In 1996 a historic deal was made that left many anime fans shocked: The Walt Disney Company made a deal withStudio Ghiblito acquire and release their entire catalog of films worldwide. While critically acclaimed, these movies had primarily only been seen by Japanese audiences. When Disney came along and offered to dub and distribute the films into other countries it meant the works of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata would soon be available to a whole new audience.
While the deal was ultimately a good one that benefited Studio Ghibli and their reputation, there was at least one film that Disney did not distribute. What’s more, it was a film that they outright refused to do anything with, and fans in America wouldn’t get to see it until a new company took over the reins of the deal when Disney let the catelog rights expire. What was this film though and why did the House of Mouse refuse to do anything with it?
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What Is Only Yesterday?
Only Yesterdaywas directed byIsao Takahata, and follows an unmarried career woman who takes an extended trip outside of Tokyo to visit her sister’s family in rural Yamagata. There she falls in love with the small town, becomes friends with some of the locals, and ponders her life decisions that led her to the place where she is at right now. With a rare 100% rating on website Rotten Tomatoes, the film is celebrated for being a rare mature adult animated film geared towards women that portrays its characters and their situations with maturity and thoughtfulness.
Why Was the Film Taboo to Disney?
While Disney never made a public announcement as to what their issue withOnly Yesterdaywas, several studio producers would drop hints in various interviews that there were two main sticking points. The first is that while the movie was unlikely to get anything more than a PG-rating, there is an extended scene in the movie in which young girls discuss getting their period, and Disney wanted to avoid getting letters from angry parents about buying a cartoon for their kids that broached the topic of how women’s bodies change.
While Disney would have cut the scene if they could, they were contractually obligated to keep it intact, and that became a big problem for the mouse. A bigger issue though was the fact that since it WAS such a mature title (anddidn’t have Miyazaki as the director), it was unlikely to sell many copies in the eyes of the executives! Disney looked at the uncomfortable scene and the potentially low amount of sales and passed on the whole thing, and would let the rights to the Studio Ghibli catalog lapse without ever doing anything with it.
Did Americans Get to See it?
When GKids picked up the license to the Studio Ghibli catalog from Disney, one of the things they made a priority was to dubOnly Yesterdayinto English and release it theatrically. Unlike Disney, GKids (despite what their name suggests) had no issue releasing animation with adult themes andregularly released PG-13and R-rated animated films on a yearly basic.Only Yesterdaydid ultimately receive the PG-rating it was largely expected to get, and since it was coming from a serious art-house label they received no letters or complaints about the period sequence.
That said, Disney was right in at least one aspect: the movie didn’t sell a ton of tickets at the box office. However, since Disney never intended to release the movie in theaters, this was mostly a moot point. Where Disney would have released the film is on DVD, and in this regard they were incorrect in some of their beliefs as well, as it sold far better than expected on DVD and BluRay, meaning there is a better-than-average chance Disney left some good money on the table. If there is an even bigger irony though it’s the fact that the very thing that kept Disney from dubbing and releasing this movie back in the day is the thing that Disney would get into trouble for putting into their own productions.
Their latest Pixar filmTurning Redfeatured jokes and discussions about the main characterhaving a period. What’s more, in theBaymaxTV series there is an episode where Baymax is educated about how tampons are useful for people who are on their periods. While Disney didn’t want to dub this clearly adult film because of a discussion about periods, they ultimately had no problem tackling the subject in their own family films more than a decade later. Funny how time changes things like that, isn’t it?!
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