Gundam creator warns anime not to become like “boring” new Disney films

The creator of Gundam, Yoshiyuki Tomino, is concerned that anime could become like “boring” and “depressing” modern Disney films.

Disney movies have long since transitioned from hand-drawn animation to digital, and while some fans support the change, the creator of the Gundam series doesn’t want anime to follow suit.

In a recent interview translated by fullfrontal.moe, Tomino explained that he believes anime is at its peak. He also went on to warn that going down the same path as Disney with digitalization would be a big mistake.

According to the Gundam creator, this current period of anime could begin to decline in five to six years before it begins to decline, indicating that the medium could become like current Disney animation.

Gundam creator slams “depressing” modern Disney films

Tomino went on to discuss Bandai Namco Filmworks, which handles the Gundam series, moving to a more modern building, and how he believes they’re becoming like Disney.

“I don’t think it’s a good environment for creating new works,” he said, pointing to how more work is being done digitally. “This fine building is all digitalized… same thing with the boring work produced by Disney’s digital production system today.”

The negative example Tomino takes is studio Disney. He blames their "digitalization", but what he means is obviously the move to CG and bigger, more impersonal structures.
He calls Disney's recent works "depressing" or simply "boring"

— fullfrontal.moe (@fufuro_moe) December 17, 2023

He continued, labeling current Disney films as “depressing” while dismissing the Disney brand as “making empty blockbusters without any personality.”

However, the Gundam creator has a solution and urged producers to do more for artists than just give them more money.

And, taking Bandai Namco Filmworks' recent move to a bigger, more modern building, he expresses his fear that animation in Japan becomes just a repeat of Disney – an industry making empty blockbusters without any personality

— fullfrontal.moe (@fufuro_moe) December 17, 2023

“The most important thing for producers is to give artists a place where they can make the most of their talents. It is not as simple as just spending money and offering a floor of a high-rise building as a workplace,” he explained.

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