Creative GenerationInternal Only

Reviewed and published by trentmaziarz, March 21, 2026. Discovered and drafted by our automated research pipeline.

Studio Ghibli does not use AI tools at any stage of making its animated films. The studio still draws everything by hand, and director Hayao Miyazaki insists on doing whatever can be done manually. While Ghibli helped create a free animation software called OpenToonz — which later received AI add-ons made by a third party — there is no evidence Ghibli itself uses those AI features.

Details

Ghibli's cinematographer Atsushi Okui, speaking during press for The Boy and the Heron (2023), confirmed that hand-drawing remains the studio's core production method. Ghibli co-developed OpenToonz with tech company Dwango in 2016 and released it as free, open-source software for the animation community. Third-party developers later added machine learning plugins to OpenToonz, but no reporting confirms Ghibli adopted them internally. Ghibli's only fully computer-generated film, Earwig and the Witch (2020), used standard 3D graphics software, not AI generation tools.

Products affected

All Studio Ghibli animated feature films

Sources & Evidence

News Article

The Boy and the Heron Cinematographer Atsushi Okui on Analog vs. Digital Animation and 30 Years with Hayao Miyazaki

The Film Stage·Dec 2023

https://thefilmstage.com/the-boy-and-the-heron-cinematographer-atsushi-okui-on-analog-vs-digital-animation-and-30-years-with-hayao-miyazaki/

Company Disclosure

OpenToonz Official Site

OpenToonz·Mar 2016

https://opentoonz.github.io/e/

Cite this record

Trace Foundation. (2026). Studio Ghibli: Studio Ghibli does not use AI tools at any stage of making its animated films. The studio still draws everything by hand, and director Hayao Miyazaki insists on doing whatever can be done manually. While Ghibli helped create a free animation software called OpenToonz — which later received AI add-ons made by a third party — there is no evidence Ghibli itself uses those AI features (data as of 2026-03-21) [Data set record]. AI Trace. https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/aff07a88-5739-48fd-a387-a9827502f333. Accessed October 12, 2026.

Stable link: https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/aff07a88-5739-48fd-a387-a9827502f333
Data as of: March 21, 2026
Last verified: March 24, 2026

How to cite AI Trace

Other practices by Studio Ghibli

OtherIn October 2025, a Japanese trade group called CODA — whose members include Studio Ghibli and its parent company Nippon TV — formally demanded that OpenAI stop using Japanese creative content to train its AI video generator, Sora 2. The letter said CODA had confirmed that Sora 2 was producing videos that closely resembled Japanese content, and argued this was only possible if that content had been used as training data without permission. This was a collective industry action, not a standalone Ghibli initiative.Creative GenIn 2016, Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki publicly rejected AI-generated animation after watching a demonstration of a machine learning program that made a 3D human figure move in disturbing, zombie-like ways. He called what he saw an insult to life and said he would never incorporate such technology into his own work. The moment was filmed for an NHK documentary and resurfaced widely during the 2025 AI art debate.

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