Report: Studio Ghibli May Be Shutting Down - Update

[MovieBob]

Report: Studio Ghibli May Be Shutting Down - Update

General Manager implies world-renowned anime studio may close its doors this year

Update: Kotaku's Brian Ashcraft is reporting that some of the conflicting reports about Studio Ghibli's future may be informed by incorrect translations [http://kotaku.com/studio-ghibli-is-not-dead-yet-1615520289] of Toshio Suzuki's interview with the MBS program Jounetsu Tairiku.

In addition, SlashFilm's Russ Fischer is similarly reporting [http://www.slashfilm.com/studio-ghibli-closed/] that Ghibli's plans are closer to "housecleaning" or "restructuring," though it's not yet clear whether that means the studio's animation department will remain open.

Original Story: In what is being received as heartbreaking news for fans of anime, animation and film history in general, Studio Ghibli - the legendary Japanese animation studio most famous for bringing the works of Hayao Miyazaki to the world - will shut down its animation studio this year according to multiple sources.

General Manager Toshio Suzuki is reported to have confirmed the news earlier today on a Japanese news-talk show, sending shockwaves through the anime community despite the move having been heavily rumored since last year's high-profile retirement of Hayao Miyazaki and the box-office underperformance of The Tale of Princess Kaguya. The studios now-final production, When Marnie Was There, opened a month ago in Japan. According to Suzuki, the company will transition to focus on licensing and merchandising characters and trademarks from its various classic films, while maintaining a small staff for "Miyazaki projects," though without an animation studio it is unclear what such projects would entail.

Founded in 1985 by Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and Suzuki after the success of Naussica: Valley of The Wind, Ghibli is widely considered to be the Anime world's equivalent to Walt Disney. It produced world-recognized classics such as My Neighbor Totoro, Laputa: Castle in The Sky and the Academy Award winning Spirited Away. The studio also co-produced the video game Ni no Kuni between 2010 and 2013 across various platforms.

At this time, no information has been made available as to the plans of the studios other now-departing animators or of any previously in-production projects.


Sources: Flickering Myth [http://blog.thefilmstage.com/post/93705622156/oh-totoro-studio-ghibli-announces-closure]

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[ryo02]

a sad day a very sad day ... <--- a short post a very short post but also a very true one.

 

[Roxas1359]

Man, this is a lame April Fools joke...*looks at calendar and sees it's August*
Oh...well, if anyone needs me I'm going to be going into the corner and will be crying right now. What is prompting this? I mean if it's finances then I'd be surprised. Either way, I'm sad that such an amazing animation studio is being closed.

 

[Alterego-X]

They will probably be more strongly missed by general movie connoisseurs, than most anime fans.

I'm an anime fan, and while I greately appreciate Miyazaki, and even the non-Miyazaki Ghibli movies have their own charm, it's just one possible charms among many. In the TV series side of the industry, new styles and genres are rising and falling every year, compared to them, the whole pastoral-whimsical-ambient Ghibli thing was kind of on my periphery.

 

[busterkeatonrules]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Seriously though, this sucks! Anyone know what will happen to Goro Miyazaki's Ronia the Robber's Daughter - project?

 

[PinkiePyro]

I am gonna go join Neronium in crying in the corner... this just ruined my day


captcha: circle of life
F you capcha no one asked for your oppenon on the subject *punts the capcha box out the window*

 

[fix-the-spade]

Now would be a good time for Disney to swoop...

Anyway, this is quite sad, but for a single production company Ghibli has had an astounding run. Miyazaki and some of the senior people in the company have been working since the sixties, they had to get old sooner or later.

I don't think there's anyone in Japan (or the world for that matter) that can replace them, this might be the end of the last major 2-d animated movie makers, which is extremely sad.

 

[Weaver]

A sad day in history, but nothing lasts forever. Thanks for all the years of magic, Ghibli!

