[4Tran]

First off, the idea that Ghibli is in financial straits is ludicrous. While their films are expensive to make, they also have ridiculous and enduring popularity in Japan and the accompanying sales figures to go with that. They're already so popular there that there's no realistic way of improving on that. The only way the studio can have problems money-wise would have to come down to incompetence.

Since that's not too likely, the complaint about Ghibli's position is more likely to be about their inability to find much success in North America. Here, the problem is probably more due to the fact that CGI animation is what's bringing people theatres nowadays. Even Disney's own try at 2D animation, 2009's The Princess and the Frog did poorly at the boxoffice, so why should Ghibli expect to do well? As is, they're trying to release a product that isn't well suited for North American audiences, that hasn't received decades of publicity, and that's in a format people no longer watch en masse.

The other problem is the one that's pointed out in this thread. I love Ghibli's older works, but I haven't been compelled to watch anything from them since Spirited Away came out. When such a storied studio can't stir my interest, then the problem would seem to be the quality of their actual product.