Miyazaki in the US - What SHOULD do well?

Cafe Society
1

The TP thread’s ongoing hijack has this q on my mind:
If properly marketed, what Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli film would do well in a mass market (2000+ theaters) release in the US? I’ve seen similar threads, but not quite posed this way. The assumption underlying this is that Disney would actually market the movie as if it were one of their own.

My non-comprehensive thoughts:

**Kiki’s Delivery Service/b] would have done the best of any of them. It is closest in feel to an Disney animation, lacking only the musical numbers. I mean that in the sense of it having a maturing character with a cute animal sidekick.

Nausicaa & Laputa would do pretty well. Nausicaa has an environmental theme present in many modern Disney films. Laputa has a sense of wonder and great action sequences.

Kurenai no Buto (aka Porco Rosso aka The Crimson Pig) and Whisper of the Heart would have problems I think, even though both are personal favorites. Both are I think a little too whimsical for mass market success, although I think both are stunning works of film.

Thoughts?

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Actually I think that Spirited Away was the ideal feature in terms of potential US box-office appeal. That’s because it had some excellent action sequences which would have made for some very exciting trailers . In general it was faster paced than some of his other films which is probably better for the American market. Finally it received fantastic reviews which might not have happened with a more low-key film like Kiki. All this,of course, makes the lack of serious marketing by Disney all the more annoying.