Miyazaki to Retire

[thompur]

Legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement. While I don't begrudge him his right to stop animating, I am saddened by this news for selfish reasons. I will miss the exitement of anticipating a new Miyazaki film. His genius will be missed, but we have 11 great works of cinematic magic to enjoy forever. Thank you Mr. Miyazaki! Enjoy your retirement.

[Terraoblivion]

Hasn't he announced his retirement a couple of times before only to make more movies after it?

[danzibr]

Ahh that's sad. Let's hope he retires like Clint Eastwood.

[Killer Angel]

Hasn't he announced his retirement a couple of times before only to make more movies after it?

Yes, but sooner or later, it will be true.

[Karoht]

I'm not worried for three reasons.
1-John Lassetter. He's a big deal at Disney, and he's a huge Miyazaki fan. He has been hugely supportive of Studio Ghibli through Disney's partnership, so no matter what happens to the Studio, they have a great friend in a high place looking out for them.
2-Disney could potentially outright buy Studio Ghibli. Which might work out for the best. The only reason I would trust such a deal is John Lassetter.
3-Studio Ghibli is a studio of talented artists and writers. Miyazaki is a very talented person, and an excellent fellow as well, but he is one person from a studio full of talent. I have no fear whatsoever that the Studio will be just fine without him for a while.

That said, I will be sad to see him go.

[Soras Teva Gee]

@Karoht:

Umm... lol wut?

Japanese studios rely on the American market since when exactly? No seriously check his movies at the box office (http://boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?id=hayaomiyazaki.htm) and see how much of that return is "domestic" in America out of the totals.

Pixar's and the people from there's utter respect (and total wholesale copying of story methodology) for Ghibli is reasonably well known... by people aware of Ghibli at all which is a niche market in America.

Anyways Miyazaki has retired before, and eventually must. He is not a young man by any means. Ghibli will either manage to replace him and change as a studio as a result, shrink from their position as premiere animation studio, or simply shut down. Nothing to be done about that transition except see what happens and its been looming since Princess Mononoke at least. Obviously they've been trying internally to find replacements with... mixed results. Or unfortunate ones to those that know of Yoshifumi Kondo and Whisper of the Heart.

[tensai_oni]

Hayao Miyazaki might be retiring but there is always his son Goro. Tales from Earthsea was... okay, I guess. But From Up on a Poppy Hill was much better, so he obviously got good in the meantime.

[Jayngfet]

I'm not worried for three reasons.
1-John Lassetter. He's a big deal at Disney, and he's a huge Miyazaki fan. He has been hugely supportive of Studio Ghibli through Disney's partnership, so no matter what happens to the Studio, they have a great friend in a high place looking out for them.
2-Disney could potentially outright buy Studio Ghibli. Which might work out for the best. The only reason I would trust such a deal is John Lassetter.
3-Studio Ghibli is a studio of talented artists and writers. Miyazaki is a very talented person, and an excellent fellow as well, but he is one person from a studio full of talent. I have no fear whatsoever that the Studio will be just fine without him for a while.

That said, I will be sad to see him go.

I'd say buying out Ghibli is something I'm wary of BECAUSE of Lasseter's involvement. Remember, the only movies he's had an ultra direct, hands on approach to are the two Cars movies. Wikipedia says he also did Up but that seems to be it.

Personally I hope he also retires sooner rather than later. Between Miyazaki, and Keane both retiring I'm hoping that most of that generation gets out sooner rather than later. The greats may have a damn good style and some substance besides, but Animation has become something of an incestuous medium with everything becoming more and more uniform. As such, yet another major player going under the umbrella of a megacorp and influence of an older power player is exactly the opposite of what the industry needs right now. I believe Ghibli should find something new and different instead of relying on the same "image", especially now that the person who drove so much of it is gone now.

Hanzo Miyazaki's work is some of the finest ever done in the medium and the world would be a much poorer place without it, that's undeniable. However, I think it'd be best for his retirement to stick this time, or at least for him to work less directly or on smaller projects while someone else takes up the workload at Ghibli.

[thubby]

disney survive walt's death, ghibli can survive this if it's smart.

[GoblinArchmage]

His genius will be missed, but we have 11 10 great works of cinematic magic, and Kiki's Delivery Service, to enjoy forever.

I took the liberty of correcting your mistake.

I agree, though, he is an excellent film maker, and it's kind of sad to hear that he will be retiring.

[tensai_oni]

Kiki's Delivery Service

That's a funny way to spell Howl's Moving Castle.
Which is so different from the book that it's unrecognizable. And all the changes done? They're for the worse. Because Miyazaki, as great as he is, has writing cliches he likes to stick to, and if source material doesn't have them? Well, he'll just have to add them.

