It seems Japanese creators are catching onto the low-performing creations of the western world, in particular Disney, as the creator of Gundam recently stated that the anime industry mustn’t repeat their “worst mistake”.

Yoshiyuki Tomino, who is known for originally creating the long-running Gundam franchise, was interviewed where he shared his insights into the anime industry.

Tomino believes anime to be in a “golden age” of sorts, one that could easily be destroyed if the industry were to follow in the footsteps of Disney.

The veteran creator believed modern Disney is the result of when animation “loses heart”, and criticized its transition from hand-drawn animation to digital in the interview (via fullfrontal.moe).

Tomino also labeled Disney’s latest films as “depressing” and “boring”, and explained that these poor results are likely due to their production goals.

The Gundam creator asserted that Bandai Namco Filmworks, who handles the Gundam series, is already picking up on Disney’s bad practices, what with it attempting larger projects whilst straying away from traditional animation.

“Empty blockbusters without any personality” is how Tomino described Disney as a brand, and he explained that creators must be permitted to experiment, while executives like producers have to “get their hands dirty when developing a project.”

Many have negatively criticized Disney’s works in the last few years on a number of different levels, be it with Star Wars and it’s disrespecting of the lore, to just disrespecting fans in general.