The process of creating an animation always starts off with an idea. Inspiration for Studio Ghibli films has come from a variety of sources. From already published children stories to global societal issues, Director Hayao Miyazaki—co-founder of Studio Ghibli—has produced films from just about anything. Heavily inspired by his younger audience, Miyazaki has made it his goal to instill that same inspiration onto them.

 

Particularly at Studio Ghibli, ideas often come not just from Miyazaki, but other directors of the studio and its producer, Toshio Suzuki. The idea of a film can be very vague at the start of the process, not needing a developed story outline with all of its characters in place.

 

Overall, what is needed is a developed proposal that includes: a story outline that gives details of the main characters, the mood of the film, and which audience will it appeal to. This purpose of this proposal is to persuade sponsors to back up the production with their money to make the film. This occurs only if the producer is able to convince them that this movie, with this particular director, will make money. Meetings upon meetings are taken place in order to determine if this idea should be pursued. Once it has gained approval, a film is in the works.