History Main / GhibliHills

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* ''Minetest'''s various map generators can create beautiful landscapes ([[{{Mordor}} and their opposite]]), especially when certain plant or world mods are in play, and there are many, many screenshots with this kind of SceneryPorn on the official forum. On public servers (or in local worlds if you're busy enough), you may have entire cities directly adjacent.

* Naboo in ''Franchise/StarWars Episodes [[Film/ThePhantomMenace I]] and [[Film/AttackOfTheClones II]]'' has huge tracts of forest, swamp and grassland. Only one major city (Theed) is ever seen on-screen. (Well, there's the Gungan City of Otoh Gunga, but since it's underwater it doesn't make an impact on the scenery.) The climactic battle between the Droid Army and the Gungans takes place on the grassy plain outside Theed.

* ''Anime/ChildrenWhoChaseLostVoices'' presents the land of Agatha in its entirety as [[SceneryPorn a sprawling picturesque landscape]] of lush green hills, open plains, and idyllic windswept valleys.
* ''Manga/WitchHatAtelier'''s art style and world-building is literally just composed entirely ''out'' of Ghibli Hills. [[SugarWiki/AwesomeArt Awesome Art]] is an ''understatement'' when it comes to this manga, as the panel art blends the Ghibli Hills into Scenery Porn on another level. There is a saying that reading Witch Hat Atelier is akin to reading a Studio Ghibli film. They are ''not'' exaggerating.
* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': Like most anime with RPG roots, the series' universe has a literal overworld, with the characters heading through Ghibli Hills frequently. The show's cities and towns are separated from each other by miles and miles of lush, pristine wilderness, with rolling meadows, dense forests, and rugged mountains with a day or two's walk of even the busiest, most built-up cities, seemingly crossed only by occasional dirt paths. This is particularly evident in the series' movies, where a greater animation budget allow the lush natural landscapes to be rendered in particular detail. Of course, all this wilderness is also home to all sorts of Pokémon, meaning that potentially large and dangerous creatures can be found roaming around quite close to major settlements.
* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'': The future seems to be a bright city surrounded by nothing but green.
* The anime adaptation of ''Literature/KinosJourney'' has some lovely scenery between cities.
* Used more darkly in ''Anime/PomPoko''. The {{tanuki}} ([[DubSpeciesChange raccoons in the English dub]]) start out living happily in the Tama Hills west of Tokyo until the city starts encroaching on their territory. Soon the tanuki are forced to use their legendary powers of illusion in an increasingly desperate struggle to protect their forests, even going so far as to [[{{Masquerade}} reveal their fantastical existence]] in a final plea for the environment. In the end [[spoiler: the defeated tanuki combine their powers for one last nostalgic illusion depicting their forests as they once were to show the humans what had been lost]]. Ironically, the next Studio Ghibli film, ''Anime/WhisperOfTheHeart'' is set in the very same Tama New Town suburb created by this development.
* In ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', anywhere in Japan that isn't Nerima is presented as Ghibli-esque landscape (until Ranma and co. finish trashing it, that is).
* It seems that all of Japan is scenic mountains and valleys in ''Manga/{{Mushishi}}'', which seems to draw other influences from Miyazaki as well. This is largely justified, as it is set in the past, much of Japan IS mountains, and mushi live in all sorts of locations.
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Luffy's hometown of Dawn Island has Ghibli Hills between Windmill Village and the depressingly disgusting garbage city Grey Terminal, which itself lies just outside the nobles' city. It's here that the mountain bandits thrive and Luffy spends most of his time with Ace and Sabo.

* ''Manga/NonNonBiyori'' seems to relish in this. The girls' daily adventures take them through mountains, lush meadows, picturesque paddy fields, babbling brooks and rivers, and rustling forests. Heck, even their schoolhouse has views to die for in every direction!

* ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'': In contrast to the urbanized surroundings of the main building, the mountain where the Class 3-E building is located is an isolated outdoor paradise filled with all sorts of wildlife.

* Mufasa's kingdom in ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' is like a Ghibli Savanna, which [[{{Shadowland}} later becomes]] {{Mordor}} once [[FisherKing Scar takes over the throne]].
* The future city in ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'' is surrounded by lush green hills under blue skies, with the Robinsons' house atop one of the hills. In the BadFuture controlled by Doris, [[{{Shadowland}} the city]] becomes an over-industrialized CrapsackWorld.
%%* "The Rite of Spring" in ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}''.
%%* Even more so, the "Firebird Suite" in ''WesternAnimation/Fantasia2000''.

* Naboo in ''Franchise/StarWars Episodes [[Film/ThePhantomMenace I]] and [[Film/AttackOfTheClones II]]'' has huge tracts of forest, swamp and grassland. Only one major city (Theed) is ever seen on-screen. (Well, there's the Gungan City of Otoh Gunga, but since it's underwater it doesn't make an impact on the scenery.) The climactic battle between the Droid Army and the Gungans takes place on the grassy plain outside Theed.