 

[RRal2837]

According to a Japanese website, this is just a rumour based on them firing a bunch of animators. Animators are contracted for the project so this is nothing really. I am certainly hoping they are not shutting down.

http://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/9106873/
(It's in Japanese)

 

[Eri]

It's funny to me how many people yell that Ghibli is the pinnacle of anime. And others say similar things (such as "it's the only real anime!"), and yet, clearly they aren't the best around or they wouldn't be shutting down.

I'm not glad to see a studio close, but they are certainly the most over-hyped anime studio around. I'll be glad to no longer have to hear people drone on and on about them.

 

[DrMcCoy]

Is there an actual source for this, or is this another case of people jumping the gun like the recent hoax of the cancellation of Orange is the New Black?

 

[ccggenius12]

Is there an actual source for this, or is this another case of people jumping the gun like the recent hoax of the cancellation of Orange is the New Black?

Damn it Jim! I'm a doctor, not a fact checker!

OT: Sad if true, but I don't consider it Studio Ghibli shutting down so much as it is the heart and soul of the company retiring.

 

[Falterfire]

It's funny to me how many people yell that Ghibli is the pinnacle of anime. And others say similar things (such as "it's the only real anime!"), and yet, clearly they aren't the best around or they wouldn't be shutting down.

Don't know anything about this particular studio, but there are any number of reasons why the highest quality producer could still shut down, like inept management, a higher cost for higher quality, a lack of proper marketing, or key creative personnel losing interest.

I haven't seen anywhere near enough anime to know if Ghibli is the best, but a studio shutting down isn't an indicator of its quality.

 

[Fsyco]

Is there an actual source for this, or is this another case of people jumping the gun like the recent hoax of the cancellation of Orange is the New Black?

Assuming the sources in the Article are correct (they're linked at the bottom of the article), the head of the studio announced it in an interview. They're shutting down the production department of the studio, but will continue to manage their copyrights and stuff. I'm not that surprised, since Miyazaki retired last year.

As someone who doesn't really like anime, this made my day. I'm going to spend the next week rubbing it in my friend's faces.

 

[Tisiphone1]

The CEO of Anime News Network tweeted that they haven't heard anything about this from their Tokyo sources. In wait and see mode, personally.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Well Hayao did see it coming-

http://ricktimus.tumblr.com/post/91713451172/an-hour-and-four-minutes-in-fourth-time-crying

Look on the bright side, Hayao is still alived and kicking (for now). His day of passing will bring tears to my eyes but none the less this news has sadden me (and god knows what the Studio Ghilbi DVD/ Blu Ray collection will be like and the cost of it)!

EDIT- Dammit! You scared us there!

 

[J Tyran]

Only a few more to go and the world will be free of this anime curse, I'm sure the "artists" will be fine. They can get careers producing their fetish material on Deviant Art for donations or something.

 

[omega 616]

... Who?

I've never heard of this studio or any of the titles listed, I've heard of Ni no Kuni but thought it looked bad, as most indie stuff does, so I skipped it.

Then again, I think a large chunk of anime is pretty bad. Everybody praised FMA, so I watched it and after 30 episodes (I gave it time to get good) I was so fucking bored I stopped watching, not to mention the intro had to be the worst ever ... constantly telling us about equivalent exchange.

 

[Ishal]

Only a few more to go and the world will be free of this anime curse, I'm sure the "artists" will be fine. They can get careers producing their fetish material on Deviant Art for donations or something.

While that might be a bit too harsh, I can't say I disagree entirely.



OT, the industry has been in a tailspin for quite a while now, and it's direction of focusing inward to pander to Otakus has really hurt it. More and more studio work is being outsourced to Korea, and China has an animation industry on the rise. Ghibli was pretty much the bastion of anime that wasn't overly focused on one single demographic, instead making films for a wider audience. Pretty sure Miyazaki had strong feelings about that.

Shame to see one of the few studios responsible for the .05% of anime I like go away. Oh well.

 

[EndlessSporadic]

Miyazaki retired. What do you expect?