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When you think of anime studios, Disney isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. When you think of anime characters, fans certainly don’t think of Stitch or Lilo and Stitch fame. Disney’s recent venture into anime is quite familiar with licensing exclusive streaming rights to Summer view and make their own Twisted Wonderland adaptation based on the Disney licensed game of the same time. But Disney has been experimenting with anime for much longer.
Disney is the leader in family entertainment, with original and licensed entities such as Mickey Mouse and Friends, Disney Princesses, and Pixar, along with theme parks and multiple merchandise brands. In the world of anime, they have created multiple mangas and anime spin-offs from media entities they own, and obtained exclusive streaming rights for anime to stream anime created by other production companies.
Disney’s Complicated History with Disney
Before Disney made their own anime and manga, the company became the sole international distributor for Studio Ghibli. Before the Partnership, 1984’s Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind by Ghibli was distributed by Manson International. However, this company cut 22 minutes off the film for its international release. This displeased Ghibli, but companies that wanted to distribute anime before the medium became mainstream were small. That was until 1996, when Disney became the sole international distributor. A few movies were distributed with minor edits to adapt to international audiences through Disney, and everything went smoothly until Princess Mononoke.
Harvey Weinstein, who is already a notoriously controversial figure, wanted to scrap the two-hour film. When this message reached Ghibli, producer Toshio sent Suzuki a samurai sword with a “no cuts” note. The exaggerated gesture sent the message and the film remained as Miyazaki intended. Although this story has been called an internet rumor, Miyazaki has confirmed that it actually happened.
The next big part of Disney and Ghibli’s history, and arguably the most important, was the release of Spirited Away. Previously Ghibli movies had limited release through Disney’s distribution, it was John Lasseter who seized the opportunity to be a producer for the UK release and fight for wide release. Lasseter’s campaign worked, even with the limited marketing budget. Not only did Spirited Away broke records still held in Japan to this day as it made over 200 million before reaching the US, but it became the first and only anime to receive an Oscar Award.
However, the next few Ghibli movies didn’t market as well, and this meant that in 2017 GKids took over Disney’s partnership with Ghibli. This is now surprising, knowing that some of these films are poorly marketed to international audiences, including the now beloved classics such as Howl’s Moving Castle and Pony.
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In the midst of the collaboration between Disney and Ghibli, Disney experimented with manga. Most of these were one-shot or single-volume adaptations of films such as: Monsters Inc, Lilo and Stitchand Kingdom Hearts. One of the most striking examples, however, is from Kilala Princess, where an original character named Kilala was the star. In the five-part series, she was a little girl obsessed with all the Disney princesses and embarks on a magical adventure inspired by the princess movies.
Two other Disney franchises had longer manga spells. There are multiple collections of short stories surrounding Tinkerbell and the other Pixie Hollow fairies. The other franchise was much more successful in manga; Lilo and Stitch. In particular, Stitch herself. A simply titled Lurch!, where he meets a girl in Japan and learns all about Japanese culture, and it ran for two parts. Another series that came out in 2020 and ran again for two parts was Tonosama to Stitchin which Stitch lands in Sengoku-era Japan.
Disney: Twisted Wonderland
The unique jewel in the proverbial crown of Disney and otaku culture is Disney: Twisted Wonderland. The creator of black butler himself was in charge of the storyline and character design. The game runs on a gacha system that distributes Disney Villains-inspired characters to players to use in combat, mixing visual new elements of the rhythm game. The game was incredibly popular in Japan, but the next step Disney is taking with the franchise is bringing the game to an international audience.
Disney has announced an anime adaptation of Disney: Twisted Wonderland that will be streamed on Disney+. It has been quiet since the announcement until recently when it was announced that more will be announced about the change through this year’s D23 Expo. Until then, the original game and the previous manga adaptation are what fans should do.
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