While most today film critics claim Walt Disney to be one of the tops of the cartoon world theres another artist id like to compare to him, if not put in front of him. That would be Hayao Miazaki, a japanese animator and creator of movies such as "Spirited away", "Howls walking castle" and the marvelous "Princess Mononoke". Now, both him and Disney indeed are great artists but there are a few simple reasons i prefer Miazaki more.
1st: Originality
Most, if not all Disneys movies are based on already existing stories created by other authors. Not to mention that the Lion King was a complete and shameless ripp off of an old manga/anime from 1960's called Jungle Tantei, dubbed in English as Kimba the white lion.
On the other hand, Miyazakis stories are original and fantastically developed.
2nd: Story
Apart of being unoriginal, Disneys stories are simple and usually all rest on the same shame: two characters fall in love, destroy the evil bad guys and live happily ever after. Miyazakis storylines are way more complex. The stories are completely original and every contains an own world that simply draggs the watcher in. Theres also a interesting thing i noticed: if we look at Miyazakis work we will notice that there is no real "bad guys". None of the characters are esencially "evil" and usually turn "good" in the end.
3rd: Message
What would be the message of most Disney movies? To find a partner, fall in love and live happily ever after? Do you really think that falling in love is the most important aspect of a persons life? I personally cant agree here. On the other hand, Miyazakis characters are shown as helping each other, even their enemies and later on being rewarded for that.
Conclusion
Both artists do deserve respect but however you look at it, Miyazaki wins here.
But then, thats only my opinion.
