Disney...Anime...nooooo!

[0iD]

Disney strikes Japan anime deal

Walt Disney is to produce anime films in Japan in tie-ups with local studios to adapt to regional tastes, the company has announced.

The first will be a short children's film about a robot, made jointly with Japan's biggest animation studio Toei Animation Company.

The company also plans to make a Japanese version of Lilo and Stitch.
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Disney strikes Japan anime deal

Can't see it being right personally. Part of makes is fans of Anime is it's quintessential Japaneseness, and Disney sticking its' big oar in can't in my opinion, be a good thing.

[directhex]

bear inb mind disney are studio ghibli's western distributors

[0iD]

It's one thing being a disributor, it's another having artistic influence.

[sleepyhead]

Hmm...this is tricky...

Depends how much Disney gets involved. If they are just planning on using the animation studio, ok...can live with that as long as the film/animation is labelled as a Disney film. If they plan on using the animation studio to brand their stuff as Japanese anime then...woah...no go.

I like Disney films, I like Japanese anime, I even enjoy reading Korean Manwahs.

Just don't fake or fudge it. Keep everything culturally correct.

I'll be very disappointed if they make a Japanese version of Lilo and Stitch and market it as Japanese anime.

The pessimist in me see's Disney as a money grabbing corporate company that wants to expand it's sphere of influence and turnover by absorbing animation studios in differeing nations, producing semi-passable tripe and marketing as that nations "home" animation style.

[directhex]

Originally Posted by 0iD

It's one thing being a disributor, it's another having artistic influence.

well, sure, but it sounds like they're not flying blind - if companies like toei are involved, i don't predict disaster

there are worse japanifications - consider the japanese version of the powerpuff girls

[Mousemat]

A blending of different animation styles might be interesting to see, but will probably end up diluting what makes each style worth watching.

[mightymouse]

i just hope that they wont screw with the storyline and make it disney-like

[KBeee]

Originally Posted by directhex

bear inb mind disney are studio ghibli's western distributors

I'm dying to see what Disney do to Pom Poko when they finally release it in the US.
If they were uncomfortable with Kiki drinking coffee, and changed it to chocolate in Kiki's Delivery Service, I'm agog to see how they handle tanuki genitalia.... (I got a strange mental image after typing that)

[ACiD303]

Can't see it being right personally. Part of makes is fans of Anime is it's quintessential Japaneseness, and Disney sticking its' big oar in can't in my opinion, be a good thing.

Actually, Japanese Anime's beginnings were heavily influenced by Disney and western cartoons during the late 50s/early 60s. (Look up Osamu Tezuka, it's quite a fascinating relationship with Disney)

Japanese Anime, in turn, became popular partly because of their own style, but also effective cost cutting animation techniques and their attitude of not needing to animate everything and make everything life-like. Despite this, a lot of successful Japanese Anime directors and producers have got major Western influences.

It's almost gone full circle, and if the West want to see more Japanese productions, then the Western production teams will obviously want to cater for that market. Both sides want to win, and this is the easiest way...

[sleepyhead]

There is a new anime series on the block called "Fireball" and the only picture I have found of it (somewhere on the net) has a Disney copywrite symbol on it.

Is this the first of the new collaboration?