Studio Ghibli to Reorganize Anime Production Department [Update 8/8]

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Suzuki Blames Producer Nishimura for Box Office Failure of "When Marnie Was There"
"The film should have been seen more by adult audience"

http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2014/08/20-1/suzuki-blames-producer-nishimura-for-box-office-failure-of-when-marnie-was-there

Damage control time - he's making it seem like it's a marketing failure but I know it's that dinosaur's (Miyazuki) fault for insulting most of the fanbase :(

Glad to hear they'll still be around after all.

I still feel that at the end of this we'll see Hayao direct another full-length movie. Just because he can.

^ I'm so glad that reports of Ghibli's demise have proved false. That being said when the story was first making the rounds I became a tad hysterical at the prospect of significant part of my childhood going away. I even made a collage poster here of my fav Ghibli movies! Also confirmation that we'll still be getting work for Hayao has my formerly traumatised inner child even more ecstatic, good news all round.

News Update
Toshio Suzuki appeared on NHK's morning information show Asa Ichi yesterday and said that most of the reports saying Studio Ghibli going to get disbanded is not true. He is just fixing the way he runs the studio. He also mentioned that Hayao's retirement is just from producing long movies; he is still creating shorts, i.e., shorts for the Ghibli Museum.

Source: Cinema Today

Yeah... that's a borderline fanatical statement that reaches a lot further than it should go. If we are talking about purely animation and not tying it in with storytelling, then you literally cannot ignore what the west has contributed to the industry without coming across as entirely ignorant.

Osu!

News Update
Kawakami, chairman of Dwango, replied strongly to ITMedia today that the news regarding Studio Ghibli being sold to Dwango is fake.

Source: Yahoo! Japan News

KyoAni was dead when it decided to not make Little Busters. <- I actually don't know, but the company is dead to me

Also Kadokawa + Dwango? YOU ARE KIDDING ME RIGHT!? This is the mega-corporation of Anime won't it be!?

Why didnt' Disney buy them?

Not remotely. Miyazaki never even liked Disney's films (he said that Disney films are simplistic, lacking in any depth of character and show the creator's contempt for their audience). His main inspiration to become an animator were Russian and Japanese animated films he watched when he was 18 to 23. Takahata's main inspiration to become animation director was a French film.

In terms of influences over his work, Miyazaki listed two main influences: In terms of direction and storytelling, Akira Kurosawa, his first and foremost influence, in terms of drawing, Tezuka (since Tezuka has been influenced by Disney we can link the influence there but that's about as much Disney influence as there is over Strike Witches, for instance). Miyazaki graduated in economics and political science and he participated in the children's literature club at college, explaining the sociological focus of his films (for instance, in The Wind Rises Miyazaki rightly notices the difference in terms of development between Germany, Japan and Italy in the 30's, in Princess Mononoke, he focuses on social classes involved in industrial production instead of agriculture, focusing on the social and economic transformation of Muromachi period Japan) and the influence of children's literature on his focus on the spirit of childlike wonder that his films evoke.

Takahata's main influence in terms of directing and writing was Yasujiro Ozu, Mikio Naruse, French cinema and Italian neorealist films. He was heavily influenced also by French literature.

Miyazaki was puzzled when asked in interviews about naming him "Disney of Japan", because of the fact that there is nothing in common between the two (besides being involved in animation and being famous in each country). Miyazaki is an artist, a filmmaker and manga artist who made works of art that are accessible for all ages while Disney, was an entrepreneur who made a big children's entertainment corporation.



It is already a well established consensus among specialists in animation that Miyazaki is the single most influential animator of all time. Even the books about him have lines like "the greatest animator" on the cover.

In terms of influence over current anime it is extremely obvious. For instance, even stuff like Strike Witches shows huge Miyazaki influence: before Miyazaki's influence became great anime shows usually had male main characters and they weren't very moe (stuff like Macross, Akira, Gundam, etc), now modern anime has many female cute characters and is more focused on slice of life, stuff that Takahata was a pioneer in such as Jarinko Chie and Only Yesterday.

Ghibli references in modern anime are extremely common:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTNkBw2Fj7c

I can add a dozen other direct references to Ghibli films in many modern anime shows. And notice that in modern anime girls their hair goes up when they are nervous/angry/scared, that's Miyazaki influence right there. Nausicaa was the same in 1984.



It's hard to even conceive a more ignorant statement.



While it is true that Pixar's films have failed to reproduce the subtetly, virtuosity of storytelling technique and psychological complexity of Ghibli's films, it is very apparent that they tried to reproduce many elements of Ghibli's films into their own films (in fact, John Lasseter explicitly said which scenes from which Miyazaki film he copied into that and that Pixar film, that they put a Miyazaki film to become inspired and that they tried to make their films slower in order to reproduce the breathing space that Miyazaki explicitly included in his films). Miyazaki's influence goes beyond American animation and has greatly influenced American live action films as well, James Cameron, Del Toro and Spielberg have said to be been heavily influenced by Miyazaki's films.

Takahata's complex strictly mature films such as Only Yesterday have not influenced Hollywood however.

And it is not true that one can see any Disney influence in Miyazaki's films (as I said before, his main influence was Akira Kurosawa) apart from superficial similarities in drawing style (similarities that occur in French and Russian animated films as well). I do not see personally any similarity between the complex post apocalyptic science fiction epic made for young adults Nausicaa and any Disney film. Takahata film's are obviously worlds apart film Disney (Only Yesterday is not remotely similar to any animation ever made in the western hemisphere, it is very similar, however, to Ozu's films and makes a direct reference to Early Summer).

http://www.jwide.com/japannews/2014/08/sayonara-for-ghibli.html

There are a lot of discussions about this. I still don't know if they really quit making anime films.

News Update
According to Zakzak, Studio Ghibli is planning to be sold to Dwango. The company's chairman is a former employee of Studio Ghibli and, among other endeavours, Dwango currently manages Nico Nico Douga. In May, Japan Times announced that Dwango would merge with Kadokawa and the new "Kadokawa Dwango" corporation would be listed on October 1st. If the contract with Studio Ghibli is successful, the anime production section of Ghibli will go to Kadokawa.

Source: Zakzak

No, you're not late. I'm late. Thank you very much.

Saw a post on 9GAG about this yesterday, and I was crushed :/
This is sad. I haven't even watched any Studio Ghibli or Hayao Miyazaki movie, yet, too :/
Stay strong!!

So Hayao Miyazaki finally retired and left the famous Studio Ghibli, sad news. :(

http://soramono.tumblr.com/post/93385212598

So, current anime is dead, but you hope it goes in a good direction as a zombie?

As well as many live action western films were heavily influenced by Miyazaki. Indeed Miyazaki is certainly among the most influential filmmakers of all time.

I personally love several of KyoAni and Shaft works, and I think that Madoka is a monumental artistic achievement and it is my favorite anime. I also think that these studios already go beyond the standards of past animation and hence are clearly advancing the artform. I think that Shimbo and Urobuchi are very talented artists as well though not on the same league as Miyazaki and Takahata (very few are).

Nooooo. This news ruined my day.

"left the studio"