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My Neighbor Totoro is a family favorite in our household. My wife loves it. We even play the soundtrack in the car and in our backyard. We also greatly enjoy th

My Neighbor Totoro is a family favorite in our household. My wife loves it. We even play the soundtrack in the car and in our backyard. We also greatly enjoy the Ernest & Celestine movies. We are waiting for the show to make it to a streaming service for us to try that. I hope the next generation of Studio Ghibli isn't afraid to further explore the "Miyazaki universes" he envisioned. I know that AI will make it possible for others to do so, even if they drop the ball. I'm grateful for the work these people have done to entertain so many with heartfelt animations.

ToucanLoucan 1y ago
> I know that AI will make it possible for others to do so Disgusting take. If indeed Ghibli goes with Miyazaki, then let it go. Sometimes art is just done and that's a concept as a culture we have so much friction with. If a game isn't updating, it's dead. If a movie isn't getting a sequel, it's dead. If a studio stops creating it's treated like some kind of loss, as if the beautiful things it's already made aren't good enough because there can't be any more. Not every movie needs sequels, not every "universe" needs to have every corner of it documented and turned into subsequent works. For fucks sake just let stuff be finished, and that attitude comes with a bonus feature where maybe creatives won't be constantly burning themselves out under the demands of every audience. I genuinely can't fathom the sort of person who is like "this artists' work moved me and elevated me as a person, but I guess if they die I can use shitty image gen programs to see more of what they might've made." Gross. Just gross.
- sifar 1y ago
  In Passing - Lisel Mueller How swiftly the strained honey of afternoon light flows into darkness and the closed bud shrugs off its special mystery in order to break into blossom as if what exists, exists so that it can be lost and become precious
  - ToucanLoucan 1y ago
    Beautiful piece. And yeah, I just don't get this. If you want this sort of never ending, never permitted to end media system you can have it, Disney is right there, with Star Wars, with it's live action remakes, with it's Marvel. Like it's comical how many juggernaut IP's they own that just churn out the very definition of content. And that's not to say all of it's bad, Andor is quite incredible, Wandivision combined it's tropey comic book story with genuinely heart-wrenching writing from House of M, and I could cite many other examples. But the vast majority, especially after Endgame, has just been completely forgettable, disposable shows and movies that are famously mediocre and disliked specifically because they have nothing to say, no point to make, and simply exist to occupy space on the Marvel treadmill. And to have that desired from Studio Ghibli is just... full body shudders man.
- helloplanets 1y ago
  That's rough. And somehow reeks like it's inspired by that old clip of Miyazaki trashing the procedurally generated 'monster' animation. You're intentionally misinterpreting what the OP wrote. "I guess if they die I can use shitty image gen programs" versus "I know that AI will make it possible for others to do so" are very different takes. I do agree with you that we should be able to not try to create a sequel of a sequel of a remake, and let things pass. But isn't a lot of what Disney et al are doing specifically because their movies take a lot of resources to pull together, so end up playing it safe in the worst possible way? What's your opinion on sampling, when it comes to music?
  - ToucanLoucan 1y ago
