it, because it is more versatile than live action, and there's more influence of anime on it as well!
i prefer 2d animation
the one western animation where nature gave that feeling and stayed in my mind for decades is ferngully and i always thought it was disney but just realized it not only wasn’t disney but disney tried to sabotage it loo
Yo, the name is BATTY!
Yeah Disney has always been pretty problematic as a company... I'm glad people are starting to realize it now.
People talk about how Ghibli's nature has greater attention to detail and that's why it works better, but I would argue it's more so that Ghibli has a better understand of _which_ details to keep in their depictions, and which to leave out.
There's something very impressionistic and romantic about Ghibli, which is why it _feels_ so real, it's almost like we can smell and taste and feel it, even though film is only a visual and auditory medium. That's what impressionism and romanticism do: It's a painting of feelings rather than objective visual information.
What we remember from our own experiences of nature is the way it engages our senses: The feeling of warmth and wind on our skin, the smell of grass and flowers, the buzzing of insects and the sound of rustling leaves, the rich colors and lush foliage, the mottled light filtering through treetops, which we can see even with our eyes clothes. In Miyazaki's movies, the drawings depict these things - and leave out everything else. There are no harsh outlines, no definition of the individual blades of grass. Such details would only distract from the feeling of harmony and one-ness. Studio Ghibli backdrops remind me a lot of the Baroque art movement... they have the same kind of focus on colors and light above everything else, and the blurry quality of viewing something through a nostalgic and emotion-based lens. Like a dream.
This same principle is what makes caricature drawings work. They're exaggerated and not "objectively" accurate to the person being drawn, yet somehow they feel even more spot-on than a photorealistic drawing would, because they capture the ESSENCE of a person rather than treating each detail about a face as if they're all equally important, and this essence is what we recognize on an emotional and human level.
On top of all that, there is also the simple fact that hand-drawn, painterly-type animation is much better suited for this than 3D animation lol. At least until recently, when 3D-animation studios started stylizing their movies in a more 2D-looking way, like in the Spiderverse movies, Nimona, Arcane, Puss in Boots 2, and such. Unless you stylize it like this, 3D animation just inherently looks more sterile, because of the way assets and objects are so clearly separated and defined (like the thing with each individual blade of grass being equally visible). If you want an image to _feel_ more real, you need to be able to prioritize certain details and scrap others completely, which is hard to do with 3D assets. I really love the way recent 3D products are being made to look more painterly and 2D, for this reason. It's like studios are realizing the difference this makes.
Again the best part of Studio Ghibli is so lovely and lifelike and the sounds and color encompass that because Miyazaki travels a lot for his background environmental inspirations and experiences
Yes, this is very true! I think a lot of the envrionments from his films are based in reality! Like the forest in Princess Mononoke which was inspired by a real place called 'Shiratani Unsuikyo ravine' in southern Japan.
Miyazaki: We have everything important within three meters radius.
What I noticed is that Disney's backgrounds feel flat as well as the bright green color of green, the grass is like a mowed lawn, flat and even grass while it's in a forest. But Ghibli's is much more natural, bumpy, uneven sections, bright but still a natural green of different tones that don't feel out of place, it's trees are mossy and the bark is intricate instead of simple patterns.
In Disney, the plants look to be connected to their own kind instead of growing on each other which makes it look like some random images put into one scene.
Ghibli makes it seem like the forests and nature are connected, they are one within their roots regardless of the plant type, you can tell they are different plants but you can see that they naturally overlap like in nature itself.
When I think of Disney animation and nature, my mind always turns to the scene from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (a super underrated classic) in which Ichabod Crane is riding home from the Halloween dance through the woods on his horse, right before their encounter with the Headless Horseman. It doesn’t have the same beauty as a scene from a Studio Ghibli film, but the way the film builds up suspense using a wall of ambient sounds of nature at night (the wind, insects, birds, rusting plants, and the horse’s footsteps) is absolutely bone-chilling. That and the gorgeous, haunting animation both beautifully represent Ichabod’s fall into hysterics, right before the Horseman enters the picture.
A few other scenes that come to mind is the one in Snow White in which she’s in the field picking flowers and singing, the deleted Clair de Lune sequence from Fantasia, all of the forest scenes in Sleeping Beauty, and the scene near the beginning of The Lion King where it rains in the savanna.
I wanna live in a ghibli movie, they always are so calm and pretty ☺️
Ghibli makes me feel like when I was a kid, experiencing nature for the first time
As an amateur artist myself (2d digital painter since 2017, traditional graphite + charcoal drawer since April 2022) I do feel much more connection to 2d art and hand drawn animations as well.
