What Is Ghibli And Why Has It Taken The Internet By Storm?

It's a Ghibli world we are living in and OpenAI's GPT‑4o is to thank for.

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Ghibli-style images take over the timelines as humans turn to OpenAI to imagine their own Ghibli world. (X/@ivivekch)

“Changed my pfp but maybe someone will make me a better one," wrote Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI on ‘X’. Altman updated his display picture to a Ghibli-style AI image. And soon the ChatGPT users took the matters into their own hands and created their own imagined world of Ghibli. From iconic movie scenes to tragedies to childhood photos to proposals – everything under the sun is being Ghibli-fied but nobody is complaining. This new social media trend has been enabled by OpenAI’s GPT-4o model, an in-built image generation feature that lets users create stickers, signs, memes, photorealistic images, among more.

“Unlocking useful and valuable image generation with a natively multimodal model capable of precise, accurate, photorealistic outputs," OpenAI noted during the image tool’s drop.

Among the host of things that it can do, the image generator is exceptionally capable at generating and replicating the images in endearing style of Ghibli. All you have to do is take an image of your choice and prompt the generator to “Create a Studio Ghibli version of this image". Your Ghibli-style image is ready to be posted on social media.

What Is Ghibli?

We asked ChatGPT to define Ghibli for the unversed, because why not?

“Studio Ghibli is a renowned Japanese animation studio, famous for creating beautifully crafted, imaginative, and emotionally resonant films. It was founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, two influential directors in the world of animation. The studio is widely regarded for its stunning artwork, deep storytelling, and themes of nature, humanity, fantasy, and self-discovery."

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Studio Ghibli has produced masterpieces such as The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013), Spirited Away (2001), Grave of the Fireflies (1988).

Timeline Is Ghibli-fied

Picking the favourite movies or memories from their lives, humans turned to AI to create their own Ghibli world. We have looked far and wide and put together our favourites. Which one is yours?

“I don’t want any real pictures anymore. Every photograph has to be turned into a ghibli style cartoon," wrote a user on ‘X’.

Is any trend on the Internet complete without Indians partaking in it?

Tons of curious desis marched to Google to enquire about how they could generate Ghibli-style art.

Google Trends

While some were already delivering.

Sam Altman Responds To Madness

OpenAI CEO has understandably been bamboozled by the response to the new image generator has received.

“>be me

>grind for a decade trying to help make superintelligence to cure cancer or whatever

>mostly no one cares for first 7.5 years, then for 2.5 years everyone hates you for everything

>wake up one day to hundreds of messages: ‘look i made you into a twink ghibli style haha'"

Hayao Miyazaki Approved?

The 84-year-old co-founder of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, is not the biggest fan of AI-generated imagery. A report in Variety noted that Miyazaki attended an AI animation demo and was left “utterly disgusted".

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“I am utterly disgusted. If you really want to make creepy stuff you can go ahead and do it. I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all," Miyazaki was quoted as saying by Variety.

Echoing Miyazaki’s sentiments, a user on ‘X’ responded to the Ghibli madness that has flooded the timelines. “Imagine being Miyazaki, pouring decades of heart and soul into making this transcendent beautiful tender style of anime, and then seeing it get sloppified by linear algebra."

Martin Scorsese – Studio Ghibli Fan

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Leonardo DiCaprio, who has collaborated with the legendary Martin Scorsese six times in the past two decades, introduced the Shutter Island director to the charming world of Studio Ghibli.

“I was asked what films I introduced to you, but considering you’ve seen every film ever made up until 1980, it’s pretty hard to say. Other than maybe Spirited Away, Miyazaki’s films and maybe Princess Mononoke," DiCaprio told Letterboxd. Scorsese added, “It was Spirited Away that you told me to watch."

Location :
New Delhi, India, India

First Published:
March 27, 2025, 10:42 IST