A studio famous for reverence toward nature and pacifist themes named itself after a hot Saharan wind and an Italian World War II scouting plane, the Caproni Ca.309, because aviation-obsessed founder Hayao Miyazaki wanted to blow a new wind into a stagnant anime industry. This deep dive treats Studio Ghibli as a living organism, from its founding on June 15, 1985 by Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and producer Toshio Suzuki with backing from Tokuma Shoten, through the formative trauma of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind being cut by 22 minutes, renamed Warriors of the Wind and marketed with characters who did not exist in the film, which produced the studio's ironclad no-edits policy.

The episode explains the unlikely Disney distribution deal that honored that rule while adapting posters and titles, using Spirited Away as a case study, along with ...