    > "I guess if they die I can use shitty image gen programs" versus "I know that AI will make it possible for others to do so" are very different takes. Miyazaki's art is Miyazaki's. If another artist were to come along and imitate his style, especially after he is gone, that is still not Miyazaki. That is whomever's that is's style and it's disrespectful of both to call it Miyazaki. And, more to the point, all the AI generated garbage Ghibli crap makes the point better than I ever could. Look at it. It's dead. It looks like the right thing, and it mostly gets it all right, but you just know in your heart that it's not correct. It lacks intentionality which is a pretty universal critique of AI art (since an AI model, by definition, can't have intentionality) but it's one that triples down in potency when associated with something so widely beloved. > But isn't a lot of what Disney et al are doing specifically because their movies take a lot of resources to pull together, so end up playing it safe in the worst possible way? ... yes? Was this meant as a counterpoint to what I said or a corroboration? I genuinely can't tell, the lead-in is phrased like you're going to disagree and then you cite the exact same (awful) example of how BAD this is. > What's your opinion on sampling, when it comes to music? As with most things, it depends. I think the Ghibli AI slop has a lot more in common with Vanilla Ice than, say, Hung Up by Madonna.
    - tpmoney 1y ago
      > Miyazaki's art is Miyazaki's. If another artist were to come along and imitate his style, especially after he is gone, that is still not Miyazaki. That is whomever's that is's style and it's disrespectful of both to call it Miyazaki. Yes, but also no. Miyazaki’s art style is distinctive and certainly stands out, but it’s also very clearly a “mass produced” thing. In that I mean a team of animators are all creating frames of art in the Miyazaki style that are obviously not drawn by Miyazaki, but we call them Miyazaki art because they’re conglomerated into a single work under his direction. The question is how many frames of a movie have to be personally drawn by Miyazaki in order for something to be a Miyazaki film? If he directs the art and movie, but doesn’t actually draw anything himself, is that still a Miyazaki film? Is that “disrespectful” to him? More specifically, is the art style what makes a film a Miyazaki film or is it the world, the ideas and the individual human moments that are chosen to be drawn that make the film?
mronetwo 1y ago
> I know that AI will make it possible for others to do so, even if they drop the ball. Seems you completely miss the point of Miyazaki's work. You can watch a video of Miyazaki watching an AI generated animation and see what he think about generative "art"[1]. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZ0K3lWKRc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZ0K3lWKRc
- ViktorRay 1y ago
  That video you linked was hilarious. Oh how I wish more people would have Miyazaki’s way of thinking. I don’t mean that they should necessarily have his exact same opinions on things. I mean that they should think through things and approach them in the same process and manner that Miyazaki does.
  - GoatInGrey 1y ago
    I hope fewer people evaluate animation techniques like Miyazaki did in that presentation. Likening a fantasy zombie character's movement to a disabled person and calling it an affront to life itself validates the exact look and feel the animation team was going for. Though he posits this as a negative for no logical reason that is offered. This is dramatic of me to say, but I can sincerely claim that anyone in my division that pulled something like this would be demoted or let go. If for nothing else than evaluating a technical product using and only using emotional language.
    - aprilthird2021 1y ago
      > If for nothing else than evaluating a technical product using and only using emotional language. Yeah, wouldn't want emotions to get in the way of... movies and TV people connect emotionally to for their entire lives...
    - GuinansEyebrows 1y ago
      in the world of art, people who care more about technical product rather than emotion tend to make disposable art that does not resonate across generations
spacechild1 1y ago
> I know that AI will make it possible for others to do so, even if they drop the ball. Ugh...
aprilthird2021 1y ago
If you were grateful for their work, you wouldn't wish for AI to "generate" soulless facsimiles of that work to drown people in.

