Gendo'sPapa wrote:The brand could get pretty tarnished.
Don Bluth learned that the hard way when he tried to keep Don Bluth Productions open.
I think the situation is very different...
Bluth was a great animator and director BUT he worked well past his prime and his stories started to grow plagued with inconsistencies, plot holes and just plain nonsense (nevertheless, I love his films)...
He may have been to the American animation what Ghibli was to the anime industry at some point, the thing for him was that rival studios just got better with time (Disney Reinassance and stuff) and he couldn't secure financing anymore (we all know what happened to Fox animation with Titan A.E.)
If Bluth had gone, what would have happened to the studio? That is the matter at hand with Ghibli: head/source of inspiration gone, not Miyazaki doing work well pass his prime, sinking the brand and a few other financing companies with him...
In any case, disbanding the Studio would be pretty lame... Couldn't they go on waiting for a new Miyazaki/Golden Age to appear...? Sure a few "bad" films may be up ahead, but doesn't every studio have some?