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I didn't want to say earlier because the person I was replying to hadn't seen the film, but it was this scene (spoilers) that Miyazaki disliked. It plays out differently in the manga, probably more true to the way he intended.

Studio Ghibli apparently held (or was at least thinking about, once upon a time) some sort of rights to a Miyazaki version of James H. Schmidt's Witches of Karres. See http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/books/miyazaki/#karres for a cover illustration for the Japanese edition of the book. An anime version would be awesome.

So if San is the technology, the drive that implements it would be called Chihiro, right?

Oh, that was Sen . My bad, sorry.

(Well, it makes as much sense as anything. It's not like I'm going to bother reading TFA when it's clearly marked "hype".)

They're close to skin color, so unfortunately it isn't terribly obvious. This isn't that kind of anime. Sheesh.

FAQ

Anyone who's seen the opening sequence from "Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa" (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind ) can understand the type of flight experience they are trying to produce here.

The freedom with which Nausicaa sails around the skies on a flying machine light enough to carry yet strong enough to carry out some hairy aerobatics has figured in many a daydream. Hayao Miyazaki takes our daydreams and puts them on the big screen.

Of course the reality of FAA regulations and principles of aerodynamics tend to get in the way of truly realizing the dreams but I give kudos to these guys for trying.

Back in da 80s the coco was the only way to roll for us cs gangstas. Every hardcore geek in my hood had one. We would hack on code, trade warez, and play tradewars over wildcat. Man them was good days. Hangin with the 1200 baud. Sending mail over Fidonet. Networking two or three together over serial wit OS-9. Punchin out holes in the floppies to make double sided disks. Those were the days. Men were men, women were women, and 128k of ram was enough for everyone. Damn I miss my coco.

Remember, this is the guy who brought Hayao Miyazaki back to the US market.

From the excellent The Disney-Tokuma Deal page at Nausicaa.net:


Will Disney modify (i.e. cut scenes from) these films?

No. This will not happen. Disney can not cut even one second from the films, according to the contract. Ghibli has officially stated that "With Disney's commitment to maintain the quality of the original titles, there will be no changes to music and sequences in foreign language versions." According to Mr. Suzuki, the producer of Ghibli, other companies such as Fox and Time-Warner contacted Tokuma, but Disney was the only company willing to agree to this condition, and that was the main reason why Tokuma chose Disney as a partner.

The term means that Disney can not touch the films, but that does not prevent Disney from asking Ghibli to cut or change the contents of the film, as Tokuma and Ghibli retains the editing right. In an interview, Mr. Suzuki said that Miramax faxed Ghibli, asking if they could cut several scenes from "Mononoke Hime". But nothing was cut from Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke).


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Patiwat Panurach

What I am concerned about is how the deal will affect the Studio Ghibli/Disney distribution deal. For many years, Disney has had wide distribution rights over Ghibli works. Sometimes this has worked out for the better (the heavily promoted Spirited Away), and sometimes not so well (Miramax requested, but was denied, many edits in Princess Mononoke).

A closer connection between Pixar and Disney will probably not harm Ghibli. It was noted that John Lasseter (founder of Pixar) had given very strong support to Spirited Away, and was a key driver of what success that movie had in North America. A closer connection between Pixar and Ghibli will probably result in an even stronger benefit.

Now, on notes of pure speculation, how might the Pixar/Disney merger benefit Ghibli going forward? Could we expect Miyazaki-animated short films (currently limited in distribution to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka City, Tokyo) put on sale on the iTunes Video Store? Or maybe distribution of older classic Ghibli films? Imaging having a copy of Gauche the Cellist on your iPod to perk you up on those cloudy days of life. Or how about strong promotion and wide distribution of the forthcoming Tales from Earthsea? With the combination of a a imaginative and sensitive director like Goro Miyazaki and effective marketing, I can't imagine how Earthsea wouldn't become a major blockbluster.

What else would you like to see come out of the Studio Ghibli/Disney/Pixar deal?

