"While the films can be appreciated with no prior knowledge of Japanese art and culture, like any works of art they gain from the viewer or reader’s awareness of and response to the emotional resonances of cultural allusion in the stories, characters imagery and technique of a work." (McDonald, 2004, p. 2)
Studio Ghibli Feature Films and Japanese Artistic Tradition
Roslyn McDonald
June 2004 , Online Anime Journal (Issue 2, No. 3)