* Lovingly described in Terry Pratchett's ''Literature/TheWeeFreeMen.'' In this, they're actual hills.
* In the works of Creator/ArthurMachen, nature is home to dark secrets and hidden horrors, such as the [[FairFolk Little People]] and the ''[[Literature/TheGreatGodPan Great God Pan]]''.
* Creator/GeneStrattonPorter wrote several books set in the Limberlost Swamp, near where she grew up. ''Literature/TheSongOfTheCardinal'' opens with exalting descriptions of the Limberlost's lushness and fertility with its birds, flowers, berries for the birds to eat, and beasts. ''{{Literature/Freckles}}'' also features it, less centrally, once Freckles gets through FaceYourFears, and ''A Girl of the Limberlost''. It does, however, feature poisonous snakes that can be quite dangerous.
* In Creator/JaneAusten's ''Literature/LoveAndFreindship'', her home.
-->''When I had reached my eighteenth Year, I was recalled by my Parents to my paternal roof in Wales. Our mansion was situated in one of the most romantic parts of the Vale of Uske.''
* In the fourteenth-century work "The Outlaw's Song", he praises the forest because he can live there outside the reach of falsehood and injustice.
* In Creator/JohnMilton's ''Literature/ParadiseLost'', Eden is on a hilltop, surrounded by this.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/{{Catseye|1961}}'', Troy finds living in the Wild, even on limited supplies, a wonderful time.
* ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'': Natodik is made up of these, surrounding Mizzamir's shining white tower carved from diamond. The land used to be a harsh desert, but Mizzamir's magic transformed it into an idyllic paradise overflowing with greenery and life. To the villains, having to journey here is the equivalent of walking through Mordor.

* Footage originally shot for the first pilot of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', and recycled in the two-part episode "The Menagerie", suggests that many of Trek-era Earth's cities are surrounded by 50-mile-wide parkland zones. They later went with this idea in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and subsequent series. Given fast, cheap, scalable air transport (not to mention teleportation for more urgent trips), the presumption is that suburbs disappeared.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroDawnOfTheDragon'': The Valley of Avalar is a beautiful, secluded land of lush green meadows dotted with groves of trees and fields of colorful flowers and crossed by a rushing whitewater river, all just outside the cheetahs' village.
* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'': As Amaterasu purifies Nippon of the evil influence corrupting it, the areas erupt in flowers and trees to form pristine, gorgeous landscapes.
* ''VideoGame/TerraNil'': After a successful session, the broken, sterile waste that the game starts as is turned into a lush patchwork of grasslands, flowered fields, wetlands and forests.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fez}}'' is pretty much this trope in game form.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' has the forest of Ronfaure as San d'Oria's easiest outside area. However, it also has the barren wasteland of Gustaberg and the savanna of Sarutabaruta for Bastok and Windurst, respectively. As San d'Oria is in some ways the most typical RPG setting, the Ronfaure = Ghibli Hills scenario still works.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' features Tchita Uplands and Cerobi Steppe, which are relatively untamed despite being just outside the bustling imperial capital of Archades and the port of Balfonheim, and also full of relatively high-level monsters.
* Justified in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles'', where humans are literally incapable of developing outside of a set boundary due to miasma.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''
** Mulgore and Nagrand sure fit (although Nagrand is [[FloatingContinent considerably weirder]] than most examples of this trope).
** The Emerald Dream is the physical representation of what ''the entire world'' would have been like had the sentient races never existed.
** Howling Fjord and Grizzly Hills, Borean Tundra and Sholazar Basin in Northrend could also fit. The two former and two latter adjacent zones are on either side of the continent and have been left mostly untouched, separated by Icecrown to the north and Dragonblight in the south.
** The Dragonshrine areas of the Dragonblight are special cases. They are small pockets of areas sacred to the different Dragonflights and under their protection from the wasteland that covers most of the Dragonblight.
*** The Emerald Dragonshrine is protected by Alystros and Ysera of the Green Dragonflight and remains a pristine Eden-like garden.
*** The Ruby Dragonshrine was under the protection of Dahlia Suntouch. Her murder has left the Ruby Dragonshire open to assault by the Scourge, although it is still strongly defended by the Ruby Dragonflight and still retains much of its sylvan environment.
*** The Bronze Dragonshrine is under serious assault by the Infinite Dragonflight. It's uncertain if the desert-like environment is its natural state or a result of the constant attacks.
*** The Obsidian Dragonshrine is a charred and smouldering cave, which is probably just fine with the Black Dragonflight, although it has been invaded by members of the Cult of the Damned who are using it as a base for raising undead dragons.
*** The Azure Dragonshrine has been entirely [[strike:corrupted]] repurposed by Malygos and the Blue Dragonflight and used as a focus for Malygos' plans to siphon the magic from Azeroth.
** Many zones in Pandaria could qualify for this such as Jade Forest or Valley of the Four Winds.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' featured expansive rural and unpopulated areas in stark contrast to the series' dense urban mainstay (though it has that too).
* This turns out to be [[spoiler:the true form of the Midnight Channel]] in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}''.

