Ghost in the Shell (1995 film)

Director Mamoru Oshii in 2008

Mamoru Oshii originally wanted to direct Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade after he finished Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993). He proposed the project to Bandai Visual but was asked to direct an adaptation of Masamune Shirow's 1989 manga, Ghost in the Shell, instead. Oshii would later get to work on Jin-Roh, but only as a writer.[15] Oshii stated, "My intuition told me that this story about a futuristic world carried an immediate message for our present world. I am also interested in computers through my own personal experience with them. I had the same feeling about Patlabor and I thought it would be interesting to make a film that took place in the near future. There are only a few movies, even out of Hollywood, which clearly portray the influence and power of computers. I thought this theme would be more effectively conveyed through animation."[16] Oshii expanded on these thoughts in a later interview, noting that technology changes people and had become a part of the culture of Japan. He commented that his use of philosophy caused producers to become frustrated because of sparing use of action scenes. Oshii also acknowledged that a movie with more action would sell better, but he continued to make these movies anyway.[17] When Oshii went back to make changes to the original Ghost in the Shell to re-release it as Ghost in the Shell 2.0, one of the reasons he gave was that the film did not resemble the sequel, and that he wanted to update the film to reflect changes in perspective.[18]

Hiroyuki Okiura, the character designer and key animation supervisor, designed Motoko to be more mature and serious than Masamune Shirow's original portrayal of the character in the manga. Okiura chose to depict a physically mature person to match Motoko's mental age, instead of her youthful twenty-something appearance in the manga.[16] Motoko's demeanor lacks the comedic facial expressions and rebellious nature depicted in the manga, instead taking on a more wistful and contemplative personality.[19] Oshii based the setting for Ghost in the Shell on Hong Kong, commenting that his first thought to find an image of the future setting was an Asian city, but finding a suitable cityscape of the future would be impossible, and so he chose to use the real streets of Hong Kong as his model.[20] He also said that Hong Kong was the perfect subject and theme for the film with its countless signs and the cacophony of sounds.[16] The film's mecha designer Takeuchi Atsushi noted that while the film does not have a chosen setting, it is obviously based on Hong Kong because the city represented the theme of the film, the old and the new which exist in a strange relationship in an age of an information deluge. Before shooting the film, the artists drew sketches that emphasized Hong Kong's chaotic, confusing and overwhelming aspects.[20]

Ghost in the Shell used a novel process called "digitally generated animation" (DGA), which is a combination of cel animation, computer graphics (CG), and audio that is entered as digital data. In 1995, DGA was thought to be the future of animation, as it allowed traditional animation to be combined with computer graphics and digital cel work with visual displays. Editing was performed on an AVID system of Avid Technology, which was chosen because it was more versatile and less limiting than other methods and worked with the different types of media in a single environment.[16] The digital cel work included both original illustrations, compositions and manipulation with traditional cel animation to create a sense of depth and evoke emotion and feelings. Filters like a lens effect were used to create a sense of depth and motion by distorting the front background and making the far background out of focus throughout shots. Ghost in the Shell used a unique lighting system in which light and darkness were integrated into the cels with attention to light and shadow sources instead of using contrast to control the light. Art director Hiromasa Ogura described this as "a very unusual lighting technique".[16]

Some special effects, like Motoko's "thermo-optical camouflage", were rendered through the use of TIMA software. The process uses a single illustration and manipulates the image as necessary to produce distortions for effect in combination with a background without altering the original illustration. The effect is re-added back into the shot to complete the scene. While the visual displays used in the film were technically simple to create, the appearance of the displays underwent numerous revisions by the production team to best represent visual displays of the future. Another aspect of the CG use was to create images and effects that looked as if they were "perceived by the brain" and were generated in video and added to the film in its final stages.[16] The opening credits of the film were produced by the CG director, Seichi Tanaka. Tanaka converted code in a computer language displayed in romanized Japanese letters to numbers before inserting them into the computer to generate the credits. The origin of this code is the names of the film's staff as written in a computer language.[16] Animation director Mizuho Nishikubo was responsible for the realism and strove for accurate depictions of movement and effects. The pursuit of realism included the staff conducting firearms research at a facility in Guam. Nishikubo has highlighted the tank scene as an example of the movie's realism, noting that bullets create sparks when hitting metal, but do not spark when a bullet strikes stone.[16]

Ghost in the Shell's recording was done with a high-end studio to achieve superior sound throughout the film. A spatializer was used to alter the sound, specifically in the electronic brain conversations, to modify the voices.[16] Composer Kenji Kawai scored the film. For the main theme, Kawai tried to imagine the setting and convey the essence of that world in the music. He used classical Japanese in the opening theme "Making of a Cyborg".[16] The composition is a mixture of Bulgarian harmony[21][22] and traditional Japanese notes; the haunting chorals are a wedding song sung to dispel all evil influences. Symphony conductor Sarah Penicka-Smith notes that the song's lyrics are fitting for the union between Kusanagi and Project 2501 at the climax of the movie.[23] Kawai originally wanted to use Bulgarian folk music singers, but used Japanese folk singers instead.[21] "See You Everyday" is different from the rest of the soundtrack, being a pop song sung in Cantonese by Fang Ka Wing.[24]

