A comparison of animated film: Disney studios vs Ghibli studios

[forestflamerunner]

I'm writing a paper comparing and contrasting the styles of Disney studios and Ghibli studios and could use some help to get ideas flowing. Which of these two do you prefer and what disney and Ghibli movies would you consider comparible in genre and subject matter? Thanks for all the help. (And for reference, I can use classic disney movies as well as modern Disney for my paper, which means everything from snow white to wreck it ralph is on the table)

 

[X5Dragon]

Well, for one characters in Ghibli studios tend to have normals eyes as opposed to other Japanese studios, current humanity sucks and they destroy everything, and the future is rebuilt via a dreaming young man and his lookalike GF who go searching for flying fortress/castles.

Disney is what would the world would look like if it were inhabited by talking animals, ruled by kingdoms and beautiful woman working like maids while the ugly reign supreme.

Also ducks are not allowed to wear pants, that's like dividing by zero.


Serious Response: Ghibli is a much more mature studio and explores themes that young children and adults can enjoy for a life time, their animation is beautiful but can get repetitive sometime. Disney is aimed more at children and has a tendency to revisit similar themes just with different settings/color skins. Animation is much more better and the music is superb.

 

[vonFiedler]

Animation is much more better and the music is superb.

Talking about Ghibli right? (ok I love Disney's music for sure but quality wise vs. Joe Hisaishi it's just not fair)

 

[blarajan]

MONONOKE <3

 

[franky]

ghibli studios shy away from creating 'villains'

thats pry the biggest difference between them

 

[RODAN]

mononoke v pocohontas is the only real comparison of movie themes i can think of between disney and ghibli (even though pocohontas sucks a lot)

 

[The Knights of Wario Land]

While I adore both companies a lot, both have their fare share of great positives and negatives.

Disney's stories ultimately end up becoming more iconic in both screenplay and the songs (probably due to their ways of being able to relate to all audiences), there's a lot of variety in their character designs and stories, and they really have perfected the art of talking animals. On the flip side, they have so many good stories that a lot of their other ones get overshadowed or really just don't hit the high marks, and they have a lot of trouble making good sequels (Pixar being the only exception with Toy Story).

Ghibli's works feel like they have a grander scale and, in my opinion, stronger character relations, and sometimes even more imagination. However, I do feel at times that they stick too closely to their mold of storytelling and the characters begin to look similar over time (also, I think Ponyo and Howl's Moving Castle are overrated, as I had trouble in finding out where the stories wanted to go).

My favorite Disney movie is Wreck-it Ralph, and my favorite Ghibli movie is Spirited Away, both for different reasons.

 

[Soul Fly]

Pretty much summarized by the past posts but if you really want an insigh into how pretty and evocative Ghibli's style can get I implore you to check out Ni no Kuni.

 

[M. Rock]

I'll come back to elaborate more on this later, it's a topic that really interests me.

- The biggest difference I can think of right off the bat is that the Ghibli films tend to have more spiritual concepts in their stories (demons, ghosts, forest spirits in Mononoke, everything about Spirited Away, etc). This is most likely a cultural difference. Disney has little to do with religion, but let's avoid that so we don't stir conversation along the lines of "Disney was anti-semitic".

- In much the same vein, Disney movies try to avoid being too serious, usually because of the sensibilities of the target audience (American children). The most 'serious' it usually gets is making it seem like the bad guy might actually win (which of course he never does). Of course, there is an exception to every rule; I mean, Simba's dad dying in the Lion King was pretty dark, and it scarred my older sister for life more or less.

- Every Disney movie has that one scene that is intentionally made to scare the living shit out of kids (Jafar's transformation at the end of the first Aladdin, the big furnace in Toy Story 3, the final battle in The Great Mouse Detective, and so much more). The intention is to jolt the audience a little, although these scenes tend to have great production values and flow well with the course of events.

- Ghibli has a greater focus on the human condition and relationships, which is what make their stories so compelling. In fact, character relationships are what they do best, just because they are so believable. Almost every protagonist in their movies shares a close bond with a costar, and that bond may or may not be tested by certain events. It's about love and friendship. I want to continue on this point but I got to go soon. This one point alone could constitute a whole essay.

 

[X5Dragon]

Simba's dad dying in the Lion King was pretty dark, and it scarred my older sister for life more or less.

I still refuse to watch that scene at youtube and you can't pay me to watch it.

Talking about Ghibli right? (ok I love Disney's music for sure but quality wise vs. Joe Hisaishi it's just not fair)

Hm...well if were going into specifics I think the lyrical songs of Disney have not been surpassed in animated movies until Shrek came along, but instrumentally yes I agree Disney's works are forgettable.

Also, I recommend for everyone to watch Conan the Future boy, especially if they watched Castle in the Sky. Best anime evar.