Disney's new movies like Tangled or Frozen can depict nature much more accurately, they can make infinite details and definition, make them as dynamic as they want, but it lacks the masterfully crafted look of hand drawn things. Everything in Frozen's forest feels like an object that was just put there to accompany the characters, but everything in the Ghibli environments were deliberately placed and shaped into their best form by someone who put care into even a single piece of grass or a leaf.
3d can easily be more, but hardly any better, the same goes even harder to AI generated, and even to digital in general. Since I started traditional drawing not even a year ago I feel I can appreciate every piece of creation much more than before. The limitations of a less forgiving medium make you more mindful and it makes you put all your effort into everything you make, and then others will feel the connection through every element be it a line with a pencil or a spot with a brush.
I grew up in rural Texas, I mean way out there where I didn't have any neighbors. I grew up trapsing through the little forests and fields here, and totally under how it feels to live on cities, it's depressing not hearing just the wind, or birds, so many nights you'd hear foxes and coyotes (the animal), ferral pigs, and my personal favorite the little bitty bird called a Whippoorwill. I hope I can return to that one day.
Disney doesn't show theyre nature with silence but they express it with a score.
For example this land from the lion king, it such a wonderful and beautiful score and express the beauty of nature. Or the opening of the little mermaid with that chore at the background resembling the beauty if the ocean. Or as song. Circle of life described what nature and life is and what they have in common. Or Colours of the wind also describes the beauty of nature. Ghibli shows its nature by ambience and Disney by theyre scores and songs
I just wanted to say I noticed that some English dubs of Ghibli films they *added* extra scoring so that there wasn’t so many “quiet” scenes. I was more familiar with non-English versions, so it was very noticeable and jarring and I wasn’t able to enjoy the ambient sounds I was expecting. They didn’t feel like they needed to be there either. I like how you phrased that Ghibli sets the scene with elegance, because they really do:
I can’t agree that one scene is better than the other, they are going for different things. Tangled is going for an almost comically fantastical moment. It stays light and bubbly. It’s not trying to portray reality. That being said, I think this is an interesting thing to identify and point out. I think you’re right about that being a big reason why Ghibli movies are so special to so many of us.
Princess mononoke was one of the best animated movies of all time
So beautiful
I feel like the plastic lighting that disney uses is at least half of the reason why their nature looks like an IKEA display.
fun note, prince ishitaka was laying on moss, not grass. One environment was painted to be not only natural, but ancient. The other was meticulously crafted to look like any other hollywood lawn: devoid of diversity. The differences are far more numerous than sound. Ultimately, disney's stuff tends to feel over saturated, overly shiny, plastic, and emotionally dead. Ghibli tends toward crafted with love, catered to the senses, natural and real.
The pacing and video editing is stellar. I especially appreciated how the scenes were played first before the analysis and again after discussing the contrast between them. By allowing the viewer to have an opinion first, the video challenges the audience to intellectually engage with the analysis. Its refreshing.
I tried my best! Thank you so much and always appreciate the support!!
Disney: Ah yeah, nature. Just the feeling. Moving on.
Studio Ghibli: *Takes the time to study nature.*
Chihiro following Haku between the Rose- and other bushes is my favorite scene.
The Tree worship was something that existed in Europe as well. Celts, Germanics, Slavs, and Norse considered several different types as sacred. Oaks were connected to gods like Thor or Perun. Ash trees, Birch trees, Willow trees, Pine trees, Beach trees... All being seen as sacred and holy for different reasons. Druids, Völur, and other groups like that had their groves with trees that were hundreds of years old. Some stone circles/henges had large trees incorporated into them at some point.
Christianity made most of it going away, with the only remnant of it to survive to this day to be the "christmas tree" adapted from the originally scandinavian tradition of the Yule tree, that always involved a live tree, never a cut down one.
During the witch hunts, many of the old groves were cut down or burned, as places of devil worship, and then very often churches or chapels built right on top of them.
It doesn't help that the forest in Tangled appears to have freshly mowed grass and no sticks, leaves, or pine needles on the ground.
Haha. Tbf, 3D animation was still not quite there in 2010. And also, if you give animators time to work on these things, I'm pretty sure they'll do a much better job. But then again, Disney is like a content factory these days...
