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Kotaku/NewsCafe report that Studio Ghibli might stop making films
- Thread starter GavinUK86
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Aquamarine
Member
I don't know if Disney would want them if their films aren't making back their production budget. I presume if Disney took control they'd start outsourcing and shaking things up to make things profitable again...which might not end up as a good thing for the integrity of the studio.
Studio Ghibli is a relic of the old age of Anime...It's extraordinarily sad to see them go, but it makes sense to end it with the veteran directors retiring for good. It's almost...cathartic, I guess.
Marnie, Tales from Earthsea and The Cat Returns are actually pretty much the only Ghibli movies that didn't have anything to do with Miyazaki or Takahata. Miyazaki provided the script and screenplay for instance for Arrietty and Poppy Hill and for Whisper of the Heart he also directed the fantasy scenes.I was only mentioning more recent ones, but they have made good non-Miyazaki movies in the past.
Besides, as i said, even the movies i don't like that much, are still worth watching for me.
Even Howl's Moving Castle, which i hate!
I don't really know what my point is but anyway, just wanted to point out that there aren't many non-Takahata/Miyazaki Ghibli movies.
Bjoern the Smexy
Member
This is what I thought, too.
EdwardTeach
Member
It would be a shame if true, and commercially foolish as it is easily the best known studio.
pants
Member
No, fuck off.
We should make a kickstarter and give them "X" amount for every film! I'm sure they'd get more than enough!
It's a real shame, some of my favourite films are Ghibli and I think they are easily the best animation studio in the world today. Surprising that things weren't put into place for successors to take over when the big three retire..
I watched that documentary The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness last night and it was really really good. Definitely worth checking out. Miyazaki is such a cool dude.
It's a real shame, some of my favourite films are Ghibli and I think they are easily the best animation studio in the world today. Surprising that things weren't put into place for successors to take over when the big three retire..
I watched that documentary The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness last night and it was really really good. Definitely worth checking out. Miyazaki is such a cool dude.
Marnie, Tales from Earthsea and The Cat Returns are actually pretty much the only Ghibli movies that didn't have anything to do with Miyazaki or Takahata. Miyazaki provided the script and screenplay for instance for Arrietty and Poppy Hill and for Whisper of the Heart he also directed the fantasy scenes.
I don't really know what my point is but anyway, just wanted to point out that there aren't many non-Takahata/Miyazaki Ghibli movies.
Pretty sure Umi ga Kikoeru had nothing to do with them too since it was iirc the first work to be done by the future of Ghibli, and those people would go on to leave Ghibli too to do their own things I think.
That's easier said than done. They have tried numerous mentoring programs and stuff like that but they've all failed. Like Miyazaki has said, being a great director doesn't make him a great teacher.
Miyazaki and Takahata are both directors who want to control every aspect of the movie production and they don't work any other way. That's why new talent hasn't naturally come up.
Lol I mean besides Yonebayashi. He's just one guy, can't they field more than one talented person? Admittedly I haven't seen Tales from Earthsea or Poppy Hill, but it kind of seems Goro was sort of forced into the fold and doesn't really have it in him.
Lynd7
Member
Arrietty and Poppy Hill were both very enjoyable. I can't wait to see Marnie.
They should allow Pixar to remake Totoro to get some cash.
Or, an actual co-pro between Ghibli and Pixar. It could be interesting, Ghibli director/story animated by Pixar? Or two directors from each working with Pixar's CG talents.
They should allow Pixar to remake Totoro to get some cash.
Or, an actual co-pro between Ghibli and Pixar. It could be interesting, Ghibli director/story animated by Pixar? Or two directors from each working with Pixar's CG talents.
Yes. Lets just kill their beautiful hand drawn animation, yes.
Unless they completely changed their film-making sensibilities this theoretical Pixar movie will bomb so hard.
I don't think it would do all that well here in the states. The story is too passive to grab the American audience. I imagine it would do better in Europe, but one of Ghibli's hallmarks is the hand drawn animation.
NaDannMaGoGo
Member
Man that would be just sad to see happen.
Some months ago someone here on NeoGAF recommended me some of the Ghibli movies that are more grounded in reality after I mentioned disliking how I sometimes can't get invested into too loosely defined fantasy settings.
So after having watched Colorful, Only Yesterday, Ocean Waves and Whisper of the Heart by now, I'm just kinda sad to see that this kind of really quite mature storytelling may lose a big player.
If you compare the storytelling in s.th. like Frozen to these movies... like there's just nothing meaningful there.
Some months ago someone here on NeoGAF recommended me some of the Ghibli movies that are more grounded in reality after I mentioned disliking how I sometimes can't get invested into too loosely defined fantasy settings.
So after having watched Colorful, Only Yesterday, Ocean Waves and Whisper of the Heart by now, I'm just kinda sad to see that this kind of really quite mature storytelling may lose a big player.
If you compare the storytelling in s.th. like Frozen to these movies... like there's just nothing meaningful there.
Totoro (or any Ghibli film, for that matter) would never survive Pixar's 'brain trust'.
Lynd7
Member
I wasn't saying they should align with Pixar for good. Merely that if they are under financial strain, maybe something like a co-pro would be good as a one off to possibly raise their status and name further in the west along with an injection of money.
I'd rather that than the Studio dying.
I'd rather that than the Studio dying.