 

[DrRobotnik]

Disney and Ghibli are about even in terms of visual quality, but Disney definitely has the edge with storytelling. Ghibli seems to rely a lot on their animation, but Disney could have average animation and still be almost as good.

 

[TytsMagee]

Disney and Ghibli are about even in terms of visual quality, but Disney definitely has the edge with storytelling. Ghibli seems to rely a lot on their animation, but Disney could have average animation and still be almost as good.

Are you kidding? The majority of Disney's "classics" aren't even original stories. Alice in Wonderland? It was a novel. Cinderella? It's a magic tale. Beauty and the Beast? It's a fairy tale. Aladdin? It's a middle eastern folktale. The Lion King? It's Hamlet with big cats. All of these stories were already written, Disney just made them look cute.

Spirited Away/Mononoke embarrasses any original stories Disney has ever come up with, and the rest of the Ghibli films are nearly as good.

Not saying Disney is bad, just that saying their storytelling is superior is ludicrous.

 

[Firestorm]

^ Was just about to point out the same thing from his and TKOWL's posts.

 

[LonelyNess]

Are you kidding? The majority of Disney's "classics" aren't even original stories. Alice in Wonderland? It was a novel. Cinderella? It's a magic tale. Beauty and the Beast? It's a fairy tale. Aladdin? It's a middle eastern folktale. The Lion King? It's Hamlet with big cats. All of these stories were already written, Disney just made them look cute.

Spirited Away/Mononoke embarrasses any original stories Disney has ever come up with, and the rest of the Ghibli films are nearly as good.

Not saying Disney is bad, just that saying their storytelling is superior is ludicrous.

Coming up with original content =/= being a great storyteller. Just like two people can tell the same joke and one not be funny, two stories can be exactly the same and one be not even remotely as good. Disney is an -amazing- story teller (and I like a lot of their stuff way more than studio ghibli).

 

[Cshadow]

Are you kidding? The majority of Disney's "classics" aren't even original stories. Alice in Wonderland? It was a novel. Cinderella? It's a magic tale. Beauty and the Beast? It's a fairy tale. Aladdin? It's a middle eastern folktale. The Lion King? It's Hamlet with big cats. All of these stories were already written, Disney just made them look cute.

Spirited Away/Mononoke embarrasses any original stories Disney has ever come up with, and the rest of the Ghibli films are nearly as good.

Not saying Disney is bad, just that saying their storytelling is superior is ludicrous.

The Lion King had actually ripped off "Jungle Emperor", or, as it is most known as, Kimba, the White Lion.

So, yeah. There's another strike against Disney's originality.

 

[Outlaw]

So much Ghibli-wanking in this topic.

 

[M. Rock]

So much Ghibli-wanking in this topic.

Ghibli films just tend to be a bit more dry. By contrast, Disney does humor pretty well, and have probably some of the most memorable musical numbers in cinema history. Again, this probably due to cultural difference.
Another reason for it is that Ghibli movies are supposed to be art films, whereas Disney's first and foremost priority is to entertain. When I say "art", I mean more than just the animation. There's a lot of humanity and raw emotion in their stories, a good example being Princess Mononoke. In a way, it's a story about mankind: a human's need to be the master of his environment (can also be seen in Castle in the Sky), people loathe and even attack what they don't understand, and (apparently) bad things can happen when man tries to separate himself from the very earth that bore him, to the point of maybe even destroying it (in other words, its saying man can and should peacefully coexist with nature). Then in Spirited Away, it's about how courage pushes this young girl past her fears because of her overwhelming desire to see her family again. It's not about an actual plot so much as it is about certain events that happen to her.
So art films try to evoke thought from the viewer, and in these cases, display a mastery of hand drawn animation. Disney, however, wants to entertain you, and that's why I think their films are better on the whole. After all, the main goal of film is to entertain the audience; Disney recognizes this, prioritizes it, and does extremely well as a result.

 

[DrRobotnik]

Are you kidding? The majority of Disney's "classics" aren't even original stories.

They told the story well, I never said anything about making it. My point still stands, if you cut the quality of the animation in half for both I don't think it would effect Disney nearly as much as Ghibli.

Seriously, though, you guys are almost as bad as Gainaxfags. This is a thread about opinions, don't react to opposing ones as if they said something unbelievably stupid.

@M. Rock art means nothing because it means everything, Disney is art as well as is literally everything that exists and even things that don't (such as ideas). Also, just because it places action over plot doesn't make it deeper than Disney, and either way being deep isn't synonymous with being good.

