This SlideShare presentation shows the similarities between Disney and Studio Ghibli.
English 421HM: Ecocritical and other perspectives on the celebrated animator and mangaka
English 421HM: Ecocritical and other perspectives on the celebrated animator and mangaka
This SlideShare presentation shows the similarities between Disney and Studio Ghibli.
Hi Olivia,
I was honestly shocked to see the major comparisons that Studio Ghibli films and Disney films have. I knew they were kind of similar but some of them looked way to similar for it to be a coincidence. The one that was most shocking for me was Yuki from The Cat Returns and Marie from the AristoCats. They even had the same pink bow that, Studio Ghibli may have wanted to pay homage to Disney with that one because it’s almost the same cat. But I loved your project and I like the set up of it where you put the individual characteristics of the characters and in the middle you wrote what they both have in common. It looks like Disney and Studio Ghibli are both taking inspiration from each other.
Hi Olivia,
I really enjoyed your post not only because I am a huge Disney fan, but I also take interest in how artists inspire each other. Our projects are similar in regard to analyzing Miyazaki’s inspirations. Upon my first viewing of My Neighbor Totoro, I could see Miyazaki taking inspiration from Mary Poppins, but I did not pick on the Frozen connections. After viewing your presentation, it seems like Miyazaki is drawn to Disney’s aesthetic, which makes sense. Kids and adults alike love the Disney look. It seems also really exciting how inspiration goes both ways. Miyazaki was initially inspired by Disney, and now his work inspires Disney. The visual similarities between No-Face and Callaghan were surprising but seem so clear now that you pointed it out.
Funny how Miyazaki claims to disdain or “hate” the Disney aesthetic. How do you take his comments about that?
Re: Frozen, we know that Miyazaki was inspired by a 1957 Soviet animated film called The Snow Queen, based on the story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen (you can see the film here), and that Frozen was partly inspired by that Andersen story also. So, maybe this is a good example of Miyazaki (a known expert in European children’s literature) being inspired by the same literary sources that inspired the Disney artists?
Hey, Olivia! I am truly impressed by the work you put into your project! You really delved deep into the similarities between Studio Ghibli and Disney, and dug out some fantastic examples! I am especially impressed with what you noted about Disney’s “The Aristocats” and Studio Ghibli’s “The Cat Returns.” I think the comparison of Yuki to Marie is quite striking. Both are white cats. Both are not cats, but are kittens. Both enjoy the aesthetic of pink accessories, especially pink bows and pink sashes. Oh, and they both have blue eyes! You know, this particular comparison reminded me of something. There is another Japanese property that bears the likeness of a certain, famous Disney movie. That is, of course, “The Lion King.” Disney was heavily criticized by people affiliated and associated with the property of “Kimba the White Lion,” when they saw that, just like in “Kimba,” there are hyena henchmen, a brown and black villainous lion, a small replacement of a letter in the name “Simba,” and the death of a lion’s father. However, this cannot be the case with Yuki and Marie because Marie’s debut precedes Yuki’s. Great work!
Ah yes, the famous case of Osamu Tezuka’s Jungle Taitei (Jungle Emperor), which was first a manga (1950-1954), then an anime TV series (1965-1966) whose English dub, Kimba the White Lion, was first broadcast on US television in 1966. Disney’s Lion King strongly echoes Kimba (and Shakespeare’s Hamlet!). The case is infamous among aggrieved anime fans who think that Disney “ripped off” Tezuka’s original.
See the official Tezuka website for more info on Kimba, or, as it is sometimes called, “Jungle Emperor Leo.”
Here is a “Kimba” image from the original manga. Ring any bells?