Sydney will get a dose of the beautiful whimsy of Japan’s Studio Ghibli this summer, when the Art Gallery of NSW presents a festival of the legendary animation studio’s beloved films.

The program ties in with the fascinating Japan Supernatural exhibition. Studio Ghibli films Spirited Away (2001), Pom Poko (1994) and My Neighbor Totoro (1988) bring to life the alternate realities and otherworldly creatures depicted in the art show.

The AGNSW’s curator of film Ruby Arrowsmith-Todd tells Broadsheet the movies and the Japan Supernatural exhibition are both heavy in * yokai*: the supernatural creatures of Japanese folklore.

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“A lot of belief in shapeshifters and monsters stems from Shinto religion,” she says. “The exhibition and Studio Ghibli films are both steeped in yokai law – spirit realms, mischievous shapeshifters and goblins.”

The 1994 film Pom Poko is a great example. “The director, [Isao Takahata], was influenced by the 18th-century handscroll Night Procession of the One Hundred Demons, which shows goblins, demons and shapeshifters,” says Arrowsmith-Todd, adding that the five-metre scroll by artist Toriyama Sekien is one of 180 works depicting the country’s folkloric traditions on display at the exhibition.

In the film, a family of tanuki (racoon dogs) find their habitat threatened by suburban sprawl. They start to play tricks on the local town, climaxing in a ghostly parade that mirrors the handscroll tradition.

Another one of the artists on show is superstar Takashi Murakami, who told Broadsheet that manifestations of the ethereal and other-worldly are prevalent across Japanese folklore, literature, theatre and art. “During the Edo period, organised religion was not very present and then Christianity was banned. Rather than being drawn to god, people were really scared of the power of nature, because Japan was always bombarded with natural disasters – from earthquakes and heavy rains to tsunamis and typhoons.”

Arrowsmith-Todd says Spirited Away, which will screen during the festival, is a good all-ages introduction to yokai and the exhibition, because it presents a series of the mythical creatures. Like other Studio Ghibli films, it was directly influenced by Shinto folklore, and follows a young girl travelling through a supernatural realm.

The storied anime studio was founded in 1985 by respected director Hayao Miyzaki, Isao Takahata and Toshio Suzuki. Its films are among the highest-grossing anime films in Japanese history, and five have been nominated for Academy Awards.

Also running in conjunction with Japan Supernatural is free film series Dark Arts, which Arrowsmith-Todd says explores folklore traditions from around the world. She says a highlight of the program is Daughters of the Dust (1991), a film set on an island off the coast of Georgia, USA, that follows descendants of West African slaves and inspired Beyonce’s visual album Lemonade. Other films include B-movie classic Carnival of Souls (1962) and British horror film Don’t Look Now (1973).

The Studio Ghibli summer festival is on from January 11 until February 8. Dark Arts is free and screening until December 15, and again from January 8 to February 2. Both are on at the Art Gallery of NSW’s Domain Theatre.