

We made it clear that we would curate and design this show, but take Studio Ghibli’s input and ideas into consideration, and it was really respectful of our concepts. How did the Academy Museum’s collaboration with Studio Ghibli play out when it came to curating the exhibition? Jing Culture and Commerce spoke to Niebel about the curatorial process behind Hayao Miyazaki and how the exhibition’s immersive elements aim to capture his cinematic language. These kinds of moments also happened in all of his other films, where everything slows down, the perspective changes, and his protagonist gets to take a break.” “For example, the Sky View experience was inspired by the opening scene in Kiki’s Delivery Service when she’s laying on the grass looking at the sky. “We recreated situations inspired by specific film moments that represent a generic idea,” Niebel explains. While the immersive installations reference Miyazaki’s films, they are not 100 percent replicas.

Miyazaki’s whimsical universe has also been brought to life in immersive exhibits like the Sky View, designed to recreate perspective changes in Miyazaki films, a Spirited Away-inspired portal, and an installation based on Magical Forest’s Mother Tree. Image: Joshua White, JWPictures / ©Academy Museum Foundation This collaboration with the Academy Museum, then, represents a long-brewing and singular event, offering visitors the rare opportunity to see more than 300 original objects from Studio Ghibli’s private archives, and visit rooms exploring Miyazaki’s early career and creative process. Since 1985, Miyazaki, under the banner of the company he co-founded, Studio Ghibli, has produced films including Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Castle in The Sky that have captured audiences with tales equally surreal, escapist, and hopeful.įor a company with an exacting house style, Studio Ghibli, says Jessica Niebel, the Academy Museum’s Exhibitions Curator, “has never let another institution organize a show about them.” Instead, the studio usually stages its own exhibitions throughout Asia and Europe. Amongst its inaugural offerings is Hayao Miyazaki, the first exhibition in North America to spotlight the famed Japanese animator. In September, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, billed as America’s leading museum dedicated to film, duly opened in Los Angeles.
