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Whimsical supercut reveals all the Easter eggs in Studio Ghibli films

Like Pixar, Ghibli apparently loves its little in-jokes.

 

Aja Romano

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Posted on Apr 26, 2015   Updated on May 28, 2021, 11:44 pm CDT

How can you tell you’re watching a Ghibli film—especially when sometimes the homages are almost as beautiful as the Hayao Miyazaki original?

An impressive new supercut offers a solution to this quandary by showing us just how often Studio Ghibli’s films reference and include visual homages to each other.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kCfpgXgB9I

The tradition of animators inserting subtle references and jokes into films is immemorial, from Pixar movies constantly referencing other Pixar movies, to animation school Cal Arts churning out a generation of artists who insert a sneaky reference to their alma mater. Like cartoonist Al Hirschfeld’s famous “Nina,” such visual Easter eggs are a form of self-identification, and a treat for the audience member savvy enough to catch the visual.

But we had no idea Ghibli had apparently gotten in on the act. We aren’t surprised, though: The self-reference is just one more stroke of whimsical genius from one of the greatest animation studios in the world.

H/T RocketNews24 |  Screengrab via Movie Munchies/YouTube

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*First Published: Apr 26, 2015, 6:37 pm CDT