[Joran]

Hayao Miyazaki might be retiring but there is always his son Goro. Tales from Earthsea was... okay, I guess. But From Up on a Poppy Hill was much better, so he obviously got good in the meantime.

There's also Isao Takahata, one of the founders. Except he hasn't made a film for 14 years until this year's The Tale of Princess Kaguya. He's also not young.

[Kawaii Soldier]

NO! NOOOOOOOOOOO! DO NOT WANT!!!1!!1!!!!! D: :_(



Yes, but sooner or later, it will be true.

No it can't! He's gonna go on living forever and making great films because I want him too!!!!

[tensai_oni]

Some things happen whether you want them to or not, and no amount of allcaps or exclamation points is going to change that.

[Jayngfet]

disney survive walt's death, ghibli can survive this if it's smart.

Yes, though that was because long before he'd retired Walt had decentralized the process. Which is why instead of just remembering disney anyone outside the most causal observer will remember Disney, Iwerks, the Nine old Men, and a host of other key figures that worked with Walt even from the very earliest days and have their contributions well documented, to the point where even the official history says Walt more or less stopped actually drawing years before the first movie.

I don't know how Ghibli is organized. From what I understand the Japanese industry is more focused on top individuals than the American, so actually replacing someone may be a bit more difficult. But without a good understanding of the specics of Ghibli I don't want to commit to any major statements except to say replacing Hanzo will undoubtedly be harder than replacing Walt was.

[endoperez]

I'd say buying out Ghibli is something I'm wary of BECAUSE of Lasseter's involvement. Remember, the only movies he's had an ultra direct, hands on approach to are the two Cars movies. Wikipedia says he also did Up but that seems to be it.

That's wrong on so many levels.

Lasseter was the first Pixar animator. Who do you think they had on Toy Story? When Toy Story 2 sucked and there was only 9 months until the release date, Disney wouldn't budge on the date and they needed someone to take control and recreate it, so the guys at Pixar had Lasseter take over the production (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_Story_2#Controversy_and_troubled_production). He has been a director or producer on A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille and Wall-E. He's been involved in, well, pretty much anything Pixar does.


Even further, what does "hands-on" have to do with having a hand on Ghibli Studios? IF you were looking into what sort of a man would be useful for Ghibli Studios, you'd have to look at what has changed inside Disney after Lasseter came in, and what happened to the movies. Whether Lasseter has a "hands-on" approach or not doesn't matter, because he's not expected to go to Japan and tell the animators to stop doing what they were doing and let him show them how he would do it.

And why would you think Disney buying Ghibli would be a good idea? That's just as absurd as Blizzard Entertainment buying out Nintendo. They work in the same industry, that doesn't make them the same, they don't have to be the same. They do different things, in different ways.

[Jayngfet]

snip

I think you've somehow gotten everything I've said exactly wrong.

I know what Lasseter has done, I'm talking about his recent work. I thought I specified but it must have not made it into the post somehow. Yeah, he did Toy Story but that was like a decade ago and besides sequels all he's got for work where he wasn't a producer is Up and the Cars movies.

Likewise, I was holding up the idea as being a bad thing. This I know I made abundantly clear and restated why in the post. Not only is it exacly the wrong thing for the industry right now, but if it happens it'd, by the logic of other posters in this thread, be done by someone who's credits become less and less impressive after the turn of the millennium.

[Mx.Silver]

It's a bit sad, even if it likely only means Hayao stops. Even at his worst, he was still a good filmaker and at his best he was, well, Miyazaki.
I'm pretty sure Studio Ghibli will be okay, there are enough talented people there. In regards to what this means for the medium as whole, while I haven't been following the films too much lately, in terms of series anime is not exactly in a rough spot at the moment.
Still, shame to see him go. Hopefully The Wind Rises will be a good send-off.


Hasn't he announced his retirement a couple of times before only to make more movies after it?
There is also that, yeah.

[endoperez]

I think you've somehow gotten everything I've said exactly wrong.

In that case, I apologize. I have a bad habit of reading what someone writes, and taking that literally slightly out of context. I think you also forgot to specify that you were talking about Lasseter's recent work, with that bit of info it makes more sense.

[Haruki-kun]

Re: Pixar:
Lasseter is the life behind the company. He doesn't have to be directly involved with every single project's production for it to not. That being said, it's a moot point. I don't see (nor want) Disney buying out Studio Ghibli in the near future. I really doubt either side will go for it, and Lasseter's involvement in Studio Ghibli's actual productions has been nil, which is good. I love Pixar and I love Ghibli separately.

At any rate, I'm sad to see Miyazaki retire, but he deserves it. He's been at it for a long time. And he did come out of retirement for Spirited Away, so I'd rather think of it as getting a bunch of bonus films.

