Studio Ghibli
Studio Ghibli was founded in Japan in 1985 by directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Since then Studio Ghibli have produced 17 feature length animated movies. What started as a very small studio has become the most successful animation studio in Japan and is now known worldwide. Spirited Away was the first non English language animation to receive an Oscar.
I really admire Studio Ghibli and their animations. In recent times the majority of animated film releases have been computer generated 3D movies. Because of trend and because computer generated films can be produced a lot more quickly and therefore more cheaply Studios like Disney and Dreamworks have released a lot more CG films. Studio Ghibli have stuck to making traditional 2D movies which I really admire, it seems like they care about the way they produce animations rather than simply making money. With every movie they produce you can really tell that a lot of effort has been but into the story and animation.
The following are extracts from the Spirited Away dvd that show behind the scenes at Studio Ghibli. It shows the high level of involvement that director Hayao Miyazaki had in the animation and drawing stages of making the film. It also shows that the Ghibli studio is a very small and intimate environment with quite a small team for a big time animation studio.
The Walt Disney Company
While Studio Ghibli would be considered the Japanese equivalent of Disney there are many differences between them. Although they are both really successful studios Disney seems to be a much more corporate company, Studio Ghibli gives the impression of being a much smaller, intimate and more focused on the actual animation rather than making money.
There is no denying Disney's impact on the world of animation though, being responsible for so many of the firsts of animation. Since their first animation in 1923 Disney has created countless classic movies, won plenty of awards and made a great deal of money; The Walt Disney Company is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world financially.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was made in 1937 and was the first feature length cel animation ever made, as well as being the first animation produced in colour in America and the first to be Produced by Walt Disney. The feature took a long time to make and ended up costing $1,488,422 which was a huge sum of money to spend on a film at that time. At this time the number of animators working at Disney were very small especially in comparison to the amount that are employed there today.
After Snow White Disney continued to create classic animated movies, their style slightly changed over the years but the ideals and themes remained the same. When advancements in computer graphics meant that a lot more 3D and computer generated animated movies were being made Disney followed suit and now hardly ever release 2D movies. It seems that the Disney Company has greatly changed the way they produce movies to keep up with an ever changing industry whereas I think Studio Ghibli have kept to the way they have always produced animation, they do now use computer technology to produce some aspects of the animation but I would not envision them to ever produce a full 3D CG film.