@@wonderescenceDisney probably didn't done that because they were despair with Rapunzels hair
It is a bit unfair to only compare Ghibli films to Disney's CGI works. For example Bambi depicts nature in such a beautiful and detailed way, but it can be more abstract at times
Eh...... to a point, even with Fox and and Hound the backgrounds are no where near Ghibli in terms of immersion.
Ghibli's greenery always felt very vast and open. Others always felt tight and constricted as if they have to fit in alot of props to fill the enviroment.
If you’re not using your sense of taste while in the forest, you’re doing it wrong.
Haha, maybe I should try that next time!
Disney sanitizes everything. The grass is one monolithic species of grass.
In Ghibli films, there is a naturalistic messy chaos of grasses.
It is a nature that is controlled by human with pesticides killing all weeds etc. Also blue butterflies like the one we see are only in Amazon jungle.
This video made me just realize in which direction I've always strived to go with my art without being able to put into words. Thank you so much!
Honestly, even the best productions from Desney does not even come close to the experience of Ghibli.
Every movie of Ghibli triggers the sense of adventure and is genuinely inspiring, while Disney, whatever Studio, is just a set.
I wouldn't mind having a massive reanimation and rewriting project of every single one of Disney's works, just to see how far I can push Disney's fairytale vibe from their first draft, to their final draft, and to my first draft to my last draft.
Now, that's an interesting project for sure...
But actually, the grass in Tangled is exactly what I FEEL about that kind of grass: the grass of a manicured lawn in a rich suburb. Monocultured, sprayed with RoundUp and fertilizer, and never meant to survive the season. The grass in Tangled didn't look fake, they look exactly how we experience it: sterile and uniform. Disney didn't recreate the grass of a ancient European forest. They recreated the lawn grass from Home Depot.
Besides all the things you pointed out, I've noticed that anime often actually has more realistic variations of weather than Western movies, more random strong breezes, light rain & whatnot, along with a more realistic messy forest instead of clean cut- & they'll always have loud cicadas in any summer scene.
Everything is done in a way to submerse you in the moment, instead of just compelling the character to move the story for you.
Amazing video btw :D
心の風景を描くのが宮崎駿。
光に反射したものを描くのがディズニー。
This was such a beautiful description of nature. I enjoyed how you explained how there are moments of silence and tranquility in Studio Ghibli films, and how they don't always have to be fast-paced and lead up to the plot. They are moments where you can decompress and be one with nature
amazing analysis! this video has given me a new perspective on eastern culture and how it's portrayed in its media. i always felt so connected to the nature in ghibli films, and now i know why i get that feeling
Thank you so much, and I'm glad I could share that perspective. I feel like 'Nature' as a whole is quite difficult to portray in the 'right way'. It depends on how you were brought up around it, and the values you share with it. So, sometimes when you see Disney's portrayal of nature, it's not necessarily the 'wrong' way of doing it per se, it's just a different way. But for me, the Ghibli portrayal was more relatable, since it's much more closer to what I have experienced while growing up. So, I think I understand the Ghibli way much better than the Disney way.
I am presently working on my graduation movie, and I was feeling so lost of all the possibilities I had before me. I closed my eyes and wished upon the angels to show me a video on my 3rd refresh of my youtube screen. Yours was in the top row. Thank you for this (and also for the angels for guiding me to it), All the ideas are very well put. Indeed, natural sounds and the care to include nature as a meditation-like place and experience are so much part of Ghibli's magic. To my own reference, I'm leaving hereby a quote by Myazaki which you included at 17:10 According to Hayao Miyazaki, "we don't subordinate the natural setting to the characters. That is because we feel the world is beautiful. Human relationships are not the only thing that is interesting. We think that weather, time, rays of light, plants, water, and wind, what make up the landscape, are all beautiful. That is why we make efforts to incorporate them as much as possible in our work."
Thank you so much for the kind words. I'm so glad I could help someone out. Means a lot! I hope it goes well!
thanks for the wishes! @@wonderescence
Somehow the Ghobli films make the grass feel laid in, Disneys looks laid on top of
Shinto plays a big part in depicting nature in Gibli movies but there are also other cultural factors at play.
1. Wabi-sabi. It's a Buddhist concept of finding beauty in imperfect and transient things. You see it in how Mononoke's nature is more rustic with typical insects than Tangled's nature with an idealized butterfly and mowed lawn. This is kind of the opposite of Shintoism. Shintoism sees life in nature. Wabi Sabi sees decay but finds its transience beautiful.
