Makoto Shinkai has been dubbed as “The Next Hayao Miyazaki” and the “Post-Hayao Miyazaki director”, and with the renowned director getting Miyazaki-level earnings for his latest film, your name., the comparisons are getting louder. And of course, there are those rumors about him heading to Miyazaki’s stomping grounds, Studio Ghibli, to actually work there.
The Japanese animation director recently sat down for an interview with the UK-based website Express, and there, he was asked by George Simpson about those Ghibli rumors. To those rumors, he said “No and I don’t think they’d even ask me.” and added:
“We’re just two different entities and our styles are just really, really different.
“People may thing we look similar, but we don’t really. Ghibli is about craftsmanship. They draw characters and put life in it.
“But mine is more like a series of stop-motions and our technical aspects are dissimilar too.”
He then said that he didn’t pull off your name. on his own, crediting the people he has worked with for the film.
“But some people from Ghibli came to work of us like Masashi Ando, our animation director. “He brought that life into the character; a great collaboration.”
your name. is now the 5th highest grossing animated movie in Japan, earning 12.8 billion yen as of 2nd October, dethroning the previous #5, Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises, which earned 12.02 billion yen. That also makes it the 6th highest-grossing Japanese film, and 15th highest-grossing Japanese or overseas film overall.
The film has now earned more than Jurassic Park and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and the only anime movies to gross higher are Ghibli and Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, and Ponyo. The film also managed to reach the fabled 10 Billion yen mark faster than Disney’s Frozen, which reached that mark in 37 days. your name. reached 10 billion in just 28.
Source: Express
