Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata founded the most important animated company outside of Disney in the mid-‘80s and thus began the history of Studio Ghibli, a group of creative geniuses who would change their medium around the world. Takahata’s passing and Miyazaki’s retirement reportedly ended the history of Studio Ghibli (although Miyazaki is working on a comeback project), which allows us a chance to look at the entirety of their output. With most of their films not being given Chicago releases theatrically, a large portion of their catalog was never reviewed by Roger Ebert, but when he did connect with a Studio Ghibli film, such as in his masterful pieces on “Grave of the Fireflies” and “Spirited Away,” the result was critical magic. The history of Studio Ghibli may not be comprehensively available through the reviews linked below, but consider this a gateway to even more remarkable animated visions, ones that we hope the people of Studio Ghibli are not quite done giving us.
