Howl, Totoro, Whisper - March 2006 Studio Ghibli Fact Sheet

[Prince Eric]

Who cares if its 24 frames or not? It's not important. It's the ideas which are important.

Exactly, and the Miyazaki films are chalk-full of sophisticated ideas.

[Lord Yupa]

I agree with dvdjunkie. Honestly, I don't mean any disrespect, I don't understand how fans of Disney animation can like Japanese anime. The animation doesn't even compare. Japanese anime is about as animated as the books they used to read on Reading Rainbow. They don't use 24 pictures per second like Disney. (I think I have that right.)

Anyway, I just won't buy the Japanese anime. The United States has always created much better animation than Japan.

If all you care about is how many images they use per second, then you're pretty shallow. The quality of the animation has little to do with how many drawings are used.

Anyway, as a student of animation, this is what I can tell you:
DIsney films are done on 1s (24 drawings per second) much of the time because they use rotoscope, which is tracing over live-action footage frame-by-frame. Hand-drawn animated films from Studio Ghibli (which never use rotoscope), in comparison, are done on 2s (12 drawings per second at 24 frames per second), 3s (8 drawings per second at 24 frames per second), and even occasionally 4s (6 drawings per second at 24 frames per second), going to the 1s only during action scenes or scenes with really subtle and detailed movement because that's their style, and each different motion rate has its own unique and wonderful feel. It's a more abstract, impressionistic approach to movement compared to the realism of Disney, Don Bluth, or Ralph Bakshi, and is extremely similar to the work of the Fleischer Bros., Warner Bros., and UPA in their stylization of the medium.

[Karushifa]

Anyway, as a student of animation, this is what I can tell you:
DIsney films are done on 1s (24 drawings per second) much of the time because they use rotoscope, which is tracing over live-action footage frame-by-frame. Hand-drawn animated films from Studio Ghibli (which never use rotoscope), in comparison, are done on 2s (12 drawings per second at 24 frames per second), 3s (8 drawings per second at 24 frames per second), and even occasionally 4s (6 drawings per second at 24 frames per second), going to the 1s only during action scenes or scenes with really subtle and detailed movement because that's their style, and each different motion rate has its own unique and wonderful feel. It's a more abstract, impressionistic approach to movement compared to the realism of Disney, Don Bluth, or Ralph Bakshi, and is extremely similar to the work of the Fleischer Bros., Warner Bros., and UPA in their stylization of the medium.

I think this is how stop-motion studios (such as Aardman) shoot their material, i.e. 12 or 8 different poses/shots for every second of film, but projected to run at 24 fps. As far as I know, no one accuses Wallace and Gromit of looking cheap and/or uninspired.

Here's a confession: I used to not think very highly of anime at all. Why? Because I thought it was all cheap, realtively poorly-done stuff like Pokemon and the like. But when I scratched the surface just a bit, and started watching films from the better anime artists, I was amazed by what I saw. So I implore all of you out there who have categorically waved off anime to give films like Miyazaki's another chance. If you saw and liked Spirited Away, for example, there's no reason you wouldn't like other films in the Ghibli catalog. Trust me, they're all well worth your precious time.

[Lord Yupa]

Anyway, as a student of animation, this is what I can tell you:
DIsney films are done on 1s (24 drawings per second) much of the time because they use rotoscope, which is tracing over live-action footage frame-by-frame. Hand-drawn animated films from Studio Ghibli (which never use rotoscope), in comparison, are done on 2s (12 drawings per second at 24 frames per second), 3s (8 drawings per second at 24 frames per second), and even occasionally 4s (6 drawings per second at 24 frames per second), going to the 1s only during action scenes or scenes with really subtle and detailed movement because that's their style, and each different motion rate has its own unique and wonderful feel. It's a more abstract, impressionistic approach to movement compared to the realism of Disney, Don Bluth, or Ralph Bakshi, and is extremely similar to the work of the Fleischer Bros., Warner Bros., and UPA in their stylization of the medium.

I think this is how stop-motion studios (such as Aardman) shoot their material, i.e. 12 or 8 different poses/shots for every second of film, but projected to run at 24 fps. As far as I know, no one accuses Wallace and Gromit of looking cheap and/or uninspired.

