Now this is clever. DeviantART member Botjira has amassed a gallery of paper collage art, which also includes a number of works devoted to Studio Ghibli. These impressive artworks involve paper, glue, acrylic, pastels, and a good pair of scissors. Scenes are evoked from a number of Miyazaki films - My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, and Howl's Moving Castle.
I'm posting my personal favorites here on the blog. You can peruse Botjira's collection at his DeviantART page. I love the abstractration of these collage works; this visual style evokes Japan's inherent iconic quality (I'm using Scott McCloud's terms), from anime to manga to video games. Color and texture are especially strong, and compositions are well-framed.
I'd like to see these works rendered in animation, frankly. If I were creating short films at, say, Pixar, I'd push heavily for a paper cutout look just like this. The American quest for "realism" in animation is following the wrong direction (and it's still largely wrapped around caricature); abstraction and symbolism can be a far more potent tool of storytellers. And, besides, aren't you getting tired of every cartoon looking exactly the same? Animators need to mix things up just to keep us interested.
6 comments:
A cutout animation of Ghibli? This is as close as you will get: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQg-_gmGOIw
I’ve never watched anything from Pixar beyond accidentally catching a few minutes of something on TV as the CGI animation leaves me cold and their stories lack the profundity of a Miyazaki and Takahata so don't really interest me. To me, Studio Ghibli is an artist’s colony producing handcrafted masterpieces but Pixar is just another part of the Disney empire and soulless corporate America.
As for fan art, here’s something you might have missed
http://thekingdomkey.net/index.html/_/art/fanart-friday-my-neighbor-totoro-r165
Tanuki, as a huge fan of Studio Ghibli devoted to watching and collecting just about everything they release/d, let me tell you: You couldn't be more wrong about Pixar! Here's a studio that has produced some of the most witty, spirited and heartfelt pieces of animation out there!
Oh, speaking of realism vs. abstraction: Depends entirely on what you want to do/convey. But definitely watch Pixar's "Day and Night" short :-)
Agreed. Pixar is an oasis in the animation world, and always has been ever since their groundbreaking short films. And I can throw on the Toy Story Blu-Ray and laugh myself stupid anytime.
Personally, I'm a little worried about them right now, as they seem to be stuck in a holding pattern. But that's a common challenge for any successful artist in their position. I think more adventurous, experimental short films could be a key catalyst in recharging Pixar's batteries.
We'll have to agree to disagree on this as clearly our tastes in film beyond Studio Ghibli differ considerably. I'm more of an art film fan and would rather watch something by Yuri Norstein, Jan Svankmajer, Alexander Alexeieff or Bill Plympton than anything from Pixar. I'm not writing Pixar off completely but I'm not hopeful I'd ever find anything from them I'd really enjoy.
I love these art pieces! Very charming and whimsical. I wish I could buy some to hang on my walls.
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