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As someone who's seen almost all Ghibli movies, I can tell you that Miyazaki is not averse to the grotesque. Most who have seen Spirited Away probably remember
by jackfrodo 10y ago
As someone who's seen almost all Ghibli movies, I can tell you that Miyazaki is not averse to the grotesque. Most who have seen Spirited Away probably remember it as a wonderful and positive film, but when it was showed at my younger sister's 10th birthday party, most of the children were terrified, based purely on the animated monsters.
There are creatures more disturbing in his movies than that zombie. The difference is the deep human empathy that goes into their creation.
IIRC, almost every frame in Ghibli movies is drawn by hand, so to see an AI created zombie that (in his view) mimics disabilities suffered by his friend in order to achieve a creepy effect, how could he not find it disgusting?
- ldjb 10y agoI think it's worth noting that mythology featuring creatures similar to those depicted in Spirited Away is hugely prevalent in Japanese culture. Children grow up with stories and images of youkai, so I imagine that when they watch Spirited Away, there is an element of familiarity and the feeling of disgust is lessened. Zombies, on the other hand, aren't as integral a part of Japanese culture, and are mostly a western influence. Since we tend to fear and find disturbing things we aren't familiar with, I can imagine zombies actually being more disturbing to a Japanese person than youkai-like creatures. Of course, I'm sure the fact the zombies reminded Miyazaki of his friend played a big part in his reaction, too.