Sunday Sweets: Studio Ghibli
June 8, 2014 John and I watched My Neighbor Totoro for the first time last week, and now I'd like to know where this movie has been all our lives. SO GOOD.
So now that I'm newly inspired by all things Miyazaki, I thought I'd round up the best Studio Ghibli cakes I could find. Even if you're like me and haven't seen all of them yet, these gorgeous cakes are still a treat on their own!
My Neighbor Totoro
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(By Sugarland)
Here's John's new favorite character: Catbus!
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(By La Vie Douce Design)
Kiki's Delivery Service
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(By Heartache Cakes)
And here's Kiki's cat, Jiji:
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(Baker unknown; anyone recognize it?)
Howl's Moving Castle
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(By Blue Note Bakery)
Princess Mononoke
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(By Tramie's Kitchen)
Ponyo
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Spirited Away
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(Submitted by Marianna C. and made by J's Sweets)
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(By SweetCelebrationsUS)
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(By Tartas Para Desear)
Check out the Soot Sprite border - and the little ones holding the 27!
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(By Cake Over Heels)
And all of them together, now!
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(By Heartache Cakes)
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Hope you enjoyed the Ghibli Goodies, everyone! Happy Sunday!
Be sure to check out our Sunday Sweets Directory if you want to see which bakers in your area have been featured here on Sweets!
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Reader Comments (53)
Cute cakes, although I never had much of an interest in those movies
OMG TOTORO!!! My favorite movie! Thank you for posting!!! *fangirl squee*
I'm with you @mindy1. Lots of talents in those cakes, though!
My sister-in-law and her husband went to the Totoro House when they visited Japan last year: http://kotaku.com/in-japan-you-can-visit-the-totoro-house-for-real-1038774854
Jen, if you like Totoro, you should definitely check out Kiki's Delivery Service (if you haven't already). It's our favorite Studio Ghibli film.
They changed the feel of the characters quite a bit for the English-dubbed version, though. We much prefer the Japanese voices with English subtitles. If you don't mind reading subtitles, give it a try.
Jen, if you like Totoro, you'll most likely love Kiki's Delivery Service (if you haven't already). It's our favorite Studio Ghibli film, and Totoro is our second-favorite.
They changed the feel of the characters quite a bit for the English-dubbed version, though. We much prefer the Japanese voices with English subtitles. If you don't mind reading subtitles, give it a try.
Makes me wish I had a dragon creature to curl up with.
Wonderful films, all the ones I've seen. As far as I can tell, far and away different (and awesomely better) than other anime!
In case anyone is curious, "Otanjoubi Omedetou" means "Happy Birthday"
If you have not gotten a chance to do so, get a copy of Porco Rosso, especially if you love old airplanes. Doubly so if you enjoy movies about a cursed WWI pilot turned bounty hunter fighting air pirates.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
I'm surprised you haven't seen them before. I don't like some of them as much, but they're all works of art..
I wasn't a fan of anime until I saw Miyazaki films. We loved My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, but Howl's Moving Castle and Pocco Rosso were good, too. After my kids watched Ponyo a bazillion times, I've officially banned it from my house when I am home and no one is allowed to say "Ponyo wants HAM!!!" ever again. The cakes are awesome, though. I'd LOVE to have the first one (I've been looking for soot sprites in my house, but apparently all I have are lazy dust bunnies).
A bit off-topic, but I've always wanted a Totoro statue suitable for use as a garden gnome replacement. Tacky, I know - but, hey: TOTOROS IN THE Garden!
Jen, these cakes made me cry. Thank you.
Oh gosh, these are fantastic! Love the teeny tiny sootsprites and Calcifer in the last one. I don't think I'd be able to eat them though, they're all far too beautiful!
Thank you so much for posting these!!! They are amazing and Hayao Miyazaki is my all time favorite director/artist/writer!!!
Gorgeous cakes based off amazing characters. And to add to your movie list, check out The Cat Returns and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind; again, both movies are amazing, and perfect to go with any Ghibli marathon!
Ever since I saw Totoro, with my teen-aged daughter, I have wanted a Catbus! Now I can have one!
Studio Ghibli movies are the BEST!! my daughter and I are obsessed with them. I love this week's post!
LOVE this. Have been following this blog for forever now. Never did I think I would see a Ghibli Sunday sweets. I collect Studio Ghibli memorabilia and am OBSESSED with the movies. This is so, so, so cool!!!
Out of all them, (I don't need no grammar!!!) I've only watched Ponyo. Still, these are amazing masterpieces- I mean cakes, and they are just...
AT LEAST WE HAVE PICTURES, THEY'RE TOO GOOD TO EAT.
I LOVE Studio Ghibli movies. I especially like the real life ones, like Whispers of the Heart, and Up On Poppy Hill. These cakes are gorgeous.
Love! These are incredible. I just made my husband promise to make all them for my next birthday :)
Interesting how everyone's favourite Miyazaki film is different. Maybe in each case it's the first one you watched, and which brought you into his world. All of them are wonderful, I think, and I wouldn't want to rank them.
But don't neglect Miyazaki's colleage Isao Takahata, who has made fewer films but each one is completely different from the others, from the heartbreakingly sad Grave of the Fireflies to the knockabout Buddhist comedy of Pom Poko. He is not so well known in the USA because Disney, which released the Ghibli films there, was shocked by some details -- testicle jokes in Pom Poko, menstruation jokes in Only Yesterday -- and withheld them. They are all available now.
