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Viral Challenge Has People Redrawing Studio Ghibli Characters In Their Own Style, And Here’s 35 Of The Most Impressive Recreations
Studio Ghibli was founded 34 years ago and since then it has cemented itself as one of the best animation film studios in the business. Princess Mononoke (1997), My Neighbor Totoro (1998), Spirited Away (2001), and other movies it produced became instant classics, winning numerous awards and, most importantly, touching hearts all over the world.
As a thank you for everything the studio has done, Twitter user Kadeart challenged the Internet to redraw its famous characters in their own style. And people delivered. They've been sharing their fanart under the hashtag #GhibliRedraw, and some of them are so good, even the studio's icon Hayao Miyazaki would probably approve them.
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#1
fro_st puppy 5 years ago
wow i love this so much. very talented artist. so different yet similar
One of the reasons why these characters are so compelling is depth. As Roger Ebert put it, many directors pitch their movies at 10-year-olds and claim they are for the "whole family" while Miyazaki makes a movie that adults found fascinating at the Berlin, Telluride, and Toronto festivals and claims it is for 10-year-olds. Of course, Miyazaki isn't the only one who's responsible for Studio Ghibli characters, but this explanation perfectly describes the filmmakers' approach.
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'Complexity' applies to Ghibli movie narratives as well. You can watch its movie over and over again and still not fully get it. And the fact that studio representatives give very few articles or agree to so little articles only adds to the mystery surrounding it. There's even a thing called "The Curse of Ghibli", a theory amongst Japanese financial traders, implying that Studio Ghibli is somehow hexed and can damage the stock and currency markets. Apparently, whenever a Ghibli movie airs in the country, bad things happen. They say some traders and investors pay attention to TV schedules for this reason.
Whatever the case might be, we may never really know everything about our beloved Ghibli characters. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
#3
fro_st puppy 5 years ago
oh i love this movie! its an amazing picture well done. Baron and Haru!
#6
Lisa loves cats 5 years ago
Aww she’s cute everybody is saying that she’s being “sexified” but to me it just looks like a cutie
Daria B 5 years ago (edited)
Sexualised? This? Oh, dear goodness, now we'll have to walk around covering our faces because someone might find it inviting? I mean, we do wear face masks because of the virus, but still... (btw, did you know that the whole bathhouse thing in the film is filled with anti-pedophillia symbolism? There's articles and interviews about it, feel free to search it.)
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JessG 5 years ago
The first one is the original movie, and, it's not a 'he'
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Remy 5 years ago
"sexifying" isn't a word; the word you're looking for is "sexualizing". However, just simply adding some slightly more mature and feminine characteristics doesn't 'sexualize' a character - seems kind of creepy to think otherwise.
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#14
D. Pitbull 5 years ago
Yup. now... I am SERIOUSLY hungry ... omg... I want to eat the monitor... I can... almost taste.. the chashu... - no, seriously... I am going to go make some ramen now... damnit.
#15
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 5 years ago
Gorgeous- I love the level of detail and the colours in this piece.
#16
D. Pitbull 5 years ago
YAS!!! I love these guys. I have no idea what they are - giant chick-duck-yellow... I have a plushie of them. So vibrant 'n' shiny in the redraw :D
#19
#25
SirPatTheCat 5 years ago
Omg is that a traditional watercolor?! It's so clean even though that looks like rough or hot press?! I'm very impressed (I usually work with markers or digital and have just started trying out watercolor; am not very good at brush control)
#43
#65
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What do you think ?
elia 84631 5 years ago
These illustrations make me watch all the movies. They are so great and pleasing
Jill 5 years ago
This just reminds me that we need more Ghibli movies! I would love to see some of them redrawn as well like some of these.
Daria B 5 years ago (edited)
Aya to Majo was announced for this winter. It will be 3D, however. I like 3d too, it's just a bit different from usual expectations from us audiences. But let's consider Ghibli also has an actual video game (Ni no Kuni), so I choose to be optimistic about it. After all, Ghibli never really disappointed me.
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Miklós Nagy 5 years ago
How long before it's become the same political trollfest as the Sailor Moon challenge did?
Demi Zwaan 5 years ago
Ok, it started to get confusing half way through, as it seems they start posting redraws first and originals second? That's not the proper order and if you don't know what this is from, like me, you don't know which one is the original... It's always 'old' - 'new'.
Pusheen 4 years ago
It's not upgrading, people are just redrawing stuff in their own style. Chill out.
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Aunt Messy 5 years ago
Aside from abrogating copyright, what makes this arrogant idiot think that he can rewrite characters on some of the most effective and iconic animation that's ever been written? ...///... A large part of the point of the simplicity of the animation style IS simplicity. It's allowing the characters to tell their story WITHOUT embellishment.
Up All Night 5 years ago
Jesus f*****g Christ, did you just say ban all the fanart because of copyright?! Every anime has fans and tons of fanart. Guess what, people aren't always copying the style like slaves, they like to draw in their own unique style. Also I don't think Miyazaki would be flattered by you calling his characters' look "simplified".
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elia 84631 5 years ago
These illustrations make me watch all the movies. They are so great and pleasing
Jill 5 years ago
This just reminds me that we need more Ghibli movies! I would love to see some of them redrawn as well like some of these.
Daria B 5 years ago (edited)
Aya to Majo was announced for this winter. It will be 3D, however. I like 3d too, it's just a bit different from usual expectations from us audiences. But let's consider Ghibli also has an actual video game (Ni no Kuni), so I choose to be optimistic about it. After all, Ghibli never really disappointed me.
Load More Replies... Miklós Nagy 5 years ago
How long before it's become the same political trollfest as the Sailor Moon challenge did?
Demi Zwaan 5 years ago
Ok, it started to get confusing half way through, as it seems they start posting redraws first and originals second? That's not the proper order and if you don't know what this is from, like me, you don't know which one is the original... It's always 'old' - 'new'.
Pusheen 4 years ago
It's not upgrading, people are just redrawing stuff in their own style. Chill out.
Load More Replies... Aunt Messy 5 years ago
Aside from abrogating copyright, what makes this arrogant idiot think that he can rewrite characters on some of the most effective and iconic animation that's ever been written? ...///... A large part of the point of the simplicity of the animation style IS simplicity. It's allowing the characters to tell their story WITHOUT embellishment.
Up All Night 5 years ago
Jesus f*****g Christ, did you just say ban all the fanart because of copyright?! Every anime has fans and tons of fanart. Guess what, people aren't always copying the style like slaves, they like to draw in their own unique style. Also I don't think Miyazaki would be flattered by you calling his characters' look "simplified".
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