The Guardian ran an interview with Hayao Miyazaki, director of such films as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Tonari no Totoro. My favourite bit of the interview:
Miyazaki taps a cigarette from a silver case. The Disney deal suits him, he explains, because he has stuck to his guns. His refusal to grant merchandising rights means that there is no chance of any Nausicaa happy meals or Spirited Away video games. Furthermore, Disney wields no creative control. There is a rumour that when Harvey Weinstein was charged with handling the US release of Princess Mononoke, Miyazaki sent him a samurai sword in the post. Attached to the blade was a stark message: “No cuts.”
The director chortles. “Actually, my producer did that.”
Yeah. I heard they did that in response to the terrible work Disney did with Nausicca – the US version is about half an hour shorter and makes little to no sense….