* The FirstTown in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'' is a subversion of this. The village of Murky Waters appears later than halfway through the game. Though ominously named, it's [[{{Arcadia}} the most peaceful place in the game]], filled with beautiful rolling hills, pleasant people who actually respect and appreciate witchers, and light, optional action. [[spoiler: Of course, like everywhere else, Geralt leaves it in ruins.]]
* Most outdoor areas in ''VideoGame/BoundByBlades'' is set amidst serene hills, rivers, and beautiful natural scenery, allowing you a break exploring for resources in-between fighting monsters.
* ''[[VideoGame/BackyardSports Backyard Football 2006]]'' has a forest stage, uninhabited by humans, that is right next to the city.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', quite frequently. Consider, for example, the Ilex Forest which is just a stone's throw from the metropolis Goldenrod City.
%%zce* Gensokyo, the setting of ''Franchise/TouhouProject'', is this.

* Videogame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic deserves a medal for this. Fan favourite seems to be Alderaan, but even Tatooine's endless sand dunes and Corellia's ruined cityscape have this feel to them.

* Numerous games from the ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'' feature this trope as well In ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' practically the whole Kingdom of Windor consists of Ghibli Hills, with only a few sizeable settlements and cities interrupting this perfect idyll.
* Justified in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' where [[RandomEncounters Monster Attacks]] aren't just a gameplay element.
* The main setting of ''VideoGame/TheNightOfTheRabbit'', Mousewood, is a version of this populated by {{Funny Animal}}s.
* ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini'' has a [[SingleBiomePlanet planet-wide]] example with Rith Essa. The game's instruction manual explains in detail how lush and beautiful the scenery on this planet is.

* The ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'' [[GameMod ROM Hack]] ''VideoGame/{{Unearthed}}'' seems to take place in a more rural setting than the game it's based on, at least when it's not taking place underground. There's still modern houses and roads and such, but generally there's much more focus on natural forests, and Mitch himself seems to live on a farm, or at least near a place where cultivating fruits and vegetables are common.

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' features a large forest in the game's final territory. While random encounters can happen there, the area is mostly meant for hunting, as the game's most valuable and dangerous animals spawn only in this area. It's located within a few minutes of horse riding from Blackwater, the most advanced town in the game. (The game takes place from 1911 and 1914)
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' is essentially "Ghibli Hills: The Game," especially in the Great Plateau, West and East Necluda and Akkala regions.
* ''Minetest'''s various map generators can create beautiful landscapes ([[{{Mordor}} and their opposite]]), especially when certain plant or world mods are in play, and there are many, many screenshots with this kind of SceneryPorn on the official forum. On public servers (or in local worlds if you're busy enough), you may have entire cities directly adjacent.
* ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheAzranLegacy'': Hoogland is a breezy hilly locale visited in Chapter 4, and is geographically based on the former Transvaal region of South Africa. It's an idyllic town built upon the hills of a grassy mountain where the soon-to-be wives in weddings are offered to a "Dragonlord" as sacrifices, lest them make him angry and cause strong whirlwinds that can potentially destroy the town and the ones living in it. Layton and his friends aim to prevent the sacrifice of a bride they met (Romilda, who is Julien's girlfriend) by finding out the true source of the whirlwinds. After an extensive research, it's revealed that the whirlwinds are produced by [[spoiler:a malfunction of Azran machinery]].

* In ''Webcomic/{{Erstwhile}}'', [[http://www.erstwhiletales.com/snow-white-and-rose-red-02/#.UQNWevJeCPQ Snow White and Rose Red live by one.]] They can frolick with the animals and even sleep safely at night.
* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', Gillitie Wood, a forest full of magical creatures, is just across the river from the eponymous institution, a sprawling urban-industrial complex.
* The prologue to ''Webcomic/TheStoryOfAnima'' ends with [[http://tapastic.com/episode/53737 the heroes taking a break in a vast flower field]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'': for a world controlled for hundreds of years by an evil wizard that supposedly sucked the earth dry of resources, there seems to be an unbelievable amount of unspoiled wilderness between the huge futuristic cities.

* ''Anime/ChildrenWhoChaseLostVoices'' presents the land of Agatha in its entirety as [[SceneryPorn a sprawling picturesque landscape]] of lush green hills, open plains, and idyllic valleys.

** Justified in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' where [[RandomEncounters Monster Attacks]] aren't just a gameplay element.

* Mufasa's kingdom in ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' is like a Ghibli Savanna, which [[{{Shadowland}} later becomes]] {{Mordor}} once [[{{FisherKing}} Scar takes over the throne]].

%%* "The Rite of Spring" in WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}.
%%* Even more so, the "Firebird Suite" in WesternAnimation/Fantasia2000.

* Gensokyo, the setting of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'', is this.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''{{Webcomic/Gunnerkrigg Court}}'', Gillitie Wood, a forest full of magical creatures, is just across the river from the eponymous institution, a sprawling urban-industrial complex.

This trope's {{Shadowland}} would be {{Mordor}} or a PollutedWasteland... or perhaps a CityPlanet.

* Creator/CartoonSaloon's [[ThematicSeries Irish Folklore Trilogy]] movies all feature this to some degree (and the studio's filmmakers have mentioned being influenced by Ghibli's works):

* '''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower''': The towns in the Southlands are shown to be surrounded by lush vegetation and forested mountains.