Why Does Japan Love Disney So Much?

ディズニー夢と魔法の90年展　スッキリ!! 20140320 投稿者 dm_5232ea58af3f6

Matsuya Ginza department store is holding yet another Disney event on it's exhibition floor in Tokyo's Ginza district.   Disney's 90 Years of Dreams and Enchantment.  Definitely worth taking a look. 

There is a story about Walt Disney who sat through a storyboard pitch for a cartoon involving Mickey, Donald and Goofy by one of his directors.  The director decided to take a different turn in the characteristic approach of what Disney's headline trio were known for.  I'm certain as in many cases the director was nervous about approval from Walt.  However during the pitch, Walt apparently couldn't restrain himself from laughing at the gags proposed in the cartoon.  Even to the point where Walt was in tears from the laughter.   Surely the director had a "hit" on his hands. 

The director closed his pitch and likely waited for Walt to catch his breath and wipe the tears from his face before asking, "So you like it right?!"  

"NO", Walt responded.  "You killed my characters!"  

Despite the fact the fact it was funny it was a string of "gags" that likely could have been done with any character and it out of the context of the individual characteristics Mickey, Donald and Goofy were known and appreciated for.    

The anecdote is because (and this is not a criticism) but you couldn't stand anywhere in the exhibition without hearing   Kawaiiiiiiiiiiii!  (Or, Cuuuuuuuute! In English) squealed  every 30 seconds by not just Japanese schoolgirls but greatly housewives and OL's (Office Lady).    Again it's no criticism because Disney characters ARE cute and appealing, but there was no further elaboration about what exactly is "cute" about them outside of how they are rendered.    I hope the greater appeal is in what they DO not just how they look.   

(The Walt Disney anecdote above can be found in the volumes of Didier Ghez's, "Walt's People".)

Old News But Still Good News - Art of Disney Animation in Japan

One of the great things about being in Japan is stumbling on art related surprises from back home. Like the Norman Rockwell exhibition that came to the Fuchu Art Museum last year.

Or The Colors of Mary Blair exhibition OR even better the Mary Blair Store which opened in Ginza.

I first became aware of these rare treasures stumbling on a full-on Art of Disney exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo back in July of 2006.

It sounds like the thing to say but it was, yes....magical. I went twice.

Why aren't there more exhibitions like this in the USA?? The Museum of Metropolitan Art had a week long series of exhibitions and panel discussions about the metaphorical associations between modern fashion and the superhero genre of all things.

2006...

Someone discovers 250 pieces of lost original Disney production art in a janitor's closet at Chiba University. (What?) Production art from works as early as Flowers and Trees, Snow White and The Three Little Pigs. Other works included animation cells, storyboards, production notes, and sketches from works like Cinderella, Pinocchio, Lady and the Tramp and Sleeping Beauty.

These pieces were handpicked by Walt Disney himself to go on tour through 17 cities in Japan in 1960 to promote the art of the Disney studio and his then upcoming film: Sleeping Beauty. At the end of the tour, they wound up at Chiba University as an educational resource. (Whether this was meant to be permanent or temporary, I don't know---- but what DID end up happening was that the 250 priceless pieces ended up a janitor's closet.

Ultimately the discovery of these works prompted an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo -- along with an additional 350 pieces loaned by Disney's Animation Research Library (ARL).

An awesome and well done exhibition. Open, interactive, intelligent as well as entertaining. It had the feeling of an interactive walk through one of Walt Disney's Disneyland TV series back in the day.

I just finally got my hands on the Art of Disney DVD as well at the 243 page museum catalog book featuring all the 600 pieces that were on exhibit. I didn't buy it at first because honestly, the exhibition was so intense, I just imagined the DVD and book just being pale in comparison.

I was happy to be proven wrong. Like the exhibition, the book and the DVD is filled to the brim and just cannot be digested in only one or two settings.

Over the next few days I'll do my best to post a few things from the DVD or the book. In the meantime enjoy some of these photos I ripped from the DVD.

Check out the commercial for the Japanese Art of Disney DVD. Here.