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The Mike Toole Show - Ghibli Before Ghibli

My one complaint was that Mike made it look like Studio Topcraft only worked with Rankin and Bass once, when Studio Topcraft worked for Rankin and Bass constantly on such work as The Hobbit, and Flight of Dragons.

Now Topcraft is a studio which I would like to hear more about.

I read on toonzone that Hayao Miyazaki worked on Rankin-Bass's The Last Unicorn and now because of this, The Last Unicorn is reclassified as anime.

I bought Anne of Green Gables and Future Boy Conan artbooks in Disney World's Mitsukoshi store in Epcot [an indication that Mitsukoshi's staff knows it's Ghibli, not that Disney has a hold on either franchise- this was imported Japanaese merch], and I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Disney pick them up for TV broadcast with well known actors and the quality they put into their Ghibli releases. They'd certainly be at home on ABC Family or any of Disney's other cable networks, though I'm guessing it's all in the hands of the japanese rights holders, given these shows were made before Ghibli came into being.

mdo7 wrote:

I read on toonzone that Hayao Miyazaki worked on Rankin-Bass's The Last Unicorn and now because of this, The Last Unicorn is reclassified as anime.

No. Hayao Miyazaki did *NOT* work on "The Last Unicorn" and the article you cited does not say that. Miyazaki was working full time on the Nausicaa manga at the time of TLU's production and had no contact with Topcraft until they were hired to do the animated version of Nausicaa.

For anime fans, Topcraft's legacy endures even today. You see, two years after The Last Unicorn, the studio was employed to produce another movie in 1984. It was supervised by the writer and director of the film--one Hayao Miyazaki. You may have heard of him. The movie, as some of you have undoubtedly guessed by now, was Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. The smashing success of that film led to the creation of Studio Ghibli in 1985. When Ghibli was founded, most of Topcraft's staff and artists were brought on board. The rest, as they say, is history.

While some may classify TLU as anime, I prefer calling it "anime-influenced." If you define anime as "animation done by a Japanese company primarily for a Japanese audience (even if they intend to export it later)" then TLU isn't anime. To this day TLU has never been released theatrically or on home video in Japan.

I think you need to reread the article again. It did say Hayao Miyazaki did work, and I'll quote this part of the article:

Toonzone blog wrote:

For anime fans, Topcraft's legacy endures even today. You see, two years after The Last Unicorn, the studio was employed to produce another movie in 1984. It was supervised by the writer and director of the film--one Hayao Miyazaki. You may have heard of him. The movie, as some of you have undoubtedly guessed by now, was Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. The smashing success of that film led to the creation of Studio Ghibli in 1985. When Ghibli was founded, most of Topcraft's staff and artists were brought on board. The rest, as they say, is history.

Unless you have evidence that counter Toonzone's article. I stick with this article.

I'm glad more people have an interest in Topcraft. If it's of any interest, I actually have written at length on the subject about their work and how it fits into the anime world--including its debated status. I should probably digitize that, come to think of it.

Incidentally, I would never define anime by its "intended" audience. And while many seem to subscribe to that criteria, I do not. It's a very sketchy method that is--many times--inaccuracte; given the lengthy discussion one could have on the industry's dependence on export.

In any case, at least someone besides me has taken an interest. Now I have to go type.

Incidentally, I would never define anime by its "intended" audience. And while many seem to subscribe to that criteria, I do not. It's a very sketchy method that is--many times--inaccuracte; given the lengthy discussion one could have on the industry's dependence on export.

Edit: Oh, by the way. Miyazaki did not work on the Last Unicorn in any capacity I have ever been able to verify. The article cited is poorly worded, but it actually does not say he did either. What it means is that Miyazaki supervised the (Naussica) project, and he was the director etc.

I think you need to reread the article again. It did say Hayao Miyazaki did work, and I'll quote this part of the article:

Toonzone blog wrote:

For anime fans, Topcraft's legacy endures even today. You see, two years after The Last Unicorn, the studio was employed to produce another movie in 1984. It was supervised by the writer and director of the film--one Hayao Miyazaki. You may have heard of him. The movie, as some of you have undoubtedly guessed by now, was Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

Unless you have evidence that counter Toonzone's article. I stick with this article.

mdo7 wrote:

I think you need to reread the article again. It did say Hayao Miyazaki did work, and I'll quote this part of the article: Toonzone blog wrote: For anime fans, Topcraft's legacy endures even today. You see, two years after The Last Unicorn, the studio was employed to produce another movie in 1984. It was supervised by the writer and director of the film--one Hayao Miyazaki. You may have heard of him. The movie, as some of you have undoubtedly guessed by now, was Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Unless you have evidence that counter Toonzone's article. I stick with this article.

As pointed out in a later post here, the Toonzone article is poorly worded and you just misread it. The "it" in "It was supervised..." is referring to "another movie in 1984" in the previous sentence. "It" here is referring the film "Nausicaa", not "The Last Unicorn" (which was released in 1982, so they can't be referring to it as a 1984 movie).

I'm one of the folks who have run Nausicaa.net for over a decade and a half now and also one of the folks who did the original research back in the early 90s tracing the connection between Topcraft and Miyazaki. We never found anything connecting Miyazaki with Topcraft before Tokuma Publishing (the folks who own Animage magazine) hired Topcraft to make the film "Nausicaa" (which was started in 1983 and released in March 1984).