[Jayngfet]

Re: Pixar:
Lasseter is the life behind the company. He doesn't have to be directly involved with every single project's production for it to not. That being said, it's a moot point. I don't see (nor want) Disney buying out Studio Ghibli in the near future. I really doubt either side will go for it, and Lasseter's involvement in Studio Ghibli's actual productions has been nil, which is good. I love Pixar and I love Ghibli separately.

No one's doubting Lasster's being signifigant to Pixar as a whole. However, I think it's best to treat him today like Walt Disney almost a century ago: He was good for the initial work as an active hand, but things have progressed in a way that probably makes direct working more detrimental than not to quality. He's a good man for working behind the scenes and on the jobs he's been working on, but I'm not entirely certain he should be in the directors chair or making a lot of creative decisions himself.

He does an important job, and he's earned everything he's got, but that doesn't mean I'd want him taking over other roles, even if he used to do good work in those roles. Much like the early era when black and white animation first hit it big, 3d has come a long way since Toy Story and the 90's.

[Kawaii Soldier]

Some things happen whether you want them to or not, and no amount of allcaps or exclamation points is going to change that.

YES IT WILL!!!!! YOU JUST HAVE BELIEVE!!! Not in yourself, not in me. BELIEVE IN THE ME THAT BELIEVES IN YOU!!! PIECE THE HEAVENS WITH YOUR DRILL AND MAKE THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE!!!!! \m/. ^o^ .\m/

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Mmm. A well-deserved rest; I hope people let him be this time. I salute him for all his years making beautiful movies for the world.

[Feytalist]

Better retired than dead.

I'm still sad about Satoshi Kon.

[Karoht]

And why would you think Disney buying Ghibli would be a good idea? That's just as absurd as Blizzard Entertainment buying out Nintendo. They work in the same industry, that doesn't make them the same, they don't have to be the same. They do different things, in different ways.Yeah, because buying out Marvel Studios was absurd as well as SUCH a failure for them. Avengers only raked in a billion, pffft.
In no way is such an acquesition an absurd notion. Unlikely maybe but not absurd.
Disney seems to be in a buying mood. Studio Ghibli might be in a selling mood after Miyazaki retires, maybe not. John Lasseter would be very willing to have them on board, and it may even be beneficial for the Studio. Chances are they would exist as a satelite entity, much the same way Pixar does, the same way Marvel Studios does, the same way Lucasfilm probably will as well.

Disney has wanted to get into anime in a significant way for years, as well as break further into the asian market. Buying up Studio Ghibli would be a step in that direction. It is essentially the same reasoning they bought Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm.

[Sunken Valley]

1. He said he was going to retire before and came back. There has also been successive rumours ever since this that each film is his last. True he's 72 now (and 56 the last time he did this) but still.
2. He's only retiring from directing. Miyazaki has written many of the Ghibli films he didn't direct such as Poppy Hill and Whisper of the Heart.
3. Goro Miyazaki the son is shaping up to be a worthy successor.
4. Isao Takahata (the co-founder of Ghibli) is still around and his latest film is coming out soon (he previously did Grave of the Fireflies, Pom Poko and more)


Also, I don't think Disney should buy Ghibli, I don't want to see Totoro in Disneyland. I went to the Ghibli Museum, it's one of the most un-disney places out there.

Also, Lassetter directed Cars 2

[Karoht]

Also, I don't think Disney should buy Ghibli, I don't want to see Totoro in Disneyland. I went to the Ghibli Museum, it's one of the most un-disney places out there.
Have you been to Disneyland in the last few years? When I was there before the Marvel and Lucas acquesitions (before the release of Iron Man 1 if memory serves me correctly), they were selling Marvel and Star Wars merch. They were also selling Ghibli stuff, especially Totoro merch.

Also, if there was a person walking around Disneyland in a Totoro outfit, you know people young and old would hug the crap out of that guy.

There is a Ghibli Museum? Dang, that sounds most excellent.

PS-I'm not saying that Disney should or shouldn't, I'm saying it is a possibility, and not a terrible one at that.


@John Lasseter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lasseter#Filmography
He has been involved in quiet a few Disney successes. You can't judge the man on Cars and Cars 2 entirely.
What's that? He was a creative consultant for Porco Rosso in 1992?
He's also been the Executive Producer for the US versions of Spirited Away, Howls Moving Castle, and Tales from Earthsea? No way!

[Kitten Champion]

They could introduce Nausicaa and San as new members of the Disney Princess™ family!

[Sunken Valley]

Have you been to Disneyland in the last few years? When I was there before the Marvel and Lucas acquesitions (before the release of Iron Man 1 if memory serves me correctly), they were selling Marvel and Star Wars merch. They were also selling Ghibli stuff, especially Totoro merch.

Also, if there was a person walking around Disneyland in a Totoro outfit, you know people young and old would hug the crap out of that guy.

