Studio Ghibli and Solarpunk

The environmental and humanist themes of the famous anime studio

This past summer, I watched most of Studio Ghibli’s films. The studio or it’s main creative force, Hayao Miyazaki, are often mentioned as major influences on the solarpunk genre. It’s not a coincidence that one of their composers did the music for the solarpunk-inspired yogurt ad. Despite how connected Studio Ghibli seems to be to solarpunk, I found that only two of their 20+ movies have substantial solarpunk imagery or worldbuilding. Even so, it’s clear that these films were highly influential even if they’re weren’t solarpunk films. The influence comes from Studio Ghibli’s constant themes of environmentalism, humanism, community, anti-authoritarianism, and pacifism.

What is Studio Ghibli

It is a Japanese, animated film studio that began in 1985 and has made around 25 movies.¹ The most widely known figure associated with the studio is Hayao Miyazaki. He is an animator, writer, and director who has worked on most, though not all, of the studio’s films. He’s also famous for his personality. Miyazaki often comes across as grumpy, cynical and even rude, which is such a contrast to the whimsical movies he creates. It’s hard to find someone who seems to both love and hate humanity as much as he does.

One of his most famous quotes.

The other main creative force behind Studio Ghibli was the late Isao Takahata. He also served as the director, writer, or producer on many of the studio’s movies. Takahata is less well known than Miyazaki, at least in the English-speaking world, due to three main reasons. He died before the recent Ghibli craze started. Since he was not an animator, his movies have a less consistent style than Miyazaki’s films do. Finally, the films he played the largest role in do not translate as well outside Japan.²

While there have been others who created films with the studio, Miyazaki and Takahata were the main creative forces. What’s made Studio Ghibli stand out has been the consistent quality of their films and their ability to create family-friendly movies that explore complex ideas related to pacifism, humanism, modernity and the environment. It’s not surprising that these films have become so popular at a time where there’s such a hunger for complex movies that aren’t just spin-offs and are hopeful without being sappy. This brings us to the first Ghibli film³, which is one of the most solarpunk of their works.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

The titular character and her cute pet.

This movie is about a post-apocalyptic world where there’s a toxic forest that kills anyone who enters it without proper equipment. The forest contains bug-like creatures the humans avoid or exterminate. The main character is Nausicaä, a courageous princess of a small village. I can’t say much more about the story without spoiling it. What I can say is that the film delves deeply into environmental themes. It challenges the concept that humans are separate from nature as well as the idea that human either can or should conquer the natural world. And the film does all of this in an organic way that comes about from the story and world building rather than through heavy-handed monologues. The film has clear solarpunk themes. It’s exploration of environmental issues allows for hope and solutions that aren’t just going back to an older way of life. It also fits the solarpunk style by contrasting high-tech devices with natural landscapes and picturesque, medieval inspired villages.

I love this movie. It’s not my favorite of their catalog, but it’s beautiful, has great themes, a good 80s synth soundtrack, and is very unique. Miyazaki also wrote a manga (comic) that continues the story. I haven’t read it yet but would like to one day.

Castle in the Sky

This is the other film with that deals with solarpunk themes and imagery. While not exactly a post-apocalyptic setting, this movie takes place in a bleak world of airships, flying pirates, a corrupt government, and a lost civilization. In many ways, it’s the Ghibli movie that explores solarpunk themes in the most direct way. The plot involves a lost civilization that lived on a floating island. They had advanced technology while also living in a nature-centered space. Even though it could be the most solarpunk of the Ghibli films, Castle in the Sky is more well known for its influence on the steampunk genre. The world of the film features many steam powered technologies, especially the airships.

The airships of the films have inspired many steampunk creators.

One of the clear influences of the movie on the solarpunk genre was it’s moss-covered robots that tend gardens. It’s a notable image from the movie because it’s still so rare to see something as futuristic and high-tech as a robot that’s engaged in a nature-based activity like gardening. Watching this scene immediately brought to mind the solarpunk novel, A Psalm for the Wild-Built. In the book, robots live in the wilderness doing whatever they please. The main character meets a robot named “Mosscap” who is described in the following way: “Its body was abstractly human in shape, but that was where the similarity ended. The metal panels encasing its frame were stormy grey and lichen-dusted.”⁴ That sentence could easily describe the robots in Castle in the Sky.

The main characters discovering the lost robots.

Unfortunately, I think this is one of the weakest films in their catalogue. It’s not bad, but many of their other films explore the themes of ecology, technology’s relationship to nature, and the reasons why humans hurt the environment in much better ways while also featuring multidimensional characters. This film is uniquely heavy-handed for a Ghibli film and features a villain who’s simply power hungry while the other films have antagonists that feel like reasonable humans who are mistaken or in difficult positions. Castle in the Sky was very influential in its imaginative world, but is lacking in plot, characters, and nuance.

The Other Films

Despite how often Ghibli films come up as influences on solarpunk, none of the other movies really fit the standard definitions or visuals of solarpunk. Some of them are historical or period pieces that address the downsides of technology without offering a vision of a better future such as Princess Mononoke, Totoro, or Pom Poko. Some are mythical stories that only touch on environmentalism such as Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo or The Boy and the Heron. Others are solidly rooted in the modern world with messages that are anti-war or about the trials of growing up such as Porco Rosso, the devastating Grave of the Fireflies, or, one of my favorites, Whisper of the Heart. None of the other movies address environmental problems or showcase futuristic worlds that are powered by renewable energy. But, I don’t think people are wrong that Ghibli has been influential to solarpunk beyond the two films mentioned earlier.

Many of Studio Ghibli films focus on environmentalism and they all do so in a way that’s deeper than “recycling is good.” When there is a solution, it involves more than simply killing or imprisoning the bad guy (even a metaphorical one). Even though these movies deal with sensitive and difficult topics, they tend to be hopeful rather than cynical. If the movie doesn’t offer a solution, its treatment of the problem lends toward thoughtfulness and reflection rather than despair. Almost every film features a deep humanism and thoughtfulness as exemplified through the famous slice-of-life scenes. Characters cook, eat and run errands in delightful sequences that are not boring despite their mundanity. These scenes were a clear influence on the above-mentioned yogurt commercial where a woman goes about her day drinking coffee, eating the aforementioned yogurt, and having a meal with a large group. The point of these slice-of-life scenes is to show the beauty of mundanity. They aren’t montages there to show a protagonist’s life before everything goes wrong or to paint daily living as inherently boring — a sign that adventure is needed. Living a simple life of good food and community is enough.

Slowing down a film to focus on mundane tasks, focusing on environmentalism in a complex way, and being hopeful without being saccharine feels rare in adult media much less family-oriented films. Solarpunk is a genre of hope to the ecological problems that threaten our world. Films that thoughtfully address environmentalism while featuring a love for humanity are perfect fits for the genre. Even if few of the individual Ghibli films are solarpunk movies, taken as a whole the studio has created a filmography that’s very appealing to solarpunk fans.

1. I say “around” because some of the films are not technically Studio Ghibli films yet were made by the same people and are sold by the company.

2. Pom Poko is a prime example. It’s an excellent film about a group of tanuki (Japanese racoon dogs) who are trying to defend their forest from being destroyed for city development. The movie is family friendly except for all the tanuki testicles you see. In traditional Japanese lore, male tanuki have magical balls and this repeatedly comes up in the movie.

3. This one is not technically a Studio Ghibli film, it came out before they created the studio, but is widely thought of as a Ghibli film and is sold by the studio.

4. Page 51, emphasis mine.