You've Been Pronouncing 'Studio Ghibli' Wrong All These Years
Here's the RIGHT way to pronounce Hayao Miyazaki's studio.
By Sukhbir Cheema — 18 Dec 2023, 11:56 AM
Is it Studio Ghibli as in Studio "Jhibli" or "Gibli"?
The debate on the pronunciation of the iconic Japanese animation studio, renowned around the world for creating anime films such as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and most recently, The Boy and the Heron, has again come to light.
Ask anyone, and they would typically pronounce Studio Ghibli with the "G" sound as in "gibli".
The actual pronunciation among the Western audience is the "J" sound as in "jhibli".
However, the actual pronunciation by Hayao Miyazaki is "Studio Jiburi"
In many interviews with the legendary animator and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, you'd notice that he pronounces the studio as "Studio Jiburi".
It's unclear if Miyazaki deliberately corrupted the pronunciation or mistook it since Ghibli isn't a Japanese word.
The term "Ghibli" originates from an Arabic word denoting "hot air blowing in from the Sahara desert"
When Miyazaki, anime director Isao Takahata, and producer Toshio Suzuki founded Studio Ghibli on 15 June 1985, they aimed to bring a breath of fresh air to Japan's anime industry.
Since Miyazaki is also a lover of aeroplanes (his father worked in the aviation industry), the animator possibly took the name from the Italian Ca.309 plane, also known as a Ghibli.
The word "Ghibli" is also printed on the plane of Porco Rosso, a character in the 1992 Japanese animated adventure-fantasy film written and directed by Miyazaki.