2. Japonisme. It was a late 19th century aesthetic movement in France where Japanese style influenced French style. It actually had a big impact on impressionism. Gibli movies have very Western aethetics, but not typically Western. The result is a more subtle and nature-based form of Western styles. You see this in the various houses nestled in nature and people's clothes.
3. Japanese Indirect Communication. Japanese people think it's insulting to one's intelligence when people hit you over the head with a message. So Japanese people and Japanese art tend less to hit you over the head with the message. You don't need a soundtrack to convey the situation if you sufficiently immerse the audience in the setting. In movie critic terms, it's "show, don't tell".
4. The concept of the Shiki. Shiki means "Four Seasons" but it's more about the philosophy of appreciating the distinctness of each season. Japan has very distinct seasons. They have snow, hot summers, and very stable springs and autumns. Japanese people have come to appreciate nature for exhibiting these distinct seasons.
5. Romanticism. This is a European movement that linked moral purity with nature. Gibli movies often tell the story through a child protagonist, which is a symbol of innocence. Innocent child in innocent nature. Disney movies tend to cast older protagonists (teens) whereas Gibli casts young children more often. Nature seen through children is the purest form of beauty to the Romanticist.
6. Modern environmentalism. Miyazaki is an environmentalist and it shows in his work. But the way he does it is by making people fall in love with nature rather than by hitting people over the head with an agenda. When Western movies try environmentalism, they tend more to hit people over the head with an explicit agenda. Again, it relates to "show, don't tell".
I think that covers most of what makes Gibli movies different from Western movies in terms of depictions of nature. I just wanted to point out that it's not about Shintoism vs. Other Religions as some people in the comments are making it out to be. Romanticism has ties with the Christian nostalgia for the Garden of Eden. Wabi Sabi is a Buddhist concept. What makes Gibli great is that he takes whatever concepts that are compelling regardless of whether they are Eastern or Western and incorporate them to tell a great story.
This is such a good comment! Appreciate the time and thought you put into it! Romanticism is a topic that I wanted to explore in this video, however it felt like I'd be diving into to a very deep topic and it'd make the video too long... But regardless, w.r.t nature, you're spot on about how Ghibli borrows concepts from different cultures, religions etc... For the most part, it's their attention to detail, no matter what they are portraying, that splits them apart from the rest!
@@wonderescence Thanks! I forgot to applaud you for your great analysis in the video. I really enjoyed it. I only meant to add additional context because I love this topic. The "sacred child" is a part of Shintoism as well. Shintoism pays a lot of attention to "purity" so they've identified the innocence of children as something pure and sacred. But I think Romanticism adds further depth to this topic due to its juxtaposition between nature and industrialization (which is a major theme in Gibli but is not really addressed by Shintoism, being a pre-industrialization ideology). Romanticism grew out of people's dissatisfaction with the industrial revolution and a yearning to return to a more natural state before all the social problems of the industrial revolution came about. So you have this socially reactionary cause of Romanticism, but at the same time you also have a theological basis to Romanticism. Romanticism was influenced by a Christian version of Platonism. This is most explicit in William Blake's works, which were influenced by John Milton's Paradise Lost. So you start seeing the merging of a cultural critique of the industrial revolution (based on humanity's pursuit of more science) with the Christian theological view that the pursuit of knowledge (at the expense of everything else) resulted in the loss of the ideal natural space (Garden of Eden). So with Romanticism, you see a clear tension between nature and industrialization. You definitely see this tension in Gibli (Nausica, Mononoke, Howl, Ponyo). Shintosim is not sufficient to explain this tension (while it does resonate with Shintoists because they have the same premise that nature is sacred). Miyazaki plays across different religious ideals and cultural tropes, which is why his works appeal to Westerners even though they typically don't know much about Shintoism. The Japanese love Gibli because of its Shintoism. Westerners intuitively love Gibli because of its Romanticism even while being unaware of Shintoism. Gibli is simply brilliant!
for me, it is the perspective, camera angles, and scale, that make the difference along with a very natural depth of field.
thank you for making this. it’s exactly how I feel about ghibli movies, but to hear someone else mirror my feelings and then put them into words, it has made me cry, in the best of ways :)
In the mention of Western animation not having this connection with nature or just embracing it, you've actually just changed my viewpoint on the setting of the 1987 film "The Brave Little Toaster", slight spoilers for this 36 year old movie. How we spend a good 20 minutes before the adventure even starts just knowing the characters in the daily life of the isolated cabin in the woods, awaiting the day their family's car will pull up for another holiday. But like you mention, this movie's soundtrack is very unique in which even when David Newman's brilliant score accompanies a scene, it knows when to cut out and let the atmosphere sink in and it's just the characters emotions, from the realization another car has passed, the natural sounds of the forest critters in the meadow, the waterfall when our heroes plunge down leaving the grumpy vacuum, wishing them gone in anger a minute ago to ponder what to do, the city bustling, or the industrial sounds of the crusher and electro magnetic humming buzz in the junkyard at the climax. A rare instance where the sound design and the environment really sinks in and the score is subsided in a western animation.
