Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985 in Tokyo by the three men, Isao Takahata, Toshio Suzuki and the well-known film producer Hayao Miyazaki. The name Studio Ghibli was based on the Arabic name for "hot sahara wind" because the founders wanted Studio Ghibli to blow new wind through the anime industry. Before Miyazaki worked for Ghibli he had already directed a few films like Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro and Future Boy Conan. The first original movie directed by Miyazaki was Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind in 1984. Some people argue that it's not a real Ghibli production because the movie was released a year earlier than the official formation of Studio Ghibli. The official first Ghibli movie was Laputa: Castle in the Sky.

At this time anime was looked down upon in the film industry and Miyazaki a now influential and respected director was also not highly regarded at this time. Anime wasn't mainstream like it is nowadays in Japan, therefore the number of theaters showing the movies as well as viewers were also limited. The breakthrough for Studio Ghibli was in 1989 with the Movie Kiki's Delivery Service, this was mainly thanks to advertisements on tv. After this Miyazaki and producer Suzuki continued to make many more hits after Kiki.

The movie that made Studio Ghibli grow into an international brand for anime was Princess Mononoke in 1997. Many people have argued about the reasons behind Studio Ghibli's success. 3 Important reasons could be the casting of popular celebrities as voice actors. Active promotions through media and especially on TV and also music composed by great composers. Thanks to Nippon TV anime was no longer looked down upon and appreciated by a diverse audience. A lot of people who were actually not into anime would still love Studio Ghibli. Just like Disney movies, Ghibli's movies have become classics, not only are the movies high quality but they also have influenced the anime industry and the way people feel about anime.

After Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was badly edited for release in the United States under the name Warriors of the Wind (1986), Miyazaki did not allow his films to be released in the West for many years. In 1996, however, a deal was reached to allow Walt Disney Studios to distribute Studio Ghibli's movies, with the caveat that no film editing was to take place. The following year Studio Ghibli issued Miyazaki's blockbuster hit Mononoke-hime (Princess Mononoke). The studio's best-known movie, Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001; Spirited Away), won several awards, notably the Golden Bear at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival and the 2003 Academy Award for best animated feature.

In 2014 Studio Ghibli's general manager, Toshio Suzuki, announced on Japanese television that the studio will officially shut down and use its scaled back human resources to manage trademarks tied to its existing back catalogue of films and cease making new ones. This did not end up happening, they temporarily halted production following the retirement of director Hayao Miyazaki. Earwig and the Witch, the studio's first 3D movie, was released in 2020 and directed by Miyazaki's son Gorō Miyazaki. In 2017 Hayao Miyazaki announced that he would be coming out of retirement to direct How Do You Live which is slated for release in 2023.