There is a Ghibli Museum? Dang, that sounds most excellent.

PS-I'm not saying that Disney should or shouldn't, I'm saying it is a possibility, and not a terrible one at that.


@John Lasseter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lasseter#Filmography
He has been involved in quiet a few Disney successes. You can't judge the man on Cars and Cars 2 entirely.
What's that? He was a creative consultant for Porco Rosso in 1992?
He's also been the Executive Producer for the US versions of Spirited Away, Howls Moving Castle, and Tales from Earthsea? No way!

Haven't been to Disney Land Paris in a while, never been to Disney Land USA. That was a hypothetical example. What I mean is that I wouldn't want Disney and Ghibli meeting like Marvel and Disney meet (rides, animated shows on Disney channel, Phineas and Ferb cross-overs).

Didn't know John Lasseter did all that. At least he would know to keep Ghibli doing business as usual if it was bought (so no CGI Ghibli films and hopefully no sequels, which the making of 3 sequels was part of Pixar's contract).

Ghibli Museum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghibli_Museum
http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/welcome/

[Karoht]

They could introduce Nausicaa and San as new members of the Disney Princess™ family!That. Would be pretty cool actually.

I like the Disney Princesses stuff, and honestly wish they did more with it. I rather enjoyed how they brought it all together for the Kingdom Hearts games, even though I wasn't a fan of the games themselves. I just wish they would do less damsels and more adventurers.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

That. Would be pretty cool actually.

I like the Disney Princesses stuff, and honestly wish they did more with it. I rather enjoyed how they brought it all together for the Kingdom Hearts games, even though I wasn't a fan of the games themselves. I just wish they would do less damsels and more adventurers.
You also unintentionally pointed out that they would be able to bring Studio Ghibli into Kingdom Hearts....

Now that...

[AtlanteanTroll]

Disney and Ghibli kind of have terrible relations right now. Disney isn't even Ghibli's distributor in the US anymore. GKIDS is.

[Axolotl]

Generally I'm happy when artists retire sine it's necessary for new artists to have the space to give us new works. And it's better for them to retire after they've said their piece rather than dying or continuing to work long after their work has been any good.

Regarding Miyazaki I think it's fair to say he'd given us his enough, not to imply his later films are bad or that I don't think he could make any more great films just that if he is retiring for good then he'll have still made his mark. So while I am sad to see him go I'm more excited to see the works of whoever replaces him in his niche.

[Soras Teva Gee]

PS-I'm not saying that Disney should or shouldn't, I'm saying it is a possibility, and not a terrible one at that.


No.

It... is not... a possibility.

That is what you are completely missing. Marvel and SW, high profile IP acquisitions in an era where such franchises dominate the domestic box office. Disney is in direct competitions with those (PotC!) and is a major film studio. It makes sense for them to acquire such profitable IPs if they can and turn a competitor into your own asset. Similarly with Pixar which threatened if independent to subsume a traditional asset.

This is not the case with Ghibli. Not only is the scale of business' different but so are the markets. Namely American and Japanese markets, its not like Ghibli is challenging Disney on its own turf or even out-doing them.

Its one thing to import their product as a sideline while you export your own product, its another thing entirely to enter a foreign market by acquisition of a domestic entity.

Especially one going through a transitional period in a market that's if anything of diminishing importance.

What precisely is Disney supposed to add to the Ghibli model or acquire in turn? They're films are cheap (by American standards) so they don't need vast cash, taste for Disney products is probably already covered by your own offerings being exported, and the returns while possibly at better margins are certainly smaller in absolute terms then what American films shoot for.

Add complications with crossing national lines and thus legalities, loosing money exchanging currencies, and always potential backlash against a foreign entity, and ordinary investment failure what about this still makes sound business sense?

Heck can you even personally certify it is say legal for a foreign entity to buy out a kabushiki gaisha and how that would be classified under Japanese and American law?

[Brother Oni]

There is a Ghibli Museum? Dang, that sounds most excellent.


In one of the rooms, there's a great picture of the iconic Totoro at the bus stop with the umbrella, along with Mike and Sully from Monsters Inc waiting in the queue with him.

The one thing that made me laugh out loud is the cel of Mama Aiuto with Fio from Porco Rosso where he's just smacked all his crew out of the picture, leaving just him and Fio in view.

Just bear in mind that getting in is odd - you have to go buy tickets from a local chain store rather than pay at the gate.

Only thing I regret is not being able to see Mei and the Kittenbus as it wasn't showing at the cinema (they were showing Japanese dubbed shorts of Pixar short movies which disappointed me).

A final word of warning - when I went, there was no English whatsoever, so brush up on your hiragana/kanji or have a friendly translator handy if you want the most out of it.