It sounds like a good movie then. I might have to check it out! Honestly, back in the day, I think they used to do this even in hollywood, but then they sort of faded away in recent times. Maybe it's an attention span issue, with a lot of these movies being catered towards a younger audience, they probably think that children might enjoy soundtracks, more than scenes with no dialogue and only ambient sounds.
@@wonderescence oh you’re in luck, about 2 weeks ago a great user by the name of VennyRestore found a German 35mm print and scanned it in 4K, making it the best quality possible on here, I ABSOLUTELY recommend
i know this video is old but you should also check out some of don bluth older movies the nature scenes in there along with old Disney movies the nature does seem to be alive think Bambi, fox and the hound for bluth secret of nihm and fern gully as well as the land before time
Ohmigosh Brave Little Toaster is a masterpiece. I watched the VHS several times growing up and it definitely effected me. There was a time in my childhood when I felt bad for neglected capless ink pens fated to dry out and other inanimate objects because of that film.
One movie, although not animated, that gave me similar feelings of biophilia in Studio Ghibli movies is the 2005 Pride & Prejudice. Throughout the movie, there are a lot of nature scenes where sometimes you could just hear ambient sounds, sometimes there is music but the music complements the ambient sounds and the scene shots so well that it's almost seamless. The intro of the movie is just literally a shot of the sun rising slowly, the sun rays shining through a bunch of trees, soft music playing, with lots of birds chirping. There were a lot of shots where the environment takes up majority of the screen while the characters are just small in comparison. Even the non-nature environments such as the ballroom, marketplace, dinner table, and parlor scenes the sound design is just so good you could hear all sorts of sounds even with the music overlayed and they make the scenes just feel alive and tangible. Thanks for such a great video, keep it up!
Thank you for the support! While I've never watched Pride & Prejudice, I can see how a historical movie, set in a rural world in the1800s, would give you that vibes. For me, if we're talking live-action movies, LOTR trilogy is an easy choice. It portrays nature ever so well!
Pride & Prejudice? How I didn't notice any of those details on the movie, my mom watched that so many times that I almost memorized it, I hate that movie a bit because of that, but I guess I should watch it to focus more on the details.
YES!!!! I love the movie because it does so much with the enviroment, I can feel the sun, smell the animals of the farm 😅, the part when one of the maids is humming while going from room to room... it's amazing
It all boils down to the use of texture and colour. Pixar and Disney animation in particular uses a surreal hypersaturated colour palate and textures that feel more like wallpapers than tactile environments, they look spectacular but they lack "weight". The digital animation has lines with a hard edge feel and unnatural contrasts while old style Ghibli animation uses softer lines and colour blending which lends itself better to representing nature. Ghibli films also use a more organic colour palate and much more subtle and varied texture changes across the scene while also adding "texture" with masterful sound design to help land the "reality" of their animated environments.
Studio Ghibli's animation is so much better than Disney, always has. It makes me so happy and it's so relaxing. It's definitely biophilia for me. I love being in my backyard with the trees, it's so relaxing. And it reminds me more of Ghibli than Disney to be in my yard.
日本はやはり神道の影響が強いので、自然との共生という点においては自らの世界の中に介在する自然観というものを持ち合わせているような気がします。それもごく自然に。
I just can't wrap my head how simple those tips are, and how miserably disney fails everyone of them it's outstanding
I don't mean myazaki isn't a genuis, because he is, but i mean "Silence is also useful sometimes in cinema" would be the start of a cinema class, how does dinsey not not know the basis is beyond me
Silence and stillness were two of the things Mr. Rogers intentionally included in his children's program, and he was the greatest children's entertainer ever. In our effort to create the perfect consumer, we have robbed a generation of the time to stop and sit with their thoughts...
Not just nature, but even city life is done expertly by ghibli, Kiki's Delivery service and whisper of the heart come to mind.
Watching studio ghibli makes me feel so calm