ToucanLoucan 1y ago

> I know that AI will make it possible for others to do so Disgusting take. If indeed Ghibli goes with Miyazaki, then let it go. Sometimes art is just done and that's a concept as a culture we have so much friction with. If a game isn't updating, it's dead. If a movie isn't getting a sequel, it's dead. If a studio stops creating it's treated like some kind of loss, as if the beautiful things it's already made aren't good enough because there can't be any more. Not every movie needs sequels, not every "universe" needs to have every corner of it documented and turned into subsequent works. For fucks sake just let stuff be finished, and that attitude comes with a bonus feature where maybe creatives won't be constantly burning themselves out under the demands of every audience. I genuinely can't fathom the sort of person who is like "this artists' work moved me and elevated me as a person, but I guess if they die I can use shitty image gen programs to see more of what they might've made." Gross. Just gross.

sifar 1y ago
In Passing - Lisel Mueller How swiftly the strained honey of afternoon light flows into darkness and the closed bud shrugs off its special mystery in order to break into blossom as if what exists, exists so that it can be lost and become precious
- ToucanLoucan 1y ago
  Beautiful piece. And yeah, I just don't get this. If you want this sort of never ending, never permitted to end media system you can have it, Disney is right there, with Star Wars, with it's live action remakes, with it's Marvel. Like it's comical how many juggernaut IP's they own that just churn out the very definition of content. And that's not to say all of it's bad, Andor is quite incredible, Wandivision combined it's tropey comic book story with genuinely heart-wrenching writing from House of M, and I could cite many other examples. But the vast majority, especially after Endgame, has just been completely forgettable, disposable shows and movies that are famously mediocre and disliked specifically because they have nothing to say, no point to make, and simply exist to occupy space on the Marvel treadmill. And to have that desired from Studio Ghibli is just... full body shudders man.
helloplanets 1y ago
That's rough. And somehow reeks like it's inspired by that old clip of Miyazaki trashing the procedurally generated 'monster' animation. You're intentionally misinterpreting what the OP wrote. "I guess if they die I can use shitty image gen programs" versus "I know that AI will make it possible for others to do so" are very different takes. I do agree with you that we should be able to not try to create a sequel of a sequel of a remake, and let things pass. But isn't a lot of what Disney et al are doing specifically because their movies take a lot of resources to pull together, so end up playing it safe in the worst possible way? What's your opinion on sampling, when it comes to music?
- ToucanLoucan 1y ago
  > "I guess if they die I can use shitty image gen programs" versus "I know that AI will make it possible for others to do so" are very different takes. Miyazaki's art is Miyazaki's. If another artist were to come along and imitate his style, especially after he is gone, that is still not Miyazaki. That is whomever's that is's style and it's disrespectful of both to call it Miyazaki. And, more to the point, all the AI generated garbage Ghibli crap makes the point better than I ever could. Look at it. It's dead. It looks like the right thing, and it mostly gets it all right, but you just know in your heart that it's not correct. It lacks intentionality which is a pretty universal critique of AI art (since an AI model, by definition, can't have intentionality) but it's one that triples down in potency when associated with something so widely beloved. > But isn't a lot of what Disney et al are doing specifically because their movies take a lot of resources to pull together, so end up playing it safe in the worst possible way? ... yes? Was this meant as a counterpoint to what I said or a corroboration? I genuinely can't tell, the lead-in is phrased like you're going to disagree and then you cite the exact same (awful) example of how BAD this is. > What's your opinion on sampling, when it comes to music? As with most things, it depends. I think the Ghibli AI slop has a lot more in common with Vanilla Ice than, say, Hung Up by Madonna.
  - tpmoney 1y ago
    > Miyazaki's art is Miyazaki's. If another artist were to come along and imitate his style, especially after he is gone, that is still not Miyazaki. That is whomever's that is's style and it's disrespectful of both to call it Miyazaki. Yes, but also no. Miyazaki’s art style is distinctive and certainly stands out, but it’s also very clearly a “mass produced” thing. In that I mean a team of animators are all creating frames of art in the Miyazaki style that are obviously not drawn by Miyazaki, but we call them Miyazaki art because they’re conglomerated into a single work under his direction. The question is how many frames of a movie have to be personally drawn by Miyazaki in order for something to be a Miyazaki film? If he directs the art and movie, but doesn’t actually draw anything himself, is that still a Miyazaki film? Is that “disrespectful” to him? More specifically, is the art style what makes a film a Miyazaki film or is it the world, the ideas and the individual human moments that are chosen to be drawn that make the film?

mronetwo 1y ago

> I know that AI will make it possible for others to do so, even if they drop the ball. Seems you completely miss the point of Miyazaki's work. You can watch a video of Miyazaki watching an AI generated animation and see what he think about generative "art"[1]. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZ0K3lWKRc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZ0K3lWKRc

ViktorRay 1y ago
That video you linked was hilarious. Oh how I wish more people would have Miyazaki’s way of thinking. I don’t mean that they should necessarily have his exact same opinions on things. I mean that they should think through things and approach them in the same process and manner that Miyazaki does.
- GoatInGrey 1y ago
  I hope fewer people evaluate animation techniques like Miyazaki did in that presentation. Likening a fantasy zombie character's movement to a disabled person and calling it an affront to life itself validates the exact look and feel the animation team was going for. Though he posits this as a negative for no logical reason that is offered. This is dramatic of me to say, but I can sincerely claim that anyone in my division that pulled something like this would be demoted or let go. If for nothing else than evaluating a technical product using and only using emotional language.
  - aprilthird2021 1y ago
    > If for nothing else than evaluating a technical product using and only using emotional language. Yeah, wouldn't want emotions to get in the way of... movies and TV people connect emotionally to for their entire lives...
  - GuinansEyebrows 1y ago
    in the world of art, people who care more about technical product rather than emotion tend to make disposable art that does not resonate across generations

spacechild1 1y ago

> I know that AI will make it possible for others to do so, even if they drop the ball. Ugh...

aprilthird2021 1y ago

If you were grateful for their work, you wouldn't wish for AI to "generate" soulless facsimiles of that work to drown people in.