Forum

Wow, this is really sad and unfortunate. After reading people comment on this thread, I do share some concerning thought about Studio Ghibli.

Hasn't Ghibli layed off all of their full time employees and gone to the freelance model everyone else uses? I haven't seen Marnie yet but Arietty was good, that might suck for Ghibli.

Ghibli going the way of Fleischer

Ghibli is not just a one man show. If the company's meant to survive it will.

The main problem, in my opinion, is that they lack young directors comparable to Hayao Miyazaki and Isaho Takahata. Sad

A reminder, they aren't doing 'entirely' nothing. Check up on some anime you're watching now, even recently. You'll see Ghibli in the credits. They're probably bleeding money, but they are still working.

I probably sound like a broken record but I really think Mamoru Hosoda should take over studio ghibli, all his films have sort of a studio ghibli feel, and they are all heartwarming family films that he has made.
(wolf children,summer wars. the girl who lept through time, Im not the only one who thinks this?)

Neither Summer Wars nor The Girl Who Leaped Through Time feel especially Ghibli to me, but Wolf Children was definitely in the ballpark. However, I think the idea of Mamoru Hosoda taking over Ghibli is a good one. Love his stuff (especially Wolf Children).

Mohawk52 wrote:

Ghibli is not just a one man show. If the company's meant to survive it will.

But Ghibli is for all intents and purposes a one man show. Studio Ghibli is Miyazaki and Miyazaki is Studio Ghibli. It has always been this way and one if not the main reason why the studio was never able to bring up native talent. Talented people who did not conform to the father dictator figure of Miyazaki left studio Ghibli (even before Miyazaki retired).

Studio Ghibli with no Miyazaki is just an empty name, a brand devoid of substance. Wether it closes or remains opens will not change anything. Talented directors will continue to make anime films wether from the inside or the outside of studio Ghibli. What we won't see anymore are Miyazaki's take on animation films. That era is truly over.

BlueBitterCoffee wrote:

I probably sound like a broken record but I really think Mamoru Hosoda should take over studio ghibli, all his films have sort of a studio ghibli feel, and they are all heartwarming family films that he has made.
(wolf children,summer wars. the girl who lept through time, Im not the only one who thinks this?)

Hosoda already has his own studio now, Studio Chizu which he set up during "Wolf Children" so I doubt he would consider suddenly joining Ghibli when he just set up a brand new studio.

many old famous studios simply do gruntwork for more hip studios now. It is fairly common. I'd worry more about talent getting 'stuck' working for Ghibli. Though I wish more animators were paid like the Ghibli ones. I wonder how the pay differences are for non-animator roles? Sound? (apart from voice work), Directing?

Blackiris_ wrote:

He also mentioned Ponyo. Personally, I think the painful, but most realistic answer is: Ghibli will likely not make another movie. Over the years, Miyazaki's films were the only ones with guaranteed financial success, so his works were able to finance the works of other creators (like Takahata, whose works never appealed to the mainstream as much) as well.

Takahata's films Only Yesterday and Pom Poko were major financial successes though.

Also, Whisper of the Heart, The Cat Returns, Tales from Earthsea, From Up on Poppy Hill and Arriety were quite profitable, in fact, WotH, Arriety and Tales from Eastersea were the highest grossing Japanese films of the year they were released.

Overall, the name Ghibli can apparently survive without Miyazaki, (even though his films were the major box office engine for the studio), but it's not going to be the same and it's revenues are probably going to decrease as it's employees.

Quote:

Not sure about Arrietty, but I think Marnie was not very successful for a Ghibli work and Kaguya was definitely a financial loss.

Kaguya was certainly a major financial disaster. It cost 50 million dollars, that;s the cost of about 15 normal anime films and ranks among the most expensive Asian financed films ever made, but it's box office revenue was ca. 30 million dollars. Usually such a film would need to make about 120 million dollars to be profitable.

Quote:

Ghibli productions are very expensive because of the high animation quality, and because they don't outsource their work to Korea and China, and because the payment is a bit better than in the average anime studio, I think.

Agree, those are the same reasons I suspect. While animation quality is higher the difference is not that high if you look at the discrepancy of production costs. Which indicates Ghibli films appear to be much more expensive on a per frame basis and each frame is not that much better made as well.

Quote:

Yonebayashi likely moved on because it was his best chance to make other works/movies. He even said he talked with Nishimura, the producer of Kaguya and Marnie. It's sad, really, but Miyazaki said years ago that this future is inevitable for the studio. "It's fall apart, I can clearly see it," he said in the documentary, and he was right. He was not pessimistic, but realistic. We don't get a whole lot of insight into the inner workings of the studio, but from the bits and pieces we know it's not so difficult to see what's going on at the moment. Suzuki is pretty straightforward about it, to be honest.

Why they don't close it down, then?

Last edited by Jose Cruz on Fri Mar 13, 2015 11:31 pm; edited 1 time in total

Cptn_Taylor wrote:

Mohawk52 wrote:

Ghibli is not just a one man show. If the company's meant to survive it will.

But Ghibli is for all intents and purposes a one man show.

Two men show, Takakata is also majorly important for the studio. Both retired simultaneously, hence the studio the pair created to produce their films should naturally be closed down.

Quote:

Studio Ghibli is Miyazaki and Miyazaki is Studio Ghibli. It has always been this way and one if not the main reason why the studio was never able to bring up native talent. Talented people who did not conform to the father dictator figure of Miyazaki left studio Ghibli (even before Miyazaki retired).

Kondo didn't left but we don't know what would have happened in case he didn't suffer an early death. Whisper of the Heart still is the best animated film ever made not directed by Miyazaki or Takahata.

