Wow, way to keep a neutral tone there, questioner. 9_9
Also, if it were direct plagiary, wouldn't Gaiman be in Deep Shit, since lawsuit-happy Disney owns the Ghibli stuff over here? (Or are his films under Disney? I haven't bothered to research this, obviously.)
There's just no way that there's any plaigarism, though. Not even the remotest possibility. From what I've seen of the Coraline teasers posted online, the movie will follow the book pretty much exactly. And the book had about zero similarities to Spirited Away, save for the superficial "girl gets whisked into a strange and terrifying world and has to outwit her way past some ghouls" plotline. Neither Spirited Away nor Coraline are exactly the first works to use that plotline, either.
Also, didn't the Coraline novel pre-date Spirited Away? Or have I got my chronology wrong?
I can't even begin to imagine what scenes the questioner thinks that Gaiman "swiped" for Stardust, either.
The thing about Gaiman and Miyazaki is that they both write incredibly archetypical stories about archetypical characters. So of course there are going to be some similarities, like "heroic girl," "strange world," "soul-eating monsters," or whatever. But sheesh.
And the book had about zero similarities to Spirited Away, save for the superficial "girl gets whisked into a strange and terrifying world and has to outwit her way past some ghouls" plotline. Neither Spirited Away nor Coraline are exactly the first works to use that plotline, either.
GUYS WHY DOES GHIBLI GET AWAY WITH PLUNDERING LEWIS CARROLL?! >:O
I don't think that was a very clear question. Did they mean that Gaiman was "stealing" scenes from Miyazaki's movies to put into the movie adaptations of his novels, or did they mean that Gaiman took ideas from Miyazaki's films and inserted them into his books in the first place? Either way, my brow furrows and I try to think of some sort of example where that would be the case. Other than what you already pointed out about archetypes, I can't think of anything telling.
Also, I'm almost positive that Coraline pre-dated Spirited Away. And if Gaiman's blog is to be believed (I read it regularly), once the screenplay was out of his hands, Gaiman didn't have any creative control over how Stardust turned out.
Sometimes I think that Ask John is too nice, though. He seems afraid of ever saying anything even mildly critical about anyone or anything. If it had been Answerman from over at AnimeNewsNetwork, then the question would have gotten the smackdown that it deserves.
This kind of reminds me of certain sections of the film score fandom, who are always ripping on a certain James Horner guy because of the similarity of some of his music to classical or other film pieces. As someone who has written both music and stories myself (for high school, admittedly, nothing published), I know how easy it is to subconsciously or even consciously take themes, feelings or even a few entire sentences or passages from another work, just because they're so beautiful. I remember one short story I wrote for English class which liberally quoted from popular song lyrics now and then, and I got an A+ for it. :) So, I'm not so hard on other artists who do this, I guess. Why some fans make such inane and spiteful comments is anyone's guess...Some anime fans seem to share this dogmaticness with the film score fans I mentioned above. One man said it's because the film score fans feel "marginalized" in society, and the anime fans may feel so too. (Yes, I know that's no excuse to be a real jerk, but maybe it has an influence.) Maybe they're "lashing out" at the "popular" things in spite. But this needs more deep thought and analysis.
Yeah, I kind of agree with that reading. I see anime/manga fans get up on their high horse all the time, trying to "prove" that manga is better than American comics for whatever stupid reason. Neil Gaiman just happens to be an extremely successful, popular, and critically acclaimed American comic writer*, so of course he would be the logical target for any resentful anime fan who's on a "MIYAZAKI IS THE GREATEST!!!!" crusade.
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Also, if it were direct plagiary, wouldn't Gaiman be in Deep Shit, since lawsuit-happy Disney owns the Ghibli stuff over here? (Or are his films under Disney? I haven't bothered to research this, obviously.)
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There's just no way that there's any plaigarism, though. Not even the remotest possibility. From what I've seen of the Coraline teasers posted online, the movie will follow the book pretty much exactly. And the book had about zero similarities to Spirited Away, save for the superficial "girl gets whisked into a strange and terrifying world and has to outwit her way past some ghouls" plotline. Neither Spirited Away nor Coraline are exactly the first works to use that plotline, either.
Also, didn't the Coraline novel pre-date Spirited Away? Or have I got my chronology wrong?
I can't even begin to imagine what scenes the questioner thinks that Gaiman "swiped" for Stardust, either.
The thing about Gaiman and Miyazaki is that they both write incredibly archetypical stories about archetypical characters. So of course there are going to be some similarities, like "heroic girl," "strange world," "soul-eating monsters," or whatever. But sheesh.
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GUYS WHY DOES GHIBLI GET AWAY WITH PLUNDERING LEWIS CARROLL?! >:O
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You = win.
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Also, I'm almost positive that Coraline pre-dated Spirited Away. And if Gaiman's blog is to be believed (I read it regularly), once the screenplay was out of his hands, Gaiman didn't have any creative control over how Stardust turned out.
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Welcome back!
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Why some fans make such inane and spiteful comments is anyone's guess...Some anime fans seem to share this dogmaticness with the film score fans I mentioned above. One man said it's because the film score fans feel "marginalized" in society, and the anime fans may feel so too. (Yes, I know that's no excuse to be a real jerk, but maybe it has an influence.) Maybe they're "lashing out" at the "popular" things in spite. But this needs more deep thought and analysis.
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*Except that he's British.
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