Also, for all his Miyazaki fanboying, Lasseter’s company STILL hasn’t produced a female-lead non-princess film. (Inside Out is as close as they’ve gotten, and it barely focuses on Riley; it’s more about the emotions in her brain, only half of whom are female.) And Brave was a disaster, which in hindsight seems…

Even the good pixar movies are, just as a matter of visual style, ugly and graceless next to ghibli, even if they might be better plotted.

To continue on this thread, GKids is a great distribution outfit. They are also home to the fantastic Tomm Moore and his team (The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea) and Sylvian Chomet (Triplets of Bellville, the upcoming The Thousand Miles). Since the advent of digital film, GKids has been able to re-release Ghibli’s…

Absolutely agreed. Pixar still often falls back on pop culture references, etc (OK, they aren’t too bad about this, but...) I dunno, it’s maybe apples and oranges, but I see no comparison when looking at each studio’s work as a whole. Plus you’re never gonna get something like Grave of the Fireflies—or Princess…

Agreed, very strongly. Particularly given that the past decade for Pixar has been quite a fall off a previously high cliff. (I’d say 2010 was the year of their last truly great release.) Disney Animation has fared far better in that same period, but neither can touch Ghibli, for me.

(I know Disney distributes Ghibli films in the U.S. but...) Ghibli films blow Disney/Pixar stuff outta the water. Best animation there is, along with Laika Studios’ work.

Just had to say that. Very looking forward to this new film. Hope we all survive to see it!