Ask John: Could Pixar Remake Ghibli Movies?
Question:
What are the chances of Pixar doing a CG remake of Grave of the Fireflies for kids?
Answer:
There’s probably very little reason why Pixar could not produce an American CG remake of any given Ghibli film. The bigger question is, “Why should they?” The Pixar animation studio is a Disney subsidiary. The Disney company has a strong working relationship with Studio Ghibli. Disney distributes Ghibli films in America theatrically and on home video. Buena Vista distributes numerous Ghibli films on home video in Japan. Pixar executive John Lassiter is a close friend of Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. In recent years Miyazaki has been increasingly willing to trust Disney and allow limited American alterations to Ghibli films for American release. With such a mutually respectful partnership, there are few, if any other similar partnerships between Japanese and American studios that could potentially develop American re-makes. So the question is not one of possibility, but rather probability.
I presume that the specific case of Graveyard of Fireflies has been suggested because it’s debatably the Ghibli film most unlikely to get an American remake, excluding Ghibli films that shouldn’t even be considered possibilities. The odds of American remakes of Ghibli productions like Only Yesterday, I Can Hear the Ocean, and My Neighbors the Yamadas are so remote that they abstain from reasonable consideration. With Hollywood producer Northrop Davis presently trying to drum up Hollywood interest in a Barefoot Gen movie, Graveyard of Fireflies doesn’t seem drastically removed. However, a few practical considerations have to be taken into account. Disney is earned its fortunes by producing happy, encouraging, audience friendly animation. Graveyard of Fireflies is not a happy story. It may be a powerful and important story, but American audiences certainly aren’t always interested in paying to see important cinema. Americans love Pixar films because they’re vibrant, charming, affirming “feel good” movies. I’m not convinced that American viewers want to see a Pixar movie about a pair of children who terribly and unavoidably starve to death.
Like many film fans, I’m not a proponent of unnecessary remakes. However, I’m not opposed to remakes justified by a weak original, remakes like Imagi’s Astro Boy that introduce a franchise to a new audience, or remakes that show viewers something new – either a unique, alternate perspective on the original or a new vision of the original that’s distinctly different. Under that perspective, director Spike Jonez’s upcoming feature film Where the Wild Things Are has caused me to imagine the wondrous possibility of a major American re-make of Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro, either in full CG or a combination of live action sisters and CG forest spirits. Totoro is a Japanese story. It virtually has to remain a Japanese story in order to emerge from the cultural belief in forest spirits. However, the time and location setting of the film are never prominent and don’t need to be emphasized. Furthermore, the ethnicity of sisters Mei & Satsuki is irrelevant to the story. I’d personally love to see Disney or Pixar stage a Totoro movie featuring photo realistic totoro and catbus spirits. Seeing these big, furry, cuddly beings in realistic detail would be gloriously fulfilling, and I can imagine the film sending countless American children into their backyards and parks in search of small and great totoro. In fact, Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. co-star Sulley could be the predecessor for a Pixar animated totoro.
However, enough of my personal fantasy. The Pixar animation studio has not yet created any remakes of earlier films, nor has the studio worked with licensed characters. The speculation that Pixar may be eager to produce animation featuring Marvel superheroes serves as evidence that the studio is not opposed to creating original films with licensed characters. So the lack of any Disney remakes of Studio Ghibli films may come down to one of two possibilities. Perhaps no one at Disney has given serious thought to the potential of remaking Ghibli movies for mainstream American theaters. Or perhaps Disney executives and animators have considered American re-makes redundant or not viable. I can certainly see American CG remakes of films like Nausicaa, Pom Poko, Princess Mononoke Hime, Whisper of the Heart, and Spirited Away being daunting because the original films don’t especially lend themselves to easy immersion from mainstream American viewers. Films like Laputa, Porco Rosso, and Graveyard of Fireflies are certainly viable prospects for American re-make, but especially the later two are still stories with limited potential to interest American movie goers. Kiki’s Delivery Service feels like a film best suited to a live action remake. (And, in fact, Disney did actually announce plans for an American Kiki’s Delivery Service movie in February 2005.) Out of the entire Ghibli canon, Totoro seems like the title most suited to an American CG remake. Circumstances suggest that there’s plenty of possibility for Pixar remakes of Ghibli films, but the fact that Disney’s announced Kiki remake seems to have gotten shelved and remake plans for other Ghibli movies have never surfaced, I’d say there’s a wide gap between possibility and probability in this case.
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a Pixar remake of “Grave…” is an outlandish idea for sure, but there is still some intersection between Ghibli’s and Pixar’s works I think. A lot of Pixar flicks love to highlight “invisible” worlds, like the secret lives of toys, ants, rats, service robots etc. and how they relate to the “human” world. Some Miyazaki flicks immediately pop out like Totoro, Spirited Away, Mononoke etc.. Takahata’s Pom Poko is particularly Pixar-esque in how it approaches the intersection of the human world and the “secret lives” of Tanuki.
No way a recognizable GotF would be remade by Americans for Americans because then the audience would have to come face to face with the fact Americans were responsible for the tragedies that unfold. It just isn’t going to happen.