Exactly. Maybe that's one reason why Nick Park holds Miyazaki in such high regard .

[MichaeLeah]

Hey Guys,

Calm down. I didn't mean that much by saying Disney uses 24 frames/second. I am just very fond of Disney animation. I think of animation as an art that only Disney perfected. In my mind all other animation will always be inferior to Disney animation. Please don't take it personal. I have just never liked Japanese animation and I only ever watch Disney animation. Maybe this has more with taste and preference and lacks an educated perspective. But I think animation is Disney's art. I think that nobody else will ever be able to compare to Disney animation.

Don't take it as such an insult toward anime. Try taking it as a complement toward Disney animation. Whatever you do, don't forget the gigantic contribution Disney has made toward animation.

[Karushifa]

Hey Guys,

Calm down. I didn't mean that much by saying Disney uses 24 frames/second. I am just very fond of Disney animation. I think of animation as an art that only Disney perfected. In my mind all other animation will always be inferior to Disney animation. Please don't take it personal. I have just never liked Japanese animation and I only ever watch Disney animation. Maybe this has more with taste and preference and lacks an educated perspective. But I think animation is Disney's art. I think that nobody else will ever be able to compare to Disney animation.

Don't take it as such an insult toward anime. Try taking it as a complement toward Disney animation. Whatever you do, don't forget the gigantic contribution Disney has made toward animation.

We're not really taking as such an insult as much as trying to say that while Disney may have been a pioneer in animation (after all, Walt produced the very first feature-length animated film), it is far from being Disney's exclusive baby any more and many other studios have taken what Disney started and gone their own direction with it.

I'll be the first to admit that not all Japanese animation is good. I can also say the same for American animation and even Disney animation (i.e., there are, I feel, some Disney films that are inferior to others both in style and story). Why aren't they all good? Because it's much more than nationality that determines whether an animated film is "good" or not. It's fascinating to see the evolution of Disney animation, especially in the period after Walt died, as different animators, writers, and producers came in and out of the picture. Just there you have quite a variety in quality and style, from the somewhat mediocre Robin Hood to the Oscar-nominated Beauty and the Beast.

Now I'm sorry, but I just have to go toe-to-toe with anyone who automaticaly lumps in Studio Ghibli with lesser anime. And I feel that anyone who says something to the effect of, "I just don't like Japanese animation" is doing this. There is a reason why Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata are two of the most respected and revered animation directors in the world: because their works show what painstaking effort they and their staff put into them, and are stylistically and emotionally light-years ahead of the sort of stuff you might see on Toonami. When someone like John Lasseter, who is part of an extremely well-respected American studio, showers Ghibli with praise, you know there must be something there worth seeing. Ghibli isn't trying to be the Japanese Disney, inc. and Miyazaki has hesistated accepting the title of "Walt Disney of the East". Their works don't need to be compared with Disney, because they stand up extremely well on their own.

My point to all of this is, you can like BOTH Disney and anime if you give them a try. But it's rather unfair to dislike the latter because it's not the former.

[Bill W]

I have all of the Studio Ghibli films available on DVD in the US and really enjoyed Howl's Moving Castle and Whisper of the Heart. My Neighbor Totoro was also a fun story. I personally think Howl's Moving Castle is the best movie from Studio Ghibli, slightly ahead of Spirited Away.

And I love Whisper of the Heart for more personal reasons. I lived in Japan, and more specifically the West Tokyo and Kanagawa areas for a couple of years during the same time period Whisper is set in. There are tons of things and places in the backgrounds that bring back great memories. For example, I used to frequent a FamilyMart just like the one at the beginning of the movie. And the first train I ever rode in Japan was a Keio train like the ones Shizuku rides in the movie (the station names in the movie are made up though). I also lived next door to a junior high school for a time and everything was very similar as in the movie.

I have really enjoyed all of the Studio Ghibli movies. I personally think Pom Poko is the weakest of the lot. All of the others are excellent.

