Disney Artist Creates Homage To Studio Ghibli With ‘Big Hero 6’
For many artists as well as animation fans, Studio Ghibli is considered one of the best animation companies of all time. Led by the legendary Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli is responsible for creating some of the most iconic animes in the world including Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Princess Mononoke. Later on, they would team up with Disney in both American promotion and English dubbing. Ergo, the world was now exposed to Studio Ghibli through Disney’s presence in movies like Ponyo and The Secret World of Arrietty.
It is clear that Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki has impacted Disney animators in a very positive way. One of the animators aimed to show his appreciation through an homage, in which he utilized characters from Disney’s latest animation classic, Big Hero 6.
According to an article by Kotaku, it reports that Jim Kim, a character designer supervisor at Walt Disney Animation Studios, drew an homage piece utilizing the animation’s two main characters, Hiro Hamada and Baymax. The homage can be seen below.
Some people, who don’t know older animations by Studio Ghibli, may not understand the reference. The above scenario is taken from the studio’s most popular animated film, My Neighbor Totoro. To help you all out who don’t know, a video of the movie’s trailer is embedded below, which utilizes the famous scene.
The bus stop scene is so popular, it is often referenced in other Studio Ghibli films. Spirited Away has a scene when the main character, known as Zen, is riding in an elevator with the Radish Spirit. It is evident that its direction pays homage to the bus stop scene in My Neighbor Totoro.
It should be reported the picture was originally posted on Jim Kim’s Tumblr page last November. It is just now that the piece is getting a lot of attention in Japan, with Studio Ghibli fans praising the piece, especially now that Studio Ghibli has decided to close its doors.
[Featured Image via Bing, First Post Image via Jim Kim, Second Post Image via Studio Ghibli]