Quote:

Studio Ghibli with no Miyazaki is just an empty name, a brand devoid of substance. Wether it closes or remains opens will not change anything. Talented directors will continue to make anime films wether from the inside or the outside of studio Ghibli. What we won't see anymore are Miyazaki's take on animation films. That era is truly over.

Though he is not that old anyway. He will probably live for at least 20 years more, considering he appears to be in good health. I think he should try to direct a couple more movies.

BlueBitterCoffee wrote:

I probably sound like a broken record but I really think Mamoru Hosoda should take over studio ghibli, all his films have sort of a studio ghibli feel, and they are all heartwarming family films that he has made.
(wolf children,summer wars. the girl who lept through time, Im not the only one who thinks this?)

Hosoda's films are completely different from Miyazaki's films which are also completely different from Takahata's films. There is no such thing as a "Ghibli feel" because Ghibli films were made by several different artists.

MIyazaki films have the Miyazaki feel, which is extremely characteristic, just as Ikuhara's work is very "Ikuhara-like". Whisper of the Heart and From Up On Poppy were written by Miyazaki. Films he didn't write such as Ocean Waves, The Cat Returns and Tales from Earthsea do not have the "Miyazaki feel" and if were made by another animation studio would probably not be linked to Ghibli (besides their art-style).

About cost:

"Why is Studio Ghibli’s latest movie struggling at the box office?"

“Over the weekend of the 23rd and 24th, Kaguya Hime took in 284,250,000 yen (US$2,842,500). For most movies in Japan, that would make it a hit, but with a total production cost of five billion yen, this is an unimpressive opening.”

Kaguya Hime also marks Isao Takahata’s first time in the director’s chair for Studio Ghibli since 1999’s My Neighbors the Yamadas, which came and went from Japanese theatres with so little fanfare it’s often forgotten even by self-proclaimed Ghibli devotees.

Speaking of Miyazaki, it’s possible that Kaguya Hime’s (comparatively) poor performance is simply a result of over-saturation. Earlier this year, Studio Ghibli also released Miyazaki’s directorial swan-song, The Wind Rises, and a documentary on the inner workings of the production house was also released to theatres this month.

On the one hand, Ghibli’s numerous runaway successes ensure that even a sub-par showing by Kaguya Hime isn’t going to bankrupt the studio. That said, history has shown that when things don’t reach Ghibli’s understandably lofty expectations, there may be repercussions. 1993’s Ocean Waves was Ghibli’s first made-for-TV project. The 72-minute anime was helmed by a young staff, and was envisioned as the start of a youth movement at Studio Ghibli, with up-and-coming artists getting a chance to show their stuff on television, before stepping up to theatrical features. Unfortunately, Ocean Waves went way over-budget and finished in the red, making it the first and last time Studio Ghibli would sign off on such an experiment.

About finances:

'Spirit' fades for famed Japan animation studio after Miyazaki signs off

Famous for starting production without a complete script, Miyazaki insisted on working in pencil and spurned computer animation, resulting in intricately drawn frames and very long production spans. Some feature animations consist of about 10,000 drawings, but Ghibli’s sometimes exceed 80,000.

In fact, Ghibli, under Miyazaki, made a virtue of its high-cost approach, doing everything - and working deliberately - from an ivy-covered, three-storey building in Tokyo's western suburbs.

Ryusuke Hikawa, an expert on Japanese animation, estimates Ghibli was averaging just five minutes of animation production a month, given its recent pace of producing a feature every two years.

That was sustainable when the studio, with Miyazaki at the helm, was turning out consistent hits. The nine Ghibli films that he directed averaged a box office take of $115 million.

Box office takings are particularly important for Ghibli because the company has limited spin-off merchandising, another break from the approach of Hollywood studios which long ago abandoned hand-drawn animation for computers. In June, Suzuki, 66, told a podcast for fans he had cautioned staff to keep merchandising sales below $100 million to sharpen the focus on movie-making.

In part, as a result, Ghibli has had a volatile earnings record, according to credit rating agency Tokyo Shoko Research, which audited the studio’s books. In the fiscal year that ended March 2012, it earned $9 million. That dropped to $5 million in 2013 and then jumped to $30 million in the just-ended fiscal year, reflecting the success of Miyazaki’s last film, “The Wind Rises”.

Without Hayao Miyazaki's earning potential, Ghibli can no longer sustain full-time animators - they'd have to go "project seasonal" (hiring animators when there's a film project, letting them go in-between projects).

Forum - View topic
NEWS: Arrietty Director Yonebayashi Left Studio Ghibli

My Hero Academia Enters 'Epilogue;' Author States Manga Will Continue for 'A While' as it 'Returns to its Title'

A Returner's Magic Should Be Special Season 1 Anime Review

Ghibli Park's Newest Area Brings Howl's Moving Castle and Kiki's Delivery Service to Life

Lupin III's 1st Fujiko Voice Actress Eiko Masuyama Dies at 89

T・P BON Season 1 Anime Series Review

Mizuho Kusanagi: Yona of the Dawn Manga is in its Final Arc

Turns Out Shōhei Ohtani Can Pitch, Hit, AND Draw Manga Art Shockingly Well

Kengan Ashura Season 1 Part 1 Anime Series Review

This Week in Games - Sony And Marvelous Woke Up And Chose The Same Day To Showcase, And I'm Paying For It

My Picture Diary Manga Review

My Oni Girl Director Asks Viewers To Be True to Themselves

Forum - View topicNEWS: Arrietty Director Yonebayashi Left Studio Ghibli

Forum

Forum - View topic
NEWS: Arrietty Director Yonebayashi Left Studio Ghibli