I'm wondering how many people catch the joke in Whisper of the Heart about Mr. Nishi's friends? After they played Country Roads, Mr. Nishi introduced his friends as Mr. Kita and Mr. Minami. In Japanese, Nishi means West, Kita is North, and Minami is South. I thought it was pretty funny!

[Karushifa]

I have really enjoyed all of the Studio Ghibli movies. I personally think Pom Poko is the weakest of the lot. All of the others are excellent.

I'm wondering how many people catch the joke in Whisper of the Heart about Mr. Nishi's friends? After they played Country Roads, Mr. Nishi introduced his friends as Mr. Kita and Mr. Minami. In Japanese, Nishi means West, Kita is North, and Minami is South. I thought it was pretty funny!

I agree on Pom Poko, and this is likely due to the fact that it can be really obtuse at times unless you are either Japanese or very savvy with Japanese culture and folklore. It's probably the least accessible to American audiences (a lot of whom probably did a spit-take when they saw the tanukis' testicles...how do you explain something like that?). It also bothered me how they referred to the protagonists as "raccoons" in the English dub, when technically they aren't, at least in the sense of raccoons indigenous to America.

That joke in Whisper is pretty funny, now that I know what it means. It's a shame how little in-jokes like that can get lost in the dubbing. There were a lot in Totoro that ended up getting lost, the most major being that the whole reason the titular creatures are called "totoro" in the first place is because Mei mispronounced the Japanese word for "troll." a fact that is lost on a lot of stateside film critics. Ah, well.

[castleinthesky]

I actually would have to disagree with you both and say Pom Poko is one of the stronger Ghibli films.

Personally I find My Neighbor the Yamadas and The Cat Returns to be the weakest.

[castleinthesky]

Hey Guys,

Calm down. I didn't mean that much by saying Disney uses 24 frames/second. I am just very fond of Disney animation. I think of animation as an art that only Disney perfected. In my mind all other animation will always be inferior to Disney animation. Please don't take it personal. I have just never liked Japanese animation and I only ever watch Disney animation. Maybe this has more with taste and preference and lacks an educated perspective. But I think animation is Disney's art. I think that nobody else will ever be able to compare to Disney animation.

Don't take it as such an insult toward anime. Try taking it as a complement toward Disney animation. Whatever you do, don't forget the gigantic contribution Disney has made toward animation.

I have a sincere question for you. What anime have you seen? Have you only seen t.v. shows like Pokemon? Or have you actually seen some of the best from Studio Ghibli, Otomo, and others?

That's like me saying that Disney is the worst ever because look at American Dragon Jake Long or the Rugrats. Those are terribly animated, so Disney must be terrible too.

I actually don't even like the term "anime". It is just animination from Japan. It can be 2-d or fully CGI. It is no different than stuff from the US and Britain that is 2-d or CGI.

[AwallaceUNC]

Rugrats = Nickelodeon/Paramount/Viacom

-Aaron

[Karushifa]

I actually would have to disagree with you both and say Pom Poko is one of the stronger Ghibli films.

Personally I find My Neighbor the Yamadas and The Cat Returns to be the weakest.

Well, mostly I think it is not quite as accessible for Western audiences as other Ghibli films, and that can really affect how much a viewer gets out of it. Not having grown up with Japanese folktales and traditions, I kept feeling as if the film really wasn't for me, even though I knew about a lot of the various cultural aspects of the film.

Of course, it's not necessarily (and shouldn't be) Studio Ghibli's job to specifically crank out movies that Westerners will "get", but at the same time Pom Poko is not a film that I find myself wanting to watch over and over simply because a lot of things in the film were lost on me. So it's more about personal preference here than the actual quality of the film, which I'm sure Takahata-san made sure was present in abundance.

[castleinthesky]

Rugrats = Nickelodeon/Paramount/Viacom

-Aaron

Yeah, and Pokemon isn't Ghibli either. I'm making a comparison.

[MichaeLeah]

I have a sincere question for you. What anime have you seen? Have you only seen t.v. shows like Pokemon? Or have you actually seen some of the best from Studio Ghibli, Otomo, and others?

That's like me saying that Disney is the worst ever because look at American Dragon Jake Long or the Rugrats. Those are terribly animated, so Disney must be terrible too.

