Can Hayao Miyazaki Save Disney's Soul?

IronicGrin writes "Even hard-core House of Mouse apologists have to admit that Disney's Feature Animation division has lost its way. After a half decade of pathetic failures (Atlantis) and epic disasters (Treasure Planet), the company shut its fabled Orlando 2D animation studios last year and announced that it was jumping on the computer animation bandwagon. A big motivation for the move to CGI was, of course, the Magic Kingdom's tenuous relationship with Pixar--the source of all of Disney's recent animated hits. But Disney is overlooking a better example of just what its toon team has been doing wrong...right under its nose. Howl's Moving Castle, which opened this weekend to rapturous critical acclaim, is the third masterpiece from Japan's Studio Ghibli that Disney has released theatrically. Today's New York Times has a feature by A.O. Scott [reg required, blah blah] calling Miyazaki the "world's greatest living animated-filmmaker"; meanwhile, last Thursday, I wrote a column for SFGate.com on why Disney animation, 3D rendered or not, is doomed to irrelevance if it fails to (re)learn some basic lessons from Miyazaki and his cohorts at Ghibli. What do you think? Is Disney destined to fade to black, or can a little Ghibli flavor (mmm....Ghibli) get it back on track?"

Comments

I'll go for...

[Realistic_Dragon]

...no.

Any company that can justify stealing from the public domain with no intention to return anything to it has clearly not only drawn up a contract with satan but has also disputed the subclauses, delivered the first two goats, renegotiated paragraph three and taken the whole legal department on a field trip to hell to learn new techniques.

If Walt were still alive...

[TheCamper]

If Walt Disney were alive today, and saw what was happening to his company, he'd be rolling over in his grave!

Wait a minute...

Re:"Howl's Moving Castle" ruined with dubbing

[hey!]

Rumor is, Miyazaki even sent them a genuine katana with a note to that effect attached to drive the point home.

I can't imagine what such a note would say that would drive the point home, unless it went something like this:

Dear Disney Executive,

Please accept this fine example of the Japanese swordsmith's art. Take care, for it is extremely sharp, although it is strong enough, I am told, to cut through a chain link fence or even a steel security gate as if it were so much tissue paper.

You'll be interested to hear have presented a similar gift to hundreds of our most ... enthusiastic American fans.

Coincidentally, did you know that next year's Anime Connoisseurs of America convention is to be held in Orlando? I thought you would might find that interesting. Perhaps you might consider attending and explaing to these enthusiastic yet highly reasonable people your artistic treatment of my films?

In any case, I continue to regard your organization with such warmth, my friends I confess are starting to express concern.

Wishing you all the long life and success you deserve,

-H.M.