A new Guinness World Record for collecting Studio Ghibli merchandise has been set by a passionate fan.
Eloise Von Velvet has amassed an enormous collection of 1,304 statues, music boxes, CDs, DVDs, toys and other types of memorabilia from movies like My Neighbor Totoro, Howling's Movie Castle, Spirited Away, Ponyo, Kiki's Delivery Service, Grave of Fireflies and Princess Mononoke. According to Guinness, she officially has the largest Studio Ghibli collection in the world. While her collection is already quite impressive, Velvet doesn't have any plans of slowing down. "I will never stop collecting. It's my passion, it's my life," she said. "I want a really, really, really big Totoro plush."
Velvet explained how her desire to own as much Studio Ghibli merchandise as possible began in 2007 after she received three Howl's Moving Castle action figures from her sister for her birthday. However, her love for these movies and stories bloomed after seeing Princess Mononoke for the first time when she was only six years old. "This movie was a little too dark for me at the time, but I fell in love with its magnificent landscapes, its beautiful soundtrack and its strong female characters," Velvet stated.
Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki and Isao Takahata; the studio's first feature film, Castle in the Sky (known as Tenkū no Shiro: Laputa in Japan) released one year later in 1986. Since then, Studio Ghibli has gone on to become one of the most beloved and influential animation studios in the world, achieving several impressive milestones in the entertainment industry. Princess Mononoke was the first-ever animated film to win the Japan Academy Prize for Picture of the Year, and five of the studio's movies have been nominated for Academy Awards; Spirited Away remains the only anime film to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
After the release of The Wind Rises in 2013, Miyazaki announced his retirement. However, he returned to work in 2016 and is currently directing the upcoming film, How Do You Live?, based on the 1937 novel of the same name by Yoshino Genzaburō. Moreover, an English translation of Miyazaki's classic graphic novel, Shuna's Journey, will be released on Nov. 1.
Many of Studio Ghibli's classic films like Spirited Away, The Wind Rises, Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke are currently available to stream on HBO Max.
Source: UPI