The Beauty of Studio Ghibli Films
On February 5, 2021, die-hard Studio Ghibli fans crowded around their television sets, eagerly waiting for the release of the studio’s newest release. Entitled “Earwig and the Witch,” the movie was set to be shown through HBO Max, where it would join the accomplished 37-year legacy of the famed animation company alongside favorites from “My Neighbor Totoro” to “Howl’s Moving Castle.”
And yet, in the eyes of critics and audiences alike, the movie was a complete failure. On the review website Rotten Tomatoes, under 30 percent of 68 critic reviews are positive. Phrases like “harrowingly poor,” “profoundly skippable,” and “near-disastrous” decorate the comments of top critics, while the critics’ consensus calls the film a “near-total misfire” with a “story as uninspired as its animation.”
With the reception of “Earwig and the Witch” so drastically different from those of the many other Ghibli movies, it’s only natural to wonder what went wrong. IndieWire’s David Ehrlich points to the destruction of the Ghibli aesthetic in favor of “lifeless backgrounds” and the trademark hyper-expression found in previous films replaced by “cheap dolls…devoid of human emotion.” Critic Aja Romano, writing for Vox, provides similar reasoning for the movie’s demise, pointing to the lack of overall mood and the striking animation which Studio Ghibli is loved for.
“Earwig and the Witch” was only the second Studio Ghibli movie not to be directed by founder Hayao Miyazaki (the other being “Tales from Earthsea”). Both “Earwig and the Witch” and “Tales from Earthsea” were directed instead by Miyazaki’s son Goro, and they are the two lowest-rated Ghibli movies. While the low ratings of” Tales from Earthsea” are commonly attributed to Goro’s lack of experience, “Earwig and the Witch” failed for a specific reason, outlined in Ehrlich and Romano’s claims: it was the first Ghibli film to not be hand-animated, as Goro opted instead for CGI animation techniques.
Previously, Studio Ghibli has stuck religiously to hand-drawn animation. The majority of films have been made using traditional techniques, meaning that every frame is hand-drawn by animators before being put together, creating the appearance of movement. Hayao Miyazaki has used elements of CGI in the past, but in extremely limited amounts to finish long movies, such as “Princess Mononoke,” and to assist animators in creating complex scenes. The most famous Ghibli movies have been reliant on hand-drawn animation. This isn’t to say it doesn’t have downsides: as every frame has to be crafted individually, the process is extremely time-consuming.
Yet the effect is overwhelming, allowing for emotional, lush frames and exaggerated, powerful characters. Take “Castle in the Sky”, Ghibli’s first movie released in 1986, and animated completely by hand. Watching the movie is like seeing a painting come to life: the vibrant colors, vivid emotions, and expansive landscapes create a world audiences can’t help but love. The 2D nature of hand-drawn animation is comfortable to watch: it prioritizes design and feeling over perfect, expressionless motion. In that way, the imperfection of hand-drawn animation is its beauty. It brings warmth and life to characters, instead of replacing them with robotic-like figures.
Additionally, traditional artistry inherently pushes animators to create an immersive background for each movie. Every aspect must be thought of, every detail paid attention to. Whether it’s the chaotic mess of Howl’s castle or Kiki’s seaside town, the worlds of Studio Ghibli are inescapable. A repeating criticism of “Earwig and the Witch” was that the environment itself was dulled and forgettable, despite being partially hand-drawn; the film is described by Rotten Tomatoes critics as “cheap-looking”, “lackluster”, and not “visually dynamic” compared to previous Ghibli releases.
Ghibli is also known for its stand-out sound. Hayao Miyazaki has been longtime partners with composer Joe Hisaishi, and the pair has established a process that Hisaishi has described as follows. “Before handing me a true screenplay,” Hisaishi said in a 2000 “Anime Land” special with interviewers Oliver Fallaix and Ilan Nguyen, “he [Miyazaki] gives me a rather simple kind of storyboard, he introduces the characters…and he speaks a bit about the story…he also gives me ten keywords, on which I construct my work.” The freedom Hisaishi has allows each film’s score to come alive: it’s a character in itself, changing the mood and element of each setting. It provides a powerful sense of place by carefully reflecting the themes of the story, and yet it’s not localized to an action or a plot. For example, the quiet cacophony of insect clicks and the ruffling of trees that accompanies Ashitaka and San through the forest of “Princess Mononoke'' represents the beauty of the wild, compared to the rigid tones of the Iron City, which in turn plays to the growth of the modern world.
This, compared with a notable de-stylizing of sound (in other words, the presence of noise in the background which doesn’t necessarily add to the scene, such as a fire crackling or wind blowing) is truly immersive, and allows the audience to slip into whatever world the story takes place in. “Earwig and the Witch,” despite being a movie about music, has a score which is described by Engadget writer Devindra Hardawar as “mostly forgettable”; it is composed not by Hisaishi, but by Satoshi Takebe. In a studio for which music has come to be extremely important, it is easy to see when a movie falls short. The score is too busy and too centralized within each scene, not allowing any space or contrast to create an ambience.
But all this aside, what “Earwig and the Witch” lacked most isn’t hand-drawn scenery or a beautiful soundtrack, but the beating heart that lies at the core of Studio Ghibli. Studio Ghibli characters are always undeniably human. There is a thrum of simplicity in each film, values of kindness and compassion, and understandable actions that everyone can relate to. Each movie is a story of hope, starring an unlikely protagonist. Miayazki has made his heroes 10-year-old girls, elderly women, and young students. There are always heart-warming friendships and direct character growth, leading the audience to understand that the protagonist never ends where they start. But in “Earwig and the Witch,” there is none of that. Erica, or “Earwig,” does not change through the course of the film, and several undeveloped plot points leave the film hanging at the end. Even the negative characters have no redeemable characteristics, a trait of Ghibli films that resonates with the central message of growth. Everything is set in stone, and at the same time nothing feels consistent. There is no pacing, and the storytelling is what ultimately doomed “Earwig and the Witch” to failure.
There is one more Ghibli film set to be directed by Hayao Miyazaki. On July 14, 2023,“How Do You Live?” will be released. Inspired but not directly adapted from the novel of the same name by author Genzaburo Yoshino, the film is described as grand and fantastical. Hopefully, “How Do You Live?” will give audiences a return to what makes Studio Ghibli so special, and allow fans a chance to escape into a world of magic and wonder for one last time.
