Studio Ghibli Themes & Styles?

[Tintrasena]

I need to do some primary research for my film project.

I;m discussing whether or not Miyazaki is an auteur and his 'signatures' and themes you always usually find in his films.

I've already identified a few such as feminism and environmentalism.

The main three films I'm using for my study are Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro and Howl's Moving Castle. I picked them specifically because they're from different decades and can show a progression of his style.

Thank you to anyone who is wiling to answer this. I'd appreciate your opinions and view points :)

[Yora]

I believe something that shows up a lot is that things are not as clear as they seem and you need to start thinking outside the categories you are used to.

[DigoDragon]

A lot of the perspectives of the world are shown from the viewpoint of children.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

A lot of the perspectives of the world are shown from the viewpoint of children.
Related: there are frequently pastoral motifs found in the films, even in Howl's Moving Castle and Porco Rosso. (Though I remember them less clearly in Porco Rosso.)

Not just environmentalism, but an awe and respect of nature.

[Broken Crown]

Related to Yora's point: Most conflicts in Miyazaki's films dispense with the protagonist/antagonist model. More often, all sides in a conflict are presented in at least a somewhat sympathetic light, with understandable and reasonable reasons for doing and believing what they do. Conflict arises when they are unable to or refuse to consider the other side's viewpoint, not because one side is right and the other is wrong. Conflicts are resolved when each side can see the other's viewpoint, and a mutually satisfactory compromise can be reached.

Flight is a major recurring theme. It usually is tied to a break from the status quo, and therefore often accompanies the resolution of a conflict.

Beauty and magic can be found just as much in the everyday as in the extraordinary.

[AtlanteanTroll]

Feminism and environmentalism cannot be themes, as they are but single words that don't emphasize a point. "The importance of feminism" or "views on environmentalism in a changing and increasingly technological world." Those are themes.

Anyway, you should also look at Miyazaki's obsession with flight, not that the films you're analyzing are the strongest for that. If it's not too late, I'd switch out Howl's, maybe even Totoro. Spirited Away is Miyazaki's triumph, and really gets at the feminist and, to some degree, environmental aspects, but it has very little to do with flight.

I'd suggest adding in The Wind Rises as a replacement to Howl's. It touches on the prior two points in addition to flight as well pacifism, which is hugely important as well. You could also switch Totoro for Castle in the Sky, which is really more indicative of his themes anyway.

Plus, with Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, and The Wind Rises, you have an even better timeline. Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away are both early 2000's, but now you've got Miyazaki's first Ghibli film, the one that he came out of retirement for, and the one he's (probably) ending on. Plus, Howl's Moving Castle is but an adaptation of a novel, albeit a good one.

[Durkoala]

I haven't watched any Studio Ghibli (I know, I know. I've started the manga of Nausicaa, though), but it should be kept in mind that Howl's Moving castle is an adaption of a book (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Howls-Moving-Castle-Diana-Wynne/dp/0007299265) so there may be some of the orignal author's themes mixed in.

[Soras Teva Gee]

Purely for symmetry I would suggest Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind as Miyazaki's first original venture then the The Wind Rises as his last. You definitely need Nausicaa because stuff it does shows up again and again you ask me. Then you would need at least two in the middle while also touching on his full body of work. Its almost criminal to try and convey Miyazaki in just three films because he has at least two basic stories.

Or do something a little off beat like take his actual first film Castle of Caligostro compared to actual Lupin III films of the era.

[Terraoblivion]

You might want to specify Miyazaki movies and not just Ghibli. The two don't have a complete overlap as Ghibli has also made movies such as Grave of the Fireflies, The Cat's Return, My Neighbors the Yamadas and Tales from Earthsea that he didn't work on. That kind of inaccuracy in attribution can get you in a lot of trouble in an academic context and casts doubts on the quality of the rest of your research.

Also, outside the anime fandom the name Hayao Miyazaki carries a lot more weight than Studio Ghibli, so it'll be better for catching your audience and cuing them in on what you're doing.

As for his themes...From what little I've seen he has a clear streak of nostalgia and a sense of melancholy at the way the old gives way to the new, even when he sometimes recognizes that the new has a place and a purpose. It's tied to his environmentalism, but it's not just that. Princess Mononoke especially grieves for the cultures pushed aside by the expansion of the empire.

I'd also like to second the pacifism that AtlanteanTroll touched on. It's an important topic in several of his films as well as something he often brings up in interviews. He's even been trying to use his name and celebrity as one Japan's most famous and influential directors to try to convince the public to block attempts at removing the prohibition of aggressive warfare and use of military troops overseas in the Japanese constitution.