 

[TytsMagee]

Ghibli films just tend to be a bit more dry. By contrast, Disney does humor pretty well, and have probably some of the most memorable musical numbers in cinema history. Again, this probably due to cultural difference.
Another reason for it is that Ghibli movies are supposed to be art films, whereas Disney's first and foremost priority is to entertain. When I say "art", I mean more than just the animation. There's a lot of humanity and raw emotion in their stories, a good example being Princess Mononoke. In a way, it's a story about mankind: a human's need to be the master of his environment (can also be seen in Castle in the Sky), people loathe and even attack what they don't understand, and (apparently) bad things can happen when man tries to separate himself from the very earth that bore him, to the point of maybe even destroying it (in other words, its saying man can and should peacefully coexist with nature). Then in Spirited Away, it's about how courage pushes this young girl past her fears because of her overwhelming desire to see her family again. It's not about an actual plot so much as it is about certain events that happen to her.
So art films try to evoke thought from the viewer, and in these cases, display a mastery of hand drawn animation. Disney, however, wants to entertain you, and that's why I think their films are better on the whole. After all, the main goal of film is to entertain the audience; Disney recognizes this, prioritizes it, and does extremely well as a result.

Great post, even if I disagree fundamentally with your last point since I like art films more, but that just comes down to personal preference!

They told the story well, I never said anything about making it. My point still stands, if you cut the quality of the animation in half for both I don't think it would effect Disney nearly as much as Ghibli.

Seriously, though, you guys are almost as bad as Gainaxfags. This is a thread about opinions, don't react to opposing ones as if they said something unbelievably stupid.

I was responding to a factual inaccuracy. Get over yourself. All Disney does is take existing stories and make them cute. They do this, however, exceptionally well.

 

[DrRobotnik]

I was responding to a factual inaccuracy. Get over yourself.

I should be saying that to you, you're acting all snooty because you though storytelling and writing a story were the same thing (read: you were acting all snooty because you were wrong). You did this by talking down to me as if what I said was so dumb that I needed to be reprimanded and humiliated. If this is how you handle opposing viewpoints, then you're an asshole. I don't like blatantly insulting people but that's really the only thing your actions say about you.

All Disney does is take existing stories and make them cute. They do this, however, exceptionally well.

All Ghibli does is write out simple stories and make them cute. They do this, however, exceptionally well. (not serious)

 

[M. Rock]

@M. Rock art means nothing because it means everything, Disney is art as well as is literally everything that exists and even things that don't (such as ideas). Also, just because it places action over plot doesn't make it deeper than Disney, and either way being deep isn't synonymous with being good.

Yeah the wording made it sound like I was implying that Disney movies aren't at all artful. That's my bad. What I was talking about it the different things each company seemed to prioritize more than the other. In all actuality I especially think the Disney-Pixar films are artful and very well done pieces of work (except Cars, I never really liked that one).
And I wholeheartedly agree that deep =/= good. When typing all I have to go back on are memories (since I think the last time I ever saw a Ghibli film was Ponyo when it hit theaters), and I remember them all being good. The way I remembered them is that part of why they were good was because I felt they were deep (although, more than anything, that has to do with my opinions and the way I look at movies).

 

[TytsMagee]

All Ghibli does is write out simple stories and make them cute. They do this, however, exceptionally well.

Simple? Go make something as imaginative and mystifying and utterly not-simple as Spirited Away. Good luck.

 

[DrRobotnik]

You're so smart, and you're really good at interpreting other people's words. Seriously, though, how can you enjoy "deep" things at all if you take everything at face value and don't process it? And look at the way you're talking, dressing up your opinions as facts and making what you like sound so great and then add the "you can't criticize things unless you're better" logic to it, despite you not being able to do anything as good as Disney. God you're pretentious.

@M. Rock okay, I can agree with most of that.

 

[yond]

All Ghibli does is write out simple stories and make them cute. They do this, however, exceptionally well. (not serious)

That is pretty cut and dry. You are saying they make simple stories, I don't think he misinterpreted it, so I'm not sure why you are being a douchebag right now. I think M.Rock put it best when he discussed how Ghilbi movies have much deeper meanings hidden inside the plots / characters than Disney movies. So I'll also disagree that Ghilbi "writes out simple stories and makes them cute"

The point about Disney and originality is kind of dumb, as most movies are inspired from something [which are often stories]. Valley of the Wind was inspired by a manga for example. The one thing I will mention is that I watched both Ghilbi (Spirited Away, Castle In the Sky, Howl's..., Mononoke, Nausicaa) as a child as well as all the staple Disney movies. However, now that I'm older I can't really connect to the Disney stories or enjoy myself while watching them. The Miyazaki movies I mention still entertain me and the stories move me just as much as they did when I was a kid (perhaps even more). That may be a factor to consider when discussing story-telling, impact, etc.

 

[TytsMagee]

The point about Disney and originality is kind of dumb, as most movies are inspired from something [which are often stories].

Yes, but there's a difference between being inspired by something and literally using the exact same story and even the exact same title. Like they couldn't even come up with new names for most of the movies (besides Lion King and whatnot obvs).