Ask John: Is Disney/Miramax Trying to Bury Miyazaki?

Question:
Why doesn’t another company release the Miyazaki films? Personally, I don’t want his movies to be associated with Disney, since I believe his movies are much superior to Disney’s. If Disney is going to treat his movies like they treated Mononoke, they don’t deserve the right to release them anyway. The fact that Kiki and Totoro were straight to video releases, and that they were only available dubbed is a shame.

Answer:
Unfortunately, since Disney owns the international distribution rights to the Ghibli films, no other company can legally release any Ghibli films unless they either sub-license them from Disney or wait until the Disney license expires. It does seem as though Disney may be trying to bury the Ghibli films, but consideration of the facts would suggest a less insidious explanation. I honestly never expected to ever be in a position of defending the Walt Disney corporation, but the facts do seem to be fairly clear.

It may be fair to say that Miramax did not support the theatrical distribution of Princess Mononoke as effectively as they could or should have, but there can be little doubt that a great deal of time and finances were spent on the film, including the selection of Neil Gaiman to write the dub script, and the selection of veteran character actors for the dubbing. The Disney company was also obviously receptive to fan demands for a subtitle track on the DVD release, as proven by the decision to delay the release of the DVD version to add a subtitle track. It could be said that the lack of theatrical support for Princess Mononoke was due largely to circumstances rather than intention. As has been recently confirmed, the Disney company scheduled an American release for Mononoke Hime sight unseen. The more mature and violent tone of the film came as a shock and surprise to Disney officials already committed to American distribution of the film. This likely had an effect on the limited advertising support for the film. Furthermore, while Miramax is known for supporting independent, foreign and art films, Princess Mononoke has been Miramax’s only foray into distributing animation. So we may consider the flawed theatrical distribution of Princess Mononoke not so much an intentional oppression as inexperienced debacle.

Unfortunately, with the fiercely capitalistic nature of the Disney company at stake, having the most successful domestically produced Japanese film ever earn a mere two million dollars in America does not bode well for the market potential of the other Studio Ghibli films. It should be noted also that Princess Mononoke was not Disney’s first attempt at marketing their Studio Ghibli licenses to the American market. The home video release of My Neighbor Totoro was licensed and distributed by Twentieth Century Fox, not Disney, so Totoro is not a valid example. Disney did actually produce and release a subtitled version of Kiki’s Delivery Service on VHS, even going so far as to make the film a theatrical aspect wide-screen VHS release for cinemaphiles. Unfortunately this subtitled version simply didn’t sell well and went out of print, eventually followed by the dubbed version as well. The Disney company simply has a history of producing and releasing immediately successful films, from early works like Academy Award winning Sleeping Beauty to recent films like Hercules and Tarzan. The idea of having to slowly culture and introduce animated films to the American market, to progressively increasing success, is simply a foreign (no pun intended) concept to the Walt Disney company.

To say that Disney is intentionally trying to bury the Ghibli films is probably not a genuinely likely circumstance. It’s true that the Ghibli films are Japan’s most similar offering to Disney’s in-house productions, but after 40 years of successful film-making, I personally doubt that the Disney company feels any genuine threat from a total of 9 Japanese films (the number of remaining titles in the Disney/Tokuma Shoten partnership that Disney has not widely released). Furthermore, there are literally hundreds of thousands of anime titles in existence, and numerous companies releasing Japanese animation in English speaking markets. Disney has shown no apparent concern over this competition. There’s no question that Disney’s decision not to distribute the remaining Ghibli films is a serious blow to American anime fandom and American support for quality international cinema, but the results of Disney’s efforts on behalf of the Ghibli films so far seem to suggest that there’s no underhanded or “unethical” reason for Disney’s decision. The decision is one based purely on a simple commercial model. The goal of American fans should not be to criticize or demonize the Disney company for perceived subterfuge and sabotage, but rather to make the Disney company aware that the commercial model on which their basing their decision is flawed and does not take into consideration circumstances like poor advertising and distribution history. Nausicaa.net still has available the mailing address for Disney first posted during the letter writing campaign for subtitles on the Princess Mononoke DVD.