I heard that “Grave of the Fireflies” was double-featured with “Totoro” in Japan. Is it true?
Yes. At that time, no one thought that people would want to see “a movie about a two little kids and a Monster in rural Japan”, and “Totoro” was considered a big investment risk. Still, Miyazaki and the editors of “Animage” wanted to make this movie, which was Miyazaki’s pet project for a long time. So they thought up the idea of risk-sharing. “Grave” was a well-known novel, and because of its “educational” value, a certain level of audience could be expected. (Indeed, “Grave” was chosen by many school boards as a movie to show their students – and “Totoro” along with it, since it was in the package.) Suzuki, then the chief editor of “Animage” (now a producer at Ghibli) went to Shinchosha, the publishing company which published the novel “Grave”. Since Shinchosha was looking for an opportunity to enter the movie business, they agreed to produce the movie “Grave”. Both Tokuma and Shinchosha knew they were going to lose money, but they still went ahead with the project (they did lose mon
Yes. At that time, no one thought that people would want to see “a movie about a two little kids and a Monster in rural Japan”, and “Totoro” was considered a big investment risk. Still, Miyazaki and the editors of “Animage” wanted to make this movie, which was Miyazaki’s pet project for a long time. So they thought up the idea of risk-sharing. “Grave” was a well-known novel, and because of its “educational” value, a certain level of audience could be expected. (Indeed, “Grave” was chosen by many school boards as a movie to show their students – and “Totoro” along with it, since it was in the package.) Suzuki, then the chief editor of “Animage” (now a producer at Ghibli) went to Shinchosha, the publishing company which published the novel “Grave”. Since Shinchosha was looking for an opportunity to enter the movie business, they agreed to produce the movie “Grave”. Both Tokuma and Shinchosha knew they were going to lose money, but they still went ahead with the project (they did lose mon
