Even after being produced by Studio Ghibli, the Oscar-nominated film The Red Turtle is not referred to as a Ghibli film. Why is that so? Studio Ghibli didn’t produce a single animated film during the time of 2014’s When Marnie Was There and 2020’s Earwig and the Witch. However, during this time gap, the studio wasn’t completely inactive as well.
The studio worked on numerous things such as documentaries, exhibits, short films, art books, and most interesting had the time to co-produce the Oscar-nominated 2016 animated film The Red Turtle. This was the final work Isao Takahata did before his passing in 2018. However, this work isn’t a part of Ghibli’s collection on either HBO Max or Netflix.
Prima Linea Productions in France is responsible for the animation of this film which is directed and co-written by a Dutch animator who had been previously recognized for the Academy Award-winning short film Father and Daughter, Michael Dudok de Wit. The Red Turtle is not solely the production of Studio Ghibli but Wild Bunch AG, a German film production company is also responsible for Ghibli’s distribution in France.