I actually don't even like the term "anime". It is just animination from Japan. It can be 2-d or fully CGI. It is no different than stuff from the US and Britain that is 2-d or CGI.

That is a good question. I intend for this to be my last post on the subject. I happen to dislike anime but I don't have anything against anybody who happens to like anime. The purpose of the threat I though was to share what you thought about those movies so I shared what I thought. I didn't intend for anyone to take such a personal reaction. And by the way, I know better than to say all Japanese animation is created equal. I can choose not like any of it and still think that some of it is better than other anime.

For another thing, the Disney animation I happen to really especially like is the animation from their Feature Animation department. I also like Pixar films but there is always a very special place in my heart for traditional animation.

What anime have I seen? Well I haven't seen a whole lot because I never liked what I saw. I have seen some bits from various tv shows. I also happened to see Spirited Away at a theatre. Does that make my opinion a little more valid, even if everyone else happens to disagree? I thought Spirited Away was extremely bizarre and I didn't enjoy it at all. I don't like the style of the Japanese animation either. I have always preferred the various styles that Disney has used.

[Bill W]

I actually would have to disagree with you both and say Pom Poko is one of the stronger Ghibli films.

Personally I find My Neighbor the Yamadas and The Cat Returns to be the weakest.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I won't argue with you. I agree that My Neighbors the Yamadas and The Cat Returns are of the weaker Ghibli films, but still better than most (other recent animation, i.e. Atlantis). Yamadas is weak in the sense of the rough animation and episodic nature, but its honest and realistic protrayal of family life really hits home for me.

My reasons for not really enjoying Pom Poko as much as the others is mostly due to the documentary-style nature and the excessive use of voice-over narration to keep the story moving. Furthermore, the films explicit anti-development message bores me terribly. It just seems to me that the movie is first a piece of propoganda, and second, a story, film and piece of art.

[Texcap]

While I've seen, and really enjoyed, many of Studio Ghibli's movies the only one of the bunch that I've seen in the small poll is My Neighbor Totoro, and if it's any indication -- if it's not my favorite Ghibli film (and it may very well be) then it's right up there with Laputa, Castle in the Sky, and Spirited Away.

A few of the things I enjoyed most about Totoro beyond the overall concept, was it's innocence, emphasis on family, and the feel good/slice of life nature of the film. I can watch it over and over without any problem.

That said, I pretty much love all the Ghibli stuff I've had the good fortune of seeing so pulling off a "favorites" list get's pretty difficult for me.

[brownie]

I actually liked The Cat Returns a lot. My Neighbors the Yamadas wasn't bad, but you know...the style of it wasn't very Ghibli-like, but it was pretty funny i.e. the remote control scene. I think it's one of the weakest Studio Ghibli films, along with Pom Poko. I also don't like Porco Rosso very much. Please don't hurt me!

Back to the actual dvds, I did NOT like the Disney dub for My Neighbor Totoro. Dakota Fanning = NAY. Everyone else was decent, but not Dakota. I bought a copy of My Neighbor Totoro (Fox Release) on VHS at a Flea Market for $3, so I can watch that until I get a copy of the dvd.

Disney is also treating the Ghibli movies very poorly. Behind-the-mic is not good enough...I want to see more production of the film, like they had on the Spirited Away dvd.

[skyler888]

For those who don't like anime is it the just the animation or art style you don't like? Beacause sure most anime have rather jerky animation ( well moatly the tv shows) but the story lines are usually very good and also the characters are extremly unique. So i understand how you could not like the animation of anime but everything else about is much better then most animation nowadays.

[Texcap]

I actually liked The Cat Returns a lot.

Good call, The Cat Returns is a great Ghibli film!

I enjoyed that one so much I quickly made it a point to arrange a movie viewing night with my sister and nieces so that they could enjoy it (and so that I could see it on an HDTV big screen, "but that's not important right now"). The 3-yr. old was glued to the set and apparently really enjoyed it so it's yet one more Ghibli film I'll soon be adding to my collection -- and sooner rather than later.

I'm trying to get one of them each month, or so, until I've completed my Ghibli library.