HTF REVIEW: Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) (with screenshots) (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Kleist]

And what is actually wrong with Disney feature animated films, in your opinion? I have lots of them, and consider them all classics. But then I'm a fan of animation in general.

Let's see, at least for modern era Disney:. The films Walt did had real heart, and are a joy to watch.

1- No soul

2- Formulaic (buddy movie, cute talking creature, broadway numbers)

3- Ripoffs and blasphemies of classic stories and historical events (Hercules, Pocahontas, Hunchback, Little Mermaid)

4- Supplanting the original (ask any kid how The Little Mermaid ends, betcha less than 10% of a reasonable sample size say "They live happily ever after") in order to build their "brand"

5- Total corporate mentality, thinking more about the Happy Meal than the quality of film

6- Supression and censorship of film they find disagreeable(Song of the South, Fantasia scenes)

I can keep going

 

[Lew Crippen]

I would only add to Jeff’s excellent list that Disney used to have an edge, indeed a dark and terrifying edge. Much like proper fairy tales (RE The Brothers Grimm).

Even when you had cute bunnies, birds and butterflies, a fire raging through the forest was right around the corner, and presented quite graphically.

Of course this may well be what Jeff meant by ‘soul’.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I also think Disney has a problem in that they are trying to make films aimed at an older audience (Atlantis and Treasure Planet were supposedly aimed at teens) pretty much because they want more money. They don't make films with true heart that are close to the original stories anymore.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

I think Disney has done a few good animated movies recently, but most of them have been tired retreads of old material or ludicrous attempts to be hip. I liked Lilo & Stitch and The Emperor's New Groove. However most of their material has been crap (especially the sequels).

For those of you concerned about blasphemy, this is not a recent thing. All their films back to Snow White take huge liberties. For that matter, alot of anime takes big liberties with the source manga or video game. Moviess are different than other media and this is somethign you just have to expect.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Typically the manga artist is on board when an anime is made of their creation. Changes made by the creator are not blasphemy. Since the originators of most of these tales, or even the collectors of their popularized forms (Brothers Grimm, James Joyce etc) are not around to approve, it's rather difficult to have any change not be blasphemy.

Same goes for video games, typically the game creator is involved in there somewhere, or at least signs off.

 

[ScottR]

Disney needs to return to the fairy tale...it has always saved the studio...Snow White created the funds for future projects and a new studio building, Cinderella marked a glorious return to animation following WW2, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast helped the studio financially following so-so movies in the seventies and early eighties.....I say it is time to visit Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, and Little Red Riding Hood.

 

[TonyD]

just wondering. i didnt notice if it was mentioned here or not.

is this dvd appearing on most tv's windowboxed, or with black around the entire image. at least for those with little or no overscan.
because it does for me.
and ron i was wondering about you scans. is that representative of what the image is on your tv?

because i see that you have bars on the top and bottom for 1.85.1 movies and no bars for 1.66.1, etc.
and this one has black around the entire image in your shots.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

virtually all Japanese transfers are windowboxed to kill overscan. you shouldn't see anything on the sides

 

[CoreyII]

I agree with Paul P. I like all animation in general. As far as Disney animated features goes, there are some that I like and then there are some I don't like for example the Lion King. Regardless of the fact that it was a rip off of Kimba the White Lion (which I actually think it was) the film just did nothing for me. It was not a good follow up to the magnificent Aladdin.

On the other hand I absolutely loved Lilo and Stitch and until I see Spirited Away and that Stallion flick from Dreamworks, Lilo & Stitch still remains in my mind the best picture of 2002 nominations for Best Animated Films.

Anime has its ups and downs also, I mean come on, how many times can you destroy Tokyo or turn it into some cybernetic urban nightmare Utopia. How many different ways can the Japanese show the future as a very bleak era.

I still think you got to be on crack to understand Akira. I mean don't get me wrong the animation to this day is a sight to behold and I feel that anyone who is a serious fan of animation should at least watch this film once. But beyond the animation Akira does nothing but give me a headache, the film just dragged on and on.

Also, how many time are we going to get these heroes with these jacked up hair-do's; Goku, Yugi-Oh, Ash(from Pokemon), and Spike Spiegel (from Cowboy Bebop).

Now on the other hand I love Vampire Hunter D and its sequel Bloodlust. Both films but especially the second have a very gothic, majestic feel to them. And Ninja Scroll to this very day is still the anime by which all others in my opinion are judged by. The movie has the right combination of storytelling and action, not overly dramatic like Akira and Ghost in the Shell.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Ninja Scroll is just another plotless wonder bloodfest. SO basically what you're saying is that things are overly dramatic if people aren't running around killing each other every 5 minutes.