Absolutely agree with Rob-n-Jen about dubbing. It poisons a film. It only takes a few minutes to adjust to reading subtitles, and after a little longer you don't even notice what you are doing.
Omg, these cakes are wonderful. I am a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. I have seen every movie. Thanks for sharing.
Love the Princess Mononoke one!
Wow, it's not as elaborate as some of the others but I am impressed that someone made a Mononoke cake. That's a hard movie to put in happy cake form!
My daughters love the Totoro movie as well as the other studio Ghibli films. I think they like the fact that the story can be about a girl going on an adventure too.
The cakes are beautiful.
You are scarily inside my head sometimes. My daughter just informed me that she doesn't want a Frozen party for her fifth birthday (she has been to four frozen parties this month for various friends). She would like, please, a Totoro party. Now she has seen these cakes on my screen and I'm doomed.
To anyone who hasn't seen any of these films or only seen one, I highly recommend watching more! My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Whisper of the Heart, Castle in the Sky, Ponyo, etc...They're all amazing in their own way. I can't even pick a favorite.
If you have already seen many of those I would recommend watching the rest or check out other Studio Ghibli (but not Miyazaki) films. One of those I really like is Grave of the Fireflies although it is very sad.
Amazing! My son Howle is named after Howl's Moving Castle! He loved the cake!
Also the Cat Returns is a great one. Porco Rosso and my personal fav Nausicaa. :)
Awww! Sad this didn't make the cut!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.192496644114898.46225.127578723940024&type=3
Ready for a whole new level of fandom? Check out the Doctor Who/Miyazaki/Calvin & Hobbes mashup t-shirt art on redbubble.com. My five boys each got a t-shirt this past christmas and they're already almost worn them threadbare. Miyazaki is our favourite as a family!
Thank you Jen for featuring my little Ponyo cake, and for doing a Studio Ghibli Sunday Sweets! As a Miyazaki film tragic and owner of a Totoro onesie, I could not be more chuffed :-D
Cheers,
Eva
Yay Studio Ghibli! I especially love Spirited Away and Nausicaa.
Completely agree that they are best in Japanese with subtitles. The dubbing doesn't do the characters justice.
Aw man, those are the BEST cakes! I love My Neighbor Totoro and I second (or third?) the recommendation to watch Nausicaa Valley of the Wind.
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/cf/7b/7d/cf7b7d44f3c3ea44220875e39e1f1a66.jpg
Awww! I just watched "Spirited Away" again this weekend! And I adore "My Neighbor Totoro"! I have a Totoro wristwatch.
Here is another treat: http://cuteoverload.com/2013/06/12/name-that-tune/#comments
There is an Etsy shop that has lots of geeky mash-ups, KHallion . My favorite so far is called "Curious Catbus". It's Alice in Wonderland meets Totoro. The Catbus is pretending to be the Cheshire Cat. :)
Thanks Jen for featuring my studio ghibli cake. Thought you'd like to know that Cake Over Heels has rebranded to The White Ombré and our new website is thewhiteombre.com. Keep up the great work! Cheers!
I love all these movies and am passing them along to my children. These cakes are amazing!!
We're huge Studio Ghibli fans, and I agree with all the other posters who urge you to watch them with subtitles. We got Kiki's Delivery Service for our daughter, such a great movie for girl empowerment and friendship, and soon found all the rest.
Totorro is a sentimental favorite, but Porco Rosso is the one I watch the most. For sheer fun, you should check out Castle Castiglieri, not the same animation, but great fun. Castle in the Sky is fabulous, but then, they all are.
The dubbing on these films is actually excellent since Disney took over the distribution in the late 90's. Princess Mononoke was the first one to get the full studio attention on translation and acting. It has the top shelf cast to prove it too. I know that they made a new version of Totoro (I had the old one on VHS) but I'm not sure if any of the other films that had a previous US release have been given similar treatment.
#8 is also a bit of a wreck.
its Otanjōbi omedetō (gozaimasu)
or Otanjoobi omedetoo
using a "u" instead of a "ō" or "oo" would change the pronunciation of the Romaji characters and make it a different word altogether.
Wow! My sister and I have been Miyazaki + CakeWrecks fans for years now! Seems like it was meant to be that you guys would become fans too! Glad Miyazaki has decided to make a few more movies too :)
I know people already mentioned these, but Laputa (Castle in the Sky) is steampunk and otherwise awesome, and Nausicaa is post-apocalyptic with lots of giant insects and hoverboards.
Oh wow! I LOVED Ponyo!
The Jiji cake was baked for my birthday by a family friend and cake guru, Lena Kang. It was adorable and delicious. I was so excited to see it appear here in this awesome group of Miyazaki cakes!
Awesome cakes :)
@MezzoDragon
I wouldn't call the use of "ou" a wreck, given that when "otanjoubi omedetou" are written using the kana characters for o, ta, n, ji, small yo, u, bi, o, me, de, to, u.
I just depends on what transliteration method you use (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanization_of_Japanese)
There's a reason my Prius is called "Chihiro" and my minivan is called the "nekobasu" (cat-bus).
This last weekend, I got to show my soon-to-be-fiancee "Spirited Away" (my favorite Miyazaki film) and "Wings of Honneamise" (my favorite non-Miyazaki anime film) for the second time each. The reason this matters is that she was so overwhelmed in both cases by the animation, matte-work and scores that she didn't have much attention to spare for things like subtle plot points and the like.
The bad news is that Miyazaki-san retired recently.