I really don’t see a purpose in remaking any of the mentioned films, or any anime, for the American market. Did everyone forget about the Ninja Scroll TV series? Ghibli films are amazing works the first time around, and there really isn’t too much that can be added to most of them (Ponyo could use some expanded content). There’s absolutely no point in having American producers chew them up and spit them out as a pander piece of American animation. I love anime because of the art and creativity that goes behind it because of the cultural orgins. Handing it over to a vastly different culture defeats the entire purpose.
Why would Nausica not qualify as good material for a remake? Just curious if you could elaborate your thoughts on this. Thank you.
PockyBox: If the source material is simply a launch pad for new ideas, then there’s nothing wrong with “remaking” (more like “remixing”) a perfectly fine work into a new work with its own qualities. I don’t think the purpose of most remakes and adaptations are to fix something that’s broken in the source material.
I know what you’re talking about is arbitrary commercial exploitation of preexisting flicks considered “classic” by lazily adapting them to suit a new demographic, which is definitely the case with a lot of daft remakes and adaptations. A Ghibli flick with ultra-high-production-value 3D animation and American pop culture references would be a poor remake, because it would lack vision and soul. Like you say, the expression of Japanese culture, sensibilities and aesthetics at the heart of the original work would be lost in translation. But it’s still possible to imbue it with a new “soul” so to speak and end up with a remake that stands on its own.
Soulless works are not limited to remakes of foreign films though… it’s something that’s pervasive in all commercial/pop art, so I can’t say I’m for or against remakes of Ghibli flicks over any other kind of movie project. Most things have the potential to be good or bad.
Pixar exists almost exclusively to create original content that uses the creativity and inspiration of its writers and directors as fuel. The very idea that the animation studio is going to “adapt” a previously published title is sort of funny in this respect. Pixar’s film slate includes all original materials: TOY STORY 3 (06/2010), NEWT (Summer 2011), BEAR AND THE BOW (Winter 2011/2012), CARS 2 (Summer 2012), and KING OF THE ELVES (Christmas 2012).
That said, if any American animation studio has the talent to adapt a Miyazaki or Ghibli property, it’s them without a doubt. Pixar’s emphasis on story over all else has rung true for more than a decade and a half.
I’m in the camp that would prefer to leave original, animated materials to their respective place in history; but if ever the opportunity arose, I could see an adaptation LAPUTA or KIKI, live-action or animated… both stories are deceptively simple and would have to rely on intelligent casting to succeed.
“There’s probably very little reason why Pixar could not produce an American CG remake of any given Ghibli film.”
Aren’t their movies *already* remakes of Ghibli films? =p And no, the company can’t make CG versions of Ghibli titles, because they would look fake and cartoony, which is pretty much the problem with CG cartoons in general.
“The odds of American remakes of Ghibli productions like Only Yesterday, I Can Hear the Ocean, and My Neighbors the Yamadas are so remote that they abstain from reasonable consideration.”
I can imagine live-action versions of those flicks, though.
“I’m not convinced that American viewers want to see a Pixar movie about a pair of children who terribly and unavoidably starve to death.”
Not to mention that Di$ney would be accused of being “unpatriotic” by depicting the Japanese side, which is probably why they never licensed GotF in the first place.
“Under that perspective, director Spike Jonez’s upcoming feature film Where the Wild Things Are has caused me to imagine the wondrous possibility of a major American re-make of Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro, ”
Um, Where the Wild Things Are *is* a Totoro remake. =p I loved the book, and the extended trailer doesn’t scream “raped my childhood” as much as that leaked clip, but I’m wondering if he can really pad such a short story for 90 minutes or more.
“Furthermore, the ethnicity of sisters Mei & Satsuki is irrelevant to the story.”
That’s what they said about the cast-job for DB: E.
“The Pixar animation studio has not yet created any remakes of earlier films,”
Toy Story 2 and 3 and Cars 2 don’t count as remakes? ^_-
“I can certainly see American CG remakes of films like Nausicaa, Pom Poko, Princess Mononoke Hime, Whisper of the Heart, and Spirited Away being daunting because the original films don’t especially lend themselves to easy immersion from mainstream American viewers.”
That Hellboy 2 guy did technically rip off material from Mononoke Hime for one storyline in the film.
“Films like Laputa, Porco Rosso, and Graveyard of Fireflies are certainly viable prospects for American re-make, ”
I thought they already remade Laputa with Stardust and Porco Rosso with The Aviator. =p And I guess if I wanted to be a dick, Grave of the Fireflies with Slumdog.
Pocky: A remake of GotF would probably revolve around 9/11.
sid: I think the issue with Nausicaa is whether or not it would end up being even more preachy than the Miyazaki version.
“Why would Nausica not qualify as good material for a remake? Just curious if you could elaborate your thoughts on this.”
I didn’t want to suggest that Nausicaa wouldn’t be “good material” for an American CG remake. I only wanted to imply that in comparison to films like Kiki’s Delivery Service and Totoro that are more universal and accessible to mainstream Americans, the post-apocalyptic fantasy setting of Nausicaa may be too genre-centric for average, mainstream Americans.