Kazuo Oga (男鹿 和雄, Oga Kazuo, born 29 February 1952, in Akita Prefecture, Japan) is an art director and background artist for many Madhouse Studio and Studio Ghibli anime films, Oga worked with major directors Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, Osamu Dezaki. He also published two artbooks and directed a short animated film.

The Museum of Contemporary Art, in Tokyo, Japan sponsored an exhibition called Kazuo Oga – The Man Who Drew Totoro's Forest from July 21, 2007 through September 30, 2007. A documentary about this exhibition Oga Kazuo Exhibition: Ghibli No Eshokunin - The One Who Painted Totoro's Forest (ジブリの絵職人　男鹿和雄展　トトロの森を描いた人) was released on DVD and Blu-ray.

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My Neighbors the Yamadas (Japanese: ホーホケキョとなりの山田くん, Hepburn: Hōhokekyo Tonari no Yamada-kun) is a 1999 Japanese anime comedy film directed by Isao Takahata and released by Studio Ghibli on 17 July 1999. The film is a family comedy that is presented in a stylized comic strip style which is unusual since all the other Studio Ghibli movies are presented in the traditional anime style of Studio Ghibli. It was produced by Toshio Suzuki.

My Neighbors the Yamadas follows the daily lives of the Yamada family: Takashi and Matsuko (the father and mother), Shige (Matsuko's mother), Noboru (aged approximately 13, the son), Nonoko (aged approximately 5, the daughter), and Pochi (the family dog). It has a significantly different "feel" to it than the other Studio Ghibli films, not only because of its different style of animation, but also because it is not a contiguous plot, but rather a series of vignettes, each preceded by a title such as "Father as Role Model", "A Family Torn Apart" or "Patriarchal Supremacy Restored".

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Gauche the Cellist (セロ弾きのゴーシュ, Sero Hiki no Gōshu, also transliterated Gorsch the Cellist or Goshu the Cellist) is a short story by the Japanese author Kenji Miyazawa. It is about Gauche, a struggling small town cellist who is inspired by his interactions with anthropomorphized animals to gain insight into music. The story has been translated into English, Italian and Spanish, and was adapted into a critically acclaimed anime in 1982 by Isao Takahata. It had previously been adapted to the screen several times.

Gauche is a diligent but mediocre cellist who plays for a small town orchestra The Venus Orchestra (金星音楽団, Kinsei Ongaku Dan) and the local cinema in the early 20th century. He struggles during rehearsals and is often berated by his conductor during preparations for an upcoming performance of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony (the Pastoral Symphony). Over the course of four nights, Gauche is visited at his mill house home by talking animals as he is practicing.

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