Diana Farah

DUBAI: Appetizing dishes, delicious cooking scenes and tempting foods are a distinctive trait in many Studio Ghibli animated films.

Last week, the Japanese animation studio explained what it was exactly that made the foods in their films look so delectable. Studio Ghibli posted a tweet saying: “The rice that appears in Ghibli works always looks delicious, why? It’s all because Hayao Miyazaki has actually cooked his own dishes.”

Q:ジブリ作品に登場するご飯はいつも美味しそうですが、なぜですか？ 鈴木:すべて宮さんが実際に自分で作ったことのある料理ばかりだからです。

— スタジオジブリ STUDIO GHIBLI (@JP_GHIBLI) April 2, 2021

Co-founder of the studio, Hayao Miyazaki has cooked all the dishes featured in the animations himself, whether it be the herring pie, cakes, ramen or the honey milk.

In 2017, Studio Ghibli curated an exhibition celebrating its animated foods, calling it “Delicious! Animated Memorable Meals!” which focused on how the meal animations evoked feelings of joy and happiness.

The exhibit’s website said: “Achieving dramatic effect and creating delicious-looking meals and characters enjoying them – their expressions and gestures – comes from the power of finely detailed drawing. Food that is still warm, that looks soft and tender, with the wonderful flavor showing on the faces of those eating them – these scenes of meals are appealing and charming. No dialogue is needed to convey deliciousness and happiness.”

Fans from all over the world love the cooking scenes so much that many have turned them into ASMR videos or use them when they need to relax.