[Inspiration] Lilo & Stitch and Studio Ghibli Backgrounds

As said earlier in the Blog about my backgrounds, I have found a new love for backgrounds, and with this new love comes new inspirations! Though I am influenced by different people, I aspire to be as good as or if not better than the artists who did the background art for Lilo and Stitch, and the Studio Ghibli Films. If you have ever watched Lilo and Stitch or any Studio Ghibli films, then you'll know my reasoning why. They have the most beautiful backgrounds I have ever seen in an animated film, breathtaking if you will. Though they are made using paint and water colours instead of digital methods which is what I use, they are still something I want to work at, though perhaps something in the future.

The film Lilo and Stitch uses water colours to make some of the most beautiful backgrounds I have ever seen and are among the best that Disney has ever created. It captures the beauty, lush and charm of an Hawaiian Island with its beautifully created landscapes and use of colour, truly a work of art. Though lots of earlier Disney films use painted backgrounds such as The Jungle book and the Lion King, Lilo and Stitch has the best painted backgrounds and is possibly the last traditional film to have such breathtaking backgrounds in Disney animations. Even when they aren't on the Hawaiian island and are on the Spaceship during the opening scene the backgrounds are still really detailed, though it doesn't compare to the scene after the ship where Lilo is running through the Hawaiian forest to reach her class, showing off the landscape on the Hawaiian island.

"Looking at the lush pan background, it's hard to imagine it as the background for alien induced bombings and explosions! (The only giveaways are the yellow pieces of house timber and the pink chunk of corrugated tin roofing in the midst of the greenery.) Also notice, on the right side, the power of the explosion blows the trees and flowers to the left (the direction in which the characters are propelled). Where Lilo finally lands (in front of the corrugated tin) looks calm. It's a very clever fusion of story line into the background art - one of the best examples I've ever seen." - Richards, R. (2008). LILO AND STITCH: Pan Background. Available: http://animationbackgrounds.blogspot.co.uk

Studio Ghibli's backgrounds are very unique, you can tell it is created by Studio Ghibli. Its incredibly beautiful and by far one of the best examples of beautiful landscape in an animation. The artist known as Kazuo Oga was the one who painted most of the backgrounds by Studio Ghibli's most successful animation, Ponyo. 

Oga is one of the most influential men in the background business, truly a man to look up too. His backgrounds in the Studio Ghibli animations are some of the most recognizable backgrounds ever and have often been mistaken for Photographs, though he has worked on lots of Ghibli animations such as My Neighbour Totoro, and Spirited Away, Ponyo will always be my favourite animation he did the backgrounds for. The backgrounds art used is beautifully rendered, especially the scenes after the flooding, one of my favourite scenes in animation is Ponyo and Sosuke riding the boat looking at the scenery under the water.

“Kazuo Oga is one of those inconspicuously famous men. His work has been distributed globally, yet if the average citizen were asked who he is they probably wouldn’t know him. If you phrase the question a little differently and ask if they know My Neighbor Totoro or Spirited Away, a look of recognition would instantly cross their face. “Oh yeah, I know those,” they would say. And the next response would be, “He was the one who drew the backgrounds.”" - Lee, M. (2007). Kazuo Oga – The Man Who Drew Totoro’s Forest.Available: http://www.tokyoartbeat.com

"Backgrounds are a subtle thing. Without them, films would not have the same desired effect." this is possibly the best quote I have heard, and I agree completely with what it states. Backgrounds aren't the main thing in the film, and are often overlooked, but sometimes a backgrounds can make an animation a breathtaking animation, one day I hope I will be able to make background art as beautiful as these, I will have to practice with watercolours one day soon.