Ghiblies

Ghiblies (ギブリーズ, Giburīzu) is an 18-minute comedic short film, aired on NTV on April 8, 2000 and was accompanied with a documentary about Studio Ghibli. It was directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, a regular collaborator of Isao Takahata, and produced by Hiroyuki Watanabe. It was followed-up by "Ghiblies Episode 2".

The inspiration behind the project was late Studio Ghibli animation director and director Yoshifumi Kondô. He was the author of a short gag manga that was published in the magazine Animage. The strip centered around Nonaka-kun, an administrator at Studio Ghibli. Indeed, Shinsuke Nonaka is an actual administrators of the studio.

Overview
The film is a slice-of-Life look at the fictional goings-on at Studio Ghibli. Many of the characters are stand-ins for actual Studio Ghibli's staff.

Behind the Scenes
According to French fansite Buta Connection, the short film was inspired by the late Studio Ghibli animation director and director Yoshifumi Kondō. He had worked with Hayao Miyazaki since Ghibli's inception, eventually directing "Whisper of the Heart" (1995) but passing away shortly after "Princess Mononoke" (1997). He was the author of a gag manga composed of five boxes that was published in the magazine Animage. It centered around Nonaka-kun, one of the administrators at Studio Ghibli. Indeed, Shinsuke Nonaka is one of the administrators of the studio.

The project began sometime in 1999, part of a long-term experiment to train a new generation of animators for the studio and push the medium of animation further. The director, Yoshiyuki Momose, was one of the two directors on who worked on "My Neighbors the Yamadas" (1999). He is a seasoned animator and a regular collaborator of Isao Takahata in the storyboard and layout positions. In the 1990s, he worked for years on infographic animation techniques within Ghibli.

"Ghiblies", in a way, can be seen as an extension of the techniques that would eventually be applied to "My Neighbors the Yamadas". A sequel, "Ghiblies Episode 2" was released in theaters and shown alongside "The Cat Returns" in 2002.