Entertainment

Here’s a Powerful Tribute to Studio Ghibli’s Badass Heroines

Studio Ghibli has been a champion of strong female leads for decades, the full weight of which you can enjoy in film journalist Leigh Singer’s supercut, The Heroines of Studio Ghibli.

Their new and old films, from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind to Spirited Away to Marnie and Me are full of smart, brave, and well-developed women characters. Singer strings Hayao Miyazaki classics like Castle in the Sky together with deeper cuts like Isao Takahata’s My Neighbors the Yamadas to build a truly energizing picture of the humanity that makes these films so successful. 

Videos by VICE

Screencap from ‘The Tale of Princess Kaguya’ via

“For over 30 years, Ghibli has led the way in its focus on female stories, without sacrificing thrilling adventure, passionate drama or sophisticated humor,” she writes in the video description. According to a comment, the video’s biggest challenge was narrowing down which women to feature. “Sometimes [it’s] tricky including everything you want to, especially with something like Ghibli’s great female characters as there are so many!”

Singer published The Heroines of Studio Ghibli last year, but it recently started getting the traction it deserves on Vimeo. See why in the video below.

The Heroines of Studio Ghibli from Leigh Singer on Vimeo.

Check out more of Leigh Singer’s work on her website. Who’s your favorite woman of Studio Ghibli? Let us know on Twitter: @CreatorsProject.

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