I doubt the problem is financial. Key people are aging and there isn't anybody to take over.
JordanN
Banned
I don't like the look of disney hand drawn films too much. It's too clean, made to look like cels, while Ghibli tries to make it look more like it's on celluloid. 24fps would be nice though. I hate the part in Porco where he's circling over Gina and it looks like a slideshow.
Well Pixar/Disney do have the tech to imitate hand drawn into CG...
Is there a video of this? I'd be curious to see what this looks like in motion. That being said its nothing new. Just look at the Knights of Sidonia thread.
MikeHattsu
Member
JordanN
Banned
Paperman
The Dam Keeper
Bonus:Stylizing Animation By Example
I also wouldn't call Knights of Sidonia the same thing. That's just CG with some clever toon shading. Or at least, less sophisticated than the examples posted above.
One is Disney short called Paperman and it's on youtube. It's actually pretty good, given that it does not resemble hand drawn animantion, at least to me.
What a gruesome death that would be.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
WTF
I can't. No, come on Ghibli, pull through!
I can't. No, come on Ghibli, pull through!
Femmeworth
Banned
Guess we should expect to see some new studio spring up from their workforce.
Did The Wind Rises really under-perform? According to the wiki:
Budget: $30 million
Box office : $134,965,832
Looks like they made their budget back a few times over just from the theatrical run.
Watching the Ghibli documentary though it really sounded that they couldn't make movies they wanted to make as easily moving forward. Even on The Wind Rises various companies were trying to dictate what they could and couldn't include in the movie.
Suzuki and Miyazaki then mentioned that the age of creative freedom was coming to an end and what was built for decades was crumbling.
Budget: $30 million
Box office : $134,965,832
Looks like they made their budget back a few times over just from the theatrical run.
Watching the Ghibli documentary though it really sounded that they couldn't make movies they wanted to make as easily moving forward. Even on The Wind Rises various companies were trying to dictate what they could and couldn't include in the movie.
Suzuki and Miyazaki then mentioned that the age of creative freedom was coming to an end and what was built for decades was crumbling.
No, it's Kaguya-hime, and by all indications, Memories of Marnie that bombed.
Oh, that is very sad to hear.
Wind Rises underperformed, no way around it. It most certainly made it's production + marketing budget back but $112M in Japan for Miyazaki film is disappointment. That's B-tier Ghibli results.
Edit. Also, I have hard time believing Wind Rises had only $30M production budget.
Edit2. Box office mojo has Wind Rises at $117M and that's world wide.
Edit. Also, I have hard time believing Wind Rises had only $30M production budget.
Edit2. Box office mojo has Wind Rises at $117M and that's world wide.
Skiptastic
Member
So awesome. I lived in Mitaka when I was studying abroad, so I got to visit the Ghibli Museum. Good times...When we were walking from the train station (I didn't realize they had a catbus themed bus there), I saw this sign and was just filled with so much joy.
If that's true then they should close and Takahata and Yonebayashi should never have been allowed to make films. Its the 18th highest all time grossing film in Japan, 6th if you only count Japanese films. Yes, five of those are Miyazaki but none of those targeted an adult audiences. It's honestly miraculous that it made that much.ЯAW;122140336 said:
ЯAW;122140336 said:
Ponyo cost $34M and Howl cost $24M so that seems about right for Wind Rises.
Agreed, I too was surprised when I read it was the highest grossing movie in Japan for 2013 considering how serious it was and the subject matter.
Maybe they would have made more money with Ponyo 2 (which is what Miyazaki wanted to make before Suzuki convinced him to make Wind Rises) but I'm glad he ended his career on something like Wind Rises instead.
Honestly it seems like people like Yonebayashi and Goro were only allowed to make films as stop gaps to keep the animators busy. Since no real successor has emerged that commands the popularity of Miyazaki, there's no real point in continuing with the Ghibli brand. It's only going to be devalued.
Losing Hosoda was tragic for studio.
Sidewinder
Member
The world will be a darker place without the shining beacon that Studio Ghibli is ;(
No, I do think there was a honest effort being made to bring up Yonebayashi and Goro as the future for the studio. Suzuki and I think Miyazaki too had announced a five-year plan back around the time Ponyo came out that was all about fostering new talent while retiring the veterans.
Goro ended up being a poor choice as a director, but even ignoring that, I think the problem was that it was just too little too late. Suzuki had spoken frankly a year or two ago about the studio's financial troubles and how there was a very real likelihood they would shift from filmmaking to just managing copyrights and brands. Kaguya and apparently Marnie bombing was the final nail in the coffin, but the fact is, there had been a coffin in the first place for a while now.
I don't think anyone expected Kaguya-hime to do well. Takahata's films aren't really set up to be big box office successes. It does seem like it probably bombed worse than expected though if it just made $22m or so. Marnie just came out this weekend.. maybe it'll have some legs to it.
Regarding The Wind Rises, the BOM foreign total is as of 9/22/13. There are quite a few numbers not included in that count. Based on the figures in their chart, the foreign would be $130,010,753 + $5,209,580 in the US. Total number of $135,220,333.
Tom Nook
Member
At least their still around...
Wtf am I reading?
Takahata is money drain.
Jex
Member
Why, to fire everyone like they've fired all their 2D animators?
Anyway, this unfortunate fate for Ghibli only came out because of the choices made by the heads of the Studio. They doomed themselves.
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