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patiwat

What I am concerned about is how the deal will affect the Studio Ghibli/Disney distribution deal. For many years, Disney has had wide distribution rights over Ghibli works. Sometimes this has worked out for the better (the heavily promoted Spirited Away), and sometimes not so well (Miramax requested, but was denied, many edits in Princess Mononoke).

A closer connection between Pixar and Disney will probably not harm Ghibli. It was noted that John Lasseter (founder of Pixar) had given very strong support to Spirited Away, and was a key driver of what success that movie had in North America. A closer connection between Pixar and Ghibli will probably result in an even stronger benefit.

Now, on notes of pure speculation, how might the Pixar/Disney merger benefit Ghibli going forward? Could we expect Miyazaki-animated short films (currently limited in distribution to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka City, Tokyo) put on sale on the iTunes Video Store? Or maybe distribution of older classic Ghibli films? Imaging having a copy of Gauche the Cellist on your iPod to perk you up on those cloudy days of life. Or how about strong promotion and wide distribution of the forthcoming Tales from Earthsea? With the combination of a a imaginative and sensitive director like Goro Miyazaki and effective marketing, I can't imagine how Earthsea wouldn't become a major blockbluster.

What else would you like to see come out of the Studio Ghibli/Disney/Pixar deal?

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patiwat

What I am concerned about is how the deal will affect the Studio Ghibli/Disney distribution deal. For many years, Disney has had wide distribution rights over Ghibli works. Sometimes this has worked out for the better (the heavily promoted Spirited Away), and sometimes not so well (Miramax requested, but was denied, many edits in Princess Mononoke).

A closer connection between Pixar and Disney will probably not harm Ghibli. It was noted that John Lasseter (founder of Pixar) had given very strong support to Spirited Away, and was a key driver of what success that movie had in North America. A closer connection between Pixar and Ghibli will probably result in an even stronger benefit.

Now, on notes of pure speculation, how might the Pixar/Disney merger benefit Ghibli going forward? Could we expect Miyazaki-animated short films (currently limited in distribution to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka City, Tokyo) put on sale on the iTunes Video Store? Or maybe distribution of older classic Ghibli films? Imaging having a copy of Gauche the Cellist on your iPod to perk you up on those cloudy days of life. Or how about strong promotion and wide distribution of the forthcoming Tales from Earthsea? With the combination of a a imaginative and sensitive director like Goro Miyazaki and effective marketing, I can't imagine how Earthsea wouldn't become a major blockbluster.

What else would you like to see come out of the Studio Ghibli/Disney/Pixar deal?

---
patiwat

What I am concerned about is how the deal will affect the Studio Ghibli/Disney distribution deal. For many years, Disney has had wide distribution rights over Ghibli works. Sometimes this has worked out for the better (the heavily promoted Spirited Away), and sometimes not so well (Miramax requested, but was denied, many edits in Princess Mononoke).

A closer connection between Pixar and Disney will probably not harm Ghibli. It was noted that John Lasseter (founder of Pixar) had given very strong support to Spirited Away, and was a key driver of what success that movie had in North America. A closer connection between Pixar and Ghibli will probably result in an even stronger benefit.

Now, on notes of pure speculation, how might the Pixar/Disney merger benefit Ghibli going forward? Could we expect Miyazaki-animated short films (currently limited in distribution to the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka City, Tokyo) put on sale on the iTunes Video Store? Or maybe distribution of older classic Ghibli films? Imaging having a copy of Gauche the Cellist on your iPod to perk you up on those cloudy days of life. Or how about strong promotion and wide distribution of the forthcoming Tales from Earthsea? With the combination of a a imaginative and sensitive director like Goro Miyazaki and effective marketing, I can't imagine how Earthsea wouldn't become a major blockbluster.

What else would you like to see come out of the Studio Ghibli/Disney/Pixar deal?

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patiwat

We also don't make it onto "Trading Spouses" like that insane "Christian" lady.

Of course, she didn't make such a big impression for being a Christian so much as a crazy person.

"Bleargh! I am a God Warrior!"

