There are few traditions that tread the line between spiritualism and hyper-consumerism quite like Christmas. Flash sales, family gatherings, and friendly reunions are squeezed into the packed holiday season. The tension between those two models is often found at the heart of Hayao Miyazaki’s work at Studio Ghibli, exploring ideas with charming characters, emotional connections, and fantastical settings.
Though not set at Christmas, the studio’s catalogue of animated movies manage to package a variety of themes such as coming of age, tradition versus change, and community into whimsical adventures that share similar sentiments with those typically associated with the holiday spirit – making them perfect companions for cozy Christmas viewing. With that in mind, here are a few of the studio’s best to watch with chocolate for breakfast and a warm drink while basking in the glow of the Christmas tree.
In this coming of age story, 13-year-old Kiki has to spend a year away from home honing her skills as a witch. After arriving at Koriko City, Kiki establishes a delivery service with a local baker in exchange for basic amenities. She delivers items to customers via her enchanted broom and quickly buries herself in her work. It bears resemblance to the kind of rite of passage many people face during their lives, be it moving away from home to study at university or for a career – where the initial excitement makes way for a rude awakening from the workload waiting.
However, her enthusiasm is infectious, even if Kiki’s only friend is her cat Jiji. As she becomes absorbed in her work, her relationship with Jiji becomes distant. She also spurns the advances of a local boy, Tombo, an avid aviation fan who admires her ability to fly, choosing instead to devote her time to her delivery service. Sacrificing a healthy work-life balance is a common trapping of being career-driven. Yet, one of the most rewarding aspects of the holiday season is that it grants an ever-shrinking opportunity to take a step back from work, to return home, be with friends and family, and to embrace those connections.
Keep an eye out for the scene in which Kiki attempts to deliver a pie from a Grandma to her Granddaughter. It encapsulates a contemporary problem with gratitude and manages to provide a commentary on class in the same breath. Overworking at Christmas can cause relationships to suffer – bonds between friends become frayed and new ones are absent. Kiki’s Delivery Service provides perspective on that which matters most in life – which is often found closest at Christmas.
In Spirited Away, Chihiro, unlike Kiki, is trapped in the middle of a reluctant move away from home with her parents. They happen across an apparent shortcut through an eerily deserted theme park which, as it turns out, is actually a bathhouse in the spirit world run by the witch Yubaba. (This should spring warning signs for anyone considering visiting the Ghibli theme park opening in 2022). Chihiro’s parents are lured into devouring copious amounts of food (think Christmas dinner leftovers and then some), inflicting a curse that turns them into pigs. Yubaba curses Chihiro, renames her ‘Sen,’ and traps her – forcing Chihiro to reclaim her true identity to escape. Transported from the contemporary world to the spiritual bathhouse which resembles a more traditional Japan, Miyazaki crafts a world that critiques modern consumerist sensibilities.
Spirited Away endorses balance, over outright condemnation – appreciating modernity but warning about how emotional connections can be eroded. What makes Spirited Away such a comforting watch during Christmas times is the familial core of the film. Chihiro’s pure and relentless drive to find her parents and save them owes to their emotional connection, as much as their familial bond. If she is to overcome the curse and free her parents, she must be successful in getting a job at the bathhouse.
Each frame in the bathhouse is meticulously crafted, featuring inhabitants acting independently in the background, yet it’s the movie’s quieter moments that resonate most. Miyazaki called these moments “ma” or “emptiness,” where the action subsides and people are simply existing. These are often the most rewarding moments at Christmas, when the opportunity to reflect arises among the ravenous eating and excitement for gifts.
Following a familiar pattern to the previous two movies, My Neighbor Totoro begins in upheaval. While Spirited Away depicts the ‘Nuclear Family’, My Neighbor Totoro offers a different perspective. Sisters Satsuki and Mei are moving home with their father Tatsuo in order to be closer to their mother who is separated from them, confined to a hospital with an illness. Though the reason for their move is bleak, the film is perhaps the most appropriate Studio Ghibli Christmas companion film. The innocence embodied by Satsuki and Mei feels reminiscent of the particular kind of joy children usually experience at Christmas, particularly as they encounter the spirit Totoro and giant cat-bus. With an enchanting soundtrack and fantastical story, My Neighbor Totoro manages to capture the kind of childhood wonder which helps to bring the best out of Christmas.
Upon their arrival, the siblings discover their new home to be in a state of disrepair, but this only serves to brighten their mood. They almost see it as an opportunity for more hijinks. Entering the back of the house they encounter a pack of tiny critters, who recently made an appearance in Stardew Valley, known as dust spirits. Yet again they confront a situation inquisitively, like children prodding at presents, rather than fearfully. Their exuberance permeates throughout the film, and though there is an absence of an outright malevolence in the film, there’s a feeling that losing the purity of their innocence is perhaps the greater tragedy. Watching at Christmas, it feels fitting too in relation to the myth of Santa Claus, where learning the revelatory truth changes Christmas permanently. The siblings are destined to grow up where losing their wide-eyed wonder is unavoidable, likely changing how they interact with Totoro and the cat-bus.
Studio Ghibli’s movies offer warmth at the time of year when it’s needed most. Though Christmas is a time where families and friends often come together and celebrate, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes they’re separated by an unhealthy workload like Kiki’s Delivery Service, a relationship breakdown in Spirited Away, or indeed through illness in My Neighbor Totoro. These Ghibli films are both a tonic to the troubled feelings that can occur during the holidays, and a supplement that lifts spirits, making them perfect for Christmas holiday viewing.
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