Akira makes more sense if you've read the manga, given that the movie consists of basically the first and last 100 pages, but there's nothing that confusing about the film if you actually sit and think about it. Tetsuo gained too much power, and his body can't hold it, so Akira comes to take him away, and in the aftermath destroys Tokyo

 

[Shayne Lebrun]

Ninja Scroll is just another plotless wonder bloodfest. SO basically what you're saying is that things are overly dramatic if people aren't running around killing each other every 5 minutes.

...

 

[TheLongshot]

Wow, a rant by Jeff about Disney, and not one mention of "The Lion King". Must be a record.

3- Ripoffs and blasphemies of classic stories and historical events (Hercules, Pocahontas, Hunchback, Little Mermaid)

What? And Reign isn't? Or Ah! My Goddess? Or RG Veda? The japanese do it all the time.

I never had a problem with the change they made with The Little Mermaid, since that's the only way it would work as a kid's movie. Also, while I didn't like it, I can appriciate Hercules for trying to be different. I have more of a problem with Pocahotas and Hunchback.

My problem with Disney is that they don't take risks anymore. When they stick a toe out to do something like an Atlantis or Treasure Planet, it ends up getting hurt by the fact that they can't stray from the Disney formula that far.

It is too bad the only other 2D animation studio suffers from the same problem (Dreamworks). At least they are trying to push the envelope, tho. (Even if it doesn't work most of the time.)

Jason

 

[Rob Lutter]

What? And Reign isn't?

Nah, Reign is just plain ol' crap.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Jason, thanks to some people dredging up 8 month old posts and complaining that I was showering every thread on the HTF with my propoganda, I have but one other opportunity to try to educate the masses, and that comes in the fall with the video release. Otherwise you would be hearing about it.

I never said the Japanese don't base things off of old stories, but they don't actively try to supplant the original, nor is the core of their business the destruction of said original to replace with their own.

You've nailed the exact problem. The "older" movies like treasure planet and Atlantis are still too kid-oriented, the same stupid buddy-comedy crap.

Titan AE is a movie that could have been made 10x better and at half the cost by going for a high PG-13 and giving it to Sunrise and giving it to Kawamori or Watanabe.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I have to step in and say the argument shouldn't be Disney vs. Anime. Disney is 1 company in the realm of American Animation, while Anime is the equivalent of Japanese Animation. If you criticize Disney for ripping off a story, a proper anime equivalent would be an anime studio ripping off a story, not just any anime film.

You can't compare ONE company from one region against ALL the companies from another region. It's not a fair argument.

That said, just because some people don't like Disney doesn't mean they like all anime. DBZ sucks, as does Pokemon and many, MANY, other anime shows. Because Disney is considered the best animation company in America, we're comparing their films to the best films from Japan.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Only the consumer decides if the original stories of 'Aladdin', 'Little Mermaid', 'Hunchback', and so on fade from memory. You can't blame Disney. It's not like they buy the rights (most are public domain anyway) and try to suppress them.

I'm not a huge fan of most contemporary Disney, but some of the things they get blamed for befuddles me.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Michael, I suggest you read a book called "The Mouse that Roared" (not the one about the little European country attacking New York to get us to fix their economy

 

[TheLongshot]

Titan AE is a movie that could have been made 10x better and at half the cost by going for a high PG-13 and giving it to Sunrise and giving it to Kawamori or Watanabe.

It would have been better if they worked on the script as much as they did the animation.

And I don't want to see Don Bluth being replaced by Kawamori and Watanabe (either one of them). I want people with their own vision here in this country to make quality animation that the general public will enjoy. It is too bad that Brad Bird has been swallowed up by Pixar. While he's going to be doing fine with the 3D stuff, I'm a traditionalist by nature. I'd like to see him do 2D work.

The reason why we talk about Disney, rather than the US as a whole, is that for 2D animation, Disney is practically it. Yes, there's Dreamworks, but they have yet to make a great film, and are still tied up making Katsenberg-era Disney type films. I am looking forward to Sinbad, but don't have high hopes about it. Fox and Warner Bros both have shut down their animation branches, and considering how "hot" 3D animation is right now, I don't know if they will ever return in this country. Personally, I think it is sad...

Jason

 

[PaulP]

Don't people just WATCH animation anymore. I appreciate a good story as much as anyone, but my main interest in animation is... animation. Disney's animation is one of the best, and has always been. That's what I find attractive in films that are blasted even by Disney fans. And having never seen a Miyazaki film (I do own Grave of the Fireflies though), I ordered the 3-pack simply on the quality of animation i saw in trailers and screenshots.

 

[Steven_Ma]

Anyone else's copy full frame?