Feh, everybody knows that god warriors are giants (bottom of the page).

I don't think its possible to do a good dub,

It's certainly possible, as can be heard in Disney's Ghilbi dubs. Although weak points can be found in Mononoke Hime, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Porco Rosso, they are all basically decent (and, I can't recall any shortcomings in Spirited Away).

There are a few chronic obstacles that prevent typical anime companies from doing similarly good jobs.
(a) Cheapness. Typical anime are dubbed in just a few takes. Keeping the actors and director together long enough to do proper emotions would require much more time, meaning must bigger paychecks. The importer gets enough sales already, so they have no incentive for more investment.

(b) Bad actors. This is subjective, but for a bit of objectivity, consider that English anime actors are basically in their own job category, separate from those who do voices for native English animations (including video games). For example, look at anime dubber Mary McGlynn, as opposed to voice actors for native projects, like Scott Menville or Phil LaMarr (wow, he's also a real actor!). There isn't much crossover. If anime dub voices were any good, they'd also get jobs for domestic projects- but they essentially don't.

(c) Wrong editing priorities. The editors and directors who handle the dubbing care too much about matching the soundtrack to facial movements, and not enough on the attitude and emotion expressed by the speech itself. This links back to the brief studio sessions: once they've got a line reading that's basically OK, the actors go home, and then the editor goes about digitally squeezing it into place on the soundtrack. To match speech to lip-flaps, Software is used to change the speed of individual words while holding pitch constant. Anime importers claim that the modern software is so good that no distortion remains, but that's not quite true. Although a listener can't generally describe the nature of the problem, it's easy enough to distinquish the "before" and "after" line readings in a blindfolded test.

"Spirited away" is my favourite (it's somewhat over-rich, though, and does puzzle many viewers)

Among the others (the full list from studio Ghibli is here) I prefer the "contemplative" (slow paced) ones:
Totoro, Kiki and Porco Rosso. Those who prefer the "active" ones (epic, action) should chose Mononoke, Nausicaa and Laputa.
In fact, the preferences among Miyazaki's fans vary wildly. See for example here.

He was interviewed about this once:

Question: Why do you always choose a girl as your theme?

Miyazaki: I don't logically plan it that way. When we compare a man in action and a girl in action, I feel girls are more gallant. If a boy is walking with a long stride, I don't think anything particular, but if a girl is walking gallantly, I feel "that's cool." Maybe that's because I'm a man, and women may think it's cool when they see a young man striding. At first, I thought "this is no longer the era of men. This is no longer the era of taigimeibun." But after ten years, I grew tired of saying that. I just say "cause I like women." That has more reality.

The original quote was here: http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/heroin es.html#s2. There's also a few more interviews about the subject there as well.

Cheers,
Paul

Not to mention that Miyazaki and Lasseter go way back. Studio Ghibli even made a documentary them. Nausicaa.net describes it as a thank you gift for John Lasseter for his help with the North American release of Spirited Away that was later published at the request of the Studio Ghibli staff. Here's their synopsis.

Complete works: http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/films/.

I recommend:
Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro (not usa-released yet?)
Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind (not usa-released yet?)
Laputa: The Castle in the Sky
My Neighbor Totoro
Kiki's Delivery Service
Grave of the Fireflies (hardcore war film)
Porco Rosso
Ocean Waves [TV movie] (aka, I Can Hear The Ocean) (not usa-released yet?)
Pom Poko (not usa-released yet?)
On Your Mark [music video] (not usa-released yet?)
Whisper of the Heart (not usa-released yet?)
Princess Mononoke
Spirited Away
The Cat Returns (not usa-released yet?)
Howl's Moving Castle (was just in theatres)

Consider renting from your local Anime club for the rare ones.

Had no idea Miyazaki was such a tough S.O.B.

You should definitely read his description in the words of Mamoru Oshii of the "Ghost In The Shell" fame:

My first impression was that he was a really light hearted person. But when the conversation got heated, he was really merciless, and I was told many harsh things