The ending credits theme of the film's English version is "One Minute Warning" by Passengers, a collaboration between U2 and Brian Eno. The song appeared on the album Original Soundtracks 1, and was one of three songs on that album to actually be featured in a film.[25][26] Andy Frain, the founder of Manga Entertainment and an executive producer on the film, was a former marketing director for Island Records, the record label that publishes U2's songs.[4]

In Japan, the film was released on VHS on 26 April 1996.[29] The DVD version was released on 25 February 2004 as a Special Edition release, in which the film was fully restored and digitally remastered from the original film elements in both original fullscreen form and in letterboxed widescreen form, and the audio was digitally remixed in English and Japanese.[30] Ghost in the Shell was released on Blu-ray on 24 August 2007.[31]

In the United States, the film was released on VHS on 18 June 1996 through Manga Entertainment, and on DVD on 31 March 1998 by PolyGram Video.[32][33] Like the much later Japanese "Special Edition", the DVD is a fully restored and digitally remastered cut with multiple language tracks, but unlike the Japanese release, it includes a 30-minute documentary on the making of the film.[34] Another special edition DVD was released in the United States by Manga Entertainment on January 11, 2005.[35] The special edition contains an additional disc containing character dossiers, a creator biography, the director's biography, and Ghost in the Shell trailers and previews.[36] Manga Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray on 24 November 2009; this version contains the original film and the remastering, but omits the audio commentary and face-to-face interview with Oshii, which are listed on its box.[37][38] Manga Entertainment and Anchor Bay Entertainment re-released the film on Blu-ray with a brand new HD film print on 23 September 2014.[39] The release was met with criticism for its poorly-translated English subtitles and lack of special features.[40] In August 1996, Ghost in the Shell became the first Japanese film to top the Billboard video sales chart, with over 200,000 VHS copies sold.[41] By 2002, the film's home video releases sold more than 1.6 million units worldwide,[42] including over 100,000 units in Japan and more than 1 million units in the United States.[43] At a retail price of $19.95,[44] the film grossed approximately $32 million in video sales revenue. In 2017, the Blu-ray release sold 26,487 copies and grossed $675,002 in the United States,[45] bringing the film's total worldwide video sales to 1.63 million units and approximately $33 million gross revenue. The film was the first anime video to reach Billboard's No. 1 video slot at the time of its release.[46] The film ranked as the ninth top selling anime DVD movie in North America in 2006.[47] The film was re-released on UHD 4K Blu-ray by Lions gate on 8 September 2020.[48]

Kenji Kawai's original soundtrack for the film was released on 22 November 1995.[24] The last track included Yoshimasa Mizuno's pop song "See You Everyday".[49] After the release of Ghost in the Shell 2.0, an updated version of the soundtrack was released on 17 December 2008.[50] A Photo-CD of the film was released in Japan on 20 November 1995.[51] A spin-off novel written by Endo Akira, titled Ghost in the Shell: Burning City (攻殻機動隊灼熱の都市, Kōkaku kidōtai shakunetsu no toshi), was published by Kodansha and released in November 1995.[52] It was followed by a sequel, titled Ghost in the Shell 2: Star Seed (攻殻機動隊2: Star Seed), released in January 1998.[53] A book titled Analysis of Ghost in the Shell was released on 25 September 1997, by Kodansha.[54]

An updated version of the original film, titled Ghost in the Shell 2.0 (GHOST IN THE SHELL／攻殻機動隊 2.0, Gōsuto in za sheru / Kōkaku kidōtai 2.0), was made in celebration for the release of The Sky Crawlers in 2008.[55][56] The Ghost in the Shell 2.0 release combines original footage with updated animations, created using new digital film and animation technologies such as 3D-CG. It includes a new opening, digital screens and holographic displays, and omits several brief scenes.[57] The original soundtrack was also re-arranged and re-recorded. Kenji Kawai remixed the Version 2.0 soundtrack in 6.1 Channel Surround. Randy Thom of Skywalker Sound reprised his role as sound designer, having worked previously on Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence.[55] In the new soundtrack, the Japanese voice dialogue was also re-recorded, with some variation from the original script to modernize the speech. Yoshiko Sakakibara replaced Iemasa Kayumi as the voice of the Puppet Master.[55] 2.0 was re-released in DVD and Blu-ray in Japan on 19 December 2008.[58][59]

The film won Best Screenplay at Yokohama Film Festival and was nominated five Annie Award categories in 24th Annie Awards: Best Animated Feature, Best Achievement in Directing (Mamoru Oshii), Best Achievement in Producing (Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, Ken Iyadomi, Ken Matsumoto, Yoshimasa Mizuo, and Shigeru Watanabe), Best Achievement in Production Design (Takashi Watabe and Hiromasa Ogura), and Best Achievement in Writing (Kazunori Itô), but all lost to Toy Story; unless, making it the most nominations for a Japanese animated film ever in Annies history, until ties with Belle in 26 years.[73]