What if Princess Mononoke were a GameBoy Advance game? (Pixel Art Mock-up)

In this pixel art concept-to-completion, I reimagine a scene from Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke as a Metroidvania-style GBA game! Throughout the creation of the mock-up, I share the workflow involved in creating stylistically consistent character sprites, environmental objects, and finishing elements to generate a complete pixel art scene.
#GhibliRedraw #FanArt
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0:00 Introduction
1:16 Rough Sketch
2:39 Sprite: Ashitaka
5:31 Sprite: San
6:49 Sprite: Moro
9:30 Trees: value, clusters, color
14:58 Tree Trunk
16:06 Foreground: rocks, ground, water
18:24 Backdrop
19:04 Dialogue Portraits
21:32 Sprite Animation
22:33 Dialogue Text
23:14 FINAL ARTWORK
23:47 Animation Discussion
24:40 CRT Time
25:36 VID OVER
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Check out my art here:
/ brandonjamesgreer
/ bjgpixel
► SHOP: rdbl.co/bjgpixel
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Software used: Adobe Photoshop (CS6)
Need help picking a pixel art program? Watch this: • What Program to use fo...
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Title sequence theme music by Failpositive:
www.failpositive.bandcamp.com/
/ failpositiv
Other music featured throughout this video was obtained from the KZbin Audio Library.

[@Caleb-zj9xi]

You said “if you’ve made it this far” and I was like “huh?” I hadn’t even recognized it was 25 minutes! So good!

[@polter5195]

lol same actually. I guess it's true - time flies when you're having fun.

[@thiagoeafins2734]

I just noticed because of you

[@ShadowDrakken]

wolves (and most dogs) have big chests and thinner waists in general. They're built for running, so they have massive lungs relative to their size

[@evilemu2599]

Maybe a Porco Rosso pixel art in the style of a Shoot em up would be neat

[@sm_uadib]

yes please!

[@BJGpixel]

Ooh great idea, that needs to happen at some point! :D

[@dariosilvestri473]

Another Ghibli movie that pops to my mind as a game is Spirited Away where the bathhouse would be like one of those 2000s internet games where you got points buy serving a lot of customers at the same time

[@nwut]

@@dariosilvestri473 yes

[@user-ik8vy1rg8f]

@@dariosilvestri473 Meh. Spirited Away gets done too much by fan artists. Would be more fun to see less popular stuff like Castle in the Sky.

[@moderndayjames]

I love this, really amazing art here!

[@BJGpixel]

Hey thanks so much dude! :D

[@georgebrownforgoodart]

@Brandon James Greer,Hey!So,could you do TRENDT of SCP/NAUSiCAA blend charater,please?And can you make it available for purchase in M.U.G.E.N. Capcom versus SNK 3 Files?Bye!Great job by the way.Keep up the good work!!Be nice.Peace!Just @ me.

[@harkelan]

James here :000

[@parinamais]

this was one of your best essays ever!! you bring color to our sundays!

[@sm_uadib]

i literally jumped for joy when i saw a) you uploaded b) it was princess mononoke c) its a mockup and d) its 25 minutes!

[@issimc158]

this ^

[@95mcqueen5]

Yeah! And GBA as well

[@utoherozv]

it was 25 minutes? D:

[@TocadoFoxy]

just perfect!! amazing job

[@muskito]

como eu queria fazer um jogo baseado nisso

[@DommoDommo]

Wow, this was your BEST one to date, I hope you do another Princess Mononoke one. Maybe more characters/sceneries or even a different style of the same piece. You KILLED it Brandon and I can't wait to see more!

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks so much dude, it was a lot more work than normal so I really appreciate that! It'd be fun to explore another scene with this style. Or maybe some animations with San where she's got her cool mask on and everything :D

[@CKTDanny]

Man, this is incredible! The amount of detail in the process of creating the piece really shows in the final creation but seeing the whole decision making process is really inspiring & informative! It's really cool how you go on to show how intentional all these decisions are. Everything from the colour and composition, down to the saturation, contrast, physics & techniques all have reasons behind them here. It really shows how being knowledgable can better equip you to make great results as an artist! ✨

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks so much dude, I feel like I just gained a lot of insight from your comment also! While making this I didn't quite realize the scope of what I was walking into, but given the scale and freedom that a full mock-up like this can have, I guess it was important to hold everything together with those little decisions along the way 😅 Was also a lot of fun to play with the direction/choreography of the animation once everything was in place too! :D

[@CKTDanny]

@@BJGpixel Haha that's right! That kind of content def provides a lot of value and if you make a loong vid like this again in the future, it'd be neat to see a totally diff approach with diff decisions being made at every point for a different result. Seeing how those decisions impact the results has always something that I learn from watching your videos! 😁

[@Habatus]

Sunday nights are a bit bittersweet. On the one hand, I'm painfully aware of having to go back to my uninspiring job tomorrow, on the other hand I get to enjoy videos like this. Beautiful art and animation as well as a very pleasant narration.

[@TwinTails100]

This is a very interesting study. GBA games typically employ the use of bold outlines and bright colors against low contrast backgrounds to make the characters stand out more on the system's tiny screen. Other games would constrain the proportions of the characters into a chibi look to emphasize important details like facial expressions.

[@SianaGearz]

The screen is not actually very small, it has nice legible big-ish pixels for its relatively low resolution. But the vast majority of consoles also have a very low-gamut, desaturated screen, as this was necessary to achieve high-ish luma contrast and improved brightness in reflective operation mode, as it's powered by incoming light - and yet even contrast and brightness aren't great, these are fundamentally the physical limits to how well a screen can work with front-harvested light. Games use much more vibrant colours, to somewhat compensate for the screen's muted colour reproduction. High contrast backlit screens usually pass around 1/10th of the light emitted by the backlight unit through their white pixels. If screens with such construction were modified to work with front incident light, the light would need to pass twice, and only 1/20th of the light would remain. Even if the screen was more efficient, at standard gamut, a better ratio than 1/4 cannot be achieved. And yet at a good angle, the white colour on GBA screen almost matches the light grey buttons and side trim. The luma contrast isn't terrible either, marred mostly just by the wear of the protective lens on the enclosure. Today, people usually see representations of GBA games on their screens as captured from emulators, or from Gameboy Player, or Consolizer, because it's insanely difficult to photograph or film the GBA screen, even if it looks "fine" in person - on a sunny day outdoors, under just the right angle - and these captures are equivalent to raw digital data as it's sent to the screen, not how it appears on the physical screen.

[@roboat6755]

Genuinely incredible !!! I'd love to see you do more game mockups like this!!!

[@zingiberaceae]

I've never been this early! Look forward to your videos every week :)

[@frankiglass5106]

Wow, I was quick! I've been feeling unwell lately and these videos have been helping me concentrate on something aside from my pain :)

[@leofrohwirth4392]

Hope you feel better!

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks for catching this one right away! - glad it could take your mind off, and hope you feel better real soon!

[@forgeflarion8362]

I hope you feel better!

[@issimc158]

Just when I thought it coudn't get better, homie comes through with a 25 minute special of Princess Mononoke on GBA. Your content is incredible bro, please keep it up

[@sichaelmott]

If you wrote a book on pixel art I would buy it immediately (althogh perhaps it's not the right media format). You're just on a whole other level when it comes to teaching your ways, gentle and engaging. Thank you!

[@citizenwoodward]

Really cool process video! Lots of great pixel art tips in there

[@bartbazaz]

Amazing work!! Thankyou for putting this together

[@4-kathryn]

Incredible! Thank you for walking us through your process. I haven't done sprite art in ages.. could always learn more. Thanks again.

[@MaxNovakTutorials]

This was great, love it

[@araksi7404]

such a good scene choice, amazing work! the process is so fascinating

[@PeachesHoneyBun]

perfect as always!! i've been binge watching all your videos they're so satisfying to watch

[@ugorkius]

that big tree is fantastic

[@danielkim3992]

yoooooo this is so good. Really appreciate your commentary and thought process too

[@akiraishin7141]

This was fantastic. Amazing use of color!

[@mattthebanana]

I loved this longer video! Seeing all your skill come together in this beautiful art piece is amazing!

[@alienhatz3265]

this is an amazing video, amazing effort, thank you so much

[@beejojo3443]

This was sooo educational and relaxing, everything abt this video was smooth. PHENOMENAL work. hope to see moreee

[@JohnMazz]

You're so talented, I love watching your videos. Thanks!

[@k1c2k3]

god this was absolutely incredible, thanks so much for showing us your process!

[@gargoylema]

I love your artwork and explanations throughout. Thanks for the Sunday uploads. It's definitely something I look forward to.

[@faizAliass]

Love the details you put in the artworks!

[@brandonjacksoon]

Amazing! Always so cool)) Thank you!

[@DropOfMidnightOfficial]

i really love your more analytical approach to art! like every detail you make has a purpose behind it

[@floridasurfersrule]

Cant get enough of your content! As well as being aesthetically pleasing, I have learned a TON from you. Thank you for what you do :)

[@Viremind]

Waow this was amazing to watch! Great work!

[@shoespeak]

i love how relaxing and educational you make these videos

[@SeaSerpentLevi]

Man this is super heartwarming. Wonderful work!

[@TimConceivable]

it's great seeing your process and i love how you explain your thinking behind it! a lot of videos on youtube are longer because the creator isn't very concise, but you pack so much information into every second of your videos. i would be happy to see more longer videos from you like this!

[@mukining4980]

Hey! Love the art work, little tip on the dog, I recommend drawing it so that it looks like face is from that half side angle perspective. Take the nose as the middle of the face and bring the dogs proportions out from there. The eyes and ears getting smaller as it gets closer to the side of the face turned away from the screen. This kind of perspective can go for all the dogs features. Just a little tip, hope it helps. Love the art work! Watch all your stuff, some super amazing design, line art, foliage, animation. Just got all that good stuff.

[@mesolagic]

Man this is so amazing!! I loved the little ghibli boy intro too, nice touch!

[@imgekko4142]

Excellent Video Brandon, your design thinking and creative problem solving shared through the commentary is actually really educational

[@erikmelander4233]

Such good work, keep on creating!

[@gonzalogarciaarino4209]

You work is stunning, and thanks you for sharing your work flow!!!

[@Ekpap]

This is beautiful. Thank you for putting so much effort into this!

[@nolliebags]

This is amazing, man. One of my favorites of your videos.

[@morcatna4767]

This is wonderful! Bless this channel 🙌🙏

[@veryeld]

What an awesome video! And the result is amazing...

[@zeddluv1883]

I love your work!! so glad I randomly ran into it on KZbin!! Keep up the great work!

[@MVi8]

awesome video ! the result was so pretty 😍

[@PrimitiveOs]

Seeing your creative process is both entretaining and relaxing, keep it awesome

[@Rynax-]

Your videos are a joy to watch, start to finish.

[@juhis-dev]

Absolutely stunning work and great video!

[@FusionDuoGaming]

The way you explain the logic behind your actions is phenomenal! Great video as always!

[@jakethehuman4174]

Just stumbled across your channel and I’m immediately in love! I’ve always been obsessed with pixel art especially in that game boy advance era. Thank you for creating such great content!

[@dottomun126]

beautiful work! It’s very interesting how you reinterpreted the scene so great!!!

[@Sand0ps]

One of the coolest representations i've seen. love the channel!

[@arielbgarcias]

Amazing job!! Loved so much!

[@LEROILAPIN]

This was so exciting to watch from start to finish. It’s awesome that you can make pixel art so accessible and still manage to blow me away with the final product.

[@voxpopuli9337]

That’s absolutely beautiful, great idea, great concept, thank you for this 🙏

[@Maggi1108]

The reveal of the final version was so good it gave me chills.

[@winter_metal]

Your production value is so full of chef's kiss ❤️

[@josephwellens2178]

This was a great concept for a video. I'd love to see more like it. Even some demakes of more recent games.

[@henriquesantanamonteiro]

I love this pixel art, I learned very much with this video too. And you are almost in 100k, congratulations!

[@colorandcontrast]

Oh wow!! I started out by skipping around looking for highlights and ended up just restarting to watch from the beginning because I was so sold. Learned some awesome stuff, I love the way you teach and present information. Love this scene too. The only thing I'd add is her earring sparkle when she first turns!! One of my fav moments in cinema.

[@louisgigot4547]

That was really great ! Hope to see more of this concept ! Movies into games or comic etc I bet u have lots of ideas ;D

[@dragonitesskittles6394]

This looks absolutely amazing it makes me realize how little details can add up so quickly Im looking foward to see more videos like this if they come in the future!!!

[@faus585]

I learned so much from this video! Thanks for sharing your process

[@Indianadixon]

this is incredible. you and Studson Studios need to collaborate because your video styles compliment eachother VERY well

[@samuela6271]

So cool... this was a great scene to recreate. I'll have this in my mind now for a while! thanks!

[@ahmakki]

Amazing to see my favorite pixel youtube artist make my favorite Ghibli movie ^^ !!! great job dude! you are great inspiration!

[@NoahDot]

Keep up the great work! I've learned so much from you!

[@_ratso]

One of my favorite new channels I've stumbled across. Makes me want to open up photoshop and give this a go

[@okstew]

best vid i didn’t know i wanted! would love to see more ghibli pixel art and/or ghibli-inspired original pixel art characters and environments!

[@pranavbhagwat1734]

This was gorgeous and enlightening to watch!

[@erin2150]

Great job, I love what you do and how you teach.

[@Silphwave]

Brilliant concept, art and delivery 👏

[@awizard72]

by far my favorite video youve made so far, we need more ghibli! nice work :D

[@LawrenceAaronLuther]

Love it! Thank you for your work!

[@ntu409]

damn nice artwork. An idea for your next pixel art, make a kiki's delivery service scene in the Gameboy color restrictions

[@ntu409]

@SvenDraws Haha yes and would fit the cartoony vibe of the old school GBC games

[@BJGpixel]

Thanks! I've actually done Kiki's before in the style of the original Gameboy! :D twitter.com/BJGpixel/status/1228061983062151168

[@ntu409]

@@BJGpixel that's sick dude

[@roninlogic5107]

I've literally just stumbled across this channel , so very cool

[@meowmeowmeow-7040]

Made me smile so much with how awesome and badass this is, keep going! 🖤🌙

[@Fustercluck06]

So amazing! Incredible work! ❤️

[@MrBananasoul]

Stayed for the whole thing, did not regret. Fantastic work .

[@StijnEngels]

Found a new KZbin to watch before bed! I hope you’ll keep your workflow documented, getting into pixel art seems so hard but your tips were spot on

[@dirk9787]

I love seeing your process, especially 5:14 is so helpful for me. Somehow I have the mindset "everything has to be perfect from the get-go", but in reality you start with a sketch or outline and improve upon it. I love seeing how through iterations you arrived at this awesome sprite. I'm glad I often keep my initial sketches to see the progress.

[@tisiphone535]

You were in my recommended, the GBA style is so cool and Princess Mononoke is, if not my favorite Ghibli movie, the one I can watch again and again without being bored. I was hooked to your video for the plain 25 minutes, and I strongly want the result to be a game. +1 subscriber

[@didle6]

I wish I could like this video more than once. Your pixel art is absolutely fantastic! The details you are able to squeeze out of just a few small squares is incredible. I really appreciate hearing your thought process so I can try and get better too.

[@tbaaxx3]

That was chefs kiss 🤌 you are very skilled!

[@KiraPhoenix92]

Man i freakin loved the process you took for this piece!! I really like your work Keep it up!

[@philipg6432]

This is really amazing work. It completely captures the look amd feel of a gba aesthetic while holding true to the style of the source material. Honestly blown away. I wish this was a real gba game. I'd have bought it in a heartbeat

[@Amieee]

*wow just wow! This looks beautiful, amazing work*

[@djlclopez128]

Wow this was such a neat video, it was like a mini animation pixel documentary! Awesome work!

[@peterlinfield]

This is the coolest thing I've ever seen. I was absolutely captivated by your work and process. A full game like this would be a dream come true. Awesome work!

[@_sparrowhawk]

Insane and beautiful work

[@just_colon7727]

The gnarled tree that you drew gives me Legend of Mana vibes and I love it

[@starseer8296]

This is amazing! Please do more Ghibli inspired pixel art. This channel deserves all the best!

[@AiTeee]

You areamazing. Every time you draw i was like, this int that good seing the other, wen yuo finish it my jaw drops. Nice work. Amaginz for real, con much you can tell in a little space

[@jkeyloop7772]

Excellent work as always Brandon👏👏👏

[@EnriqShockwave]

Dude this is so high quality. Love your voice over too and how youre breaking down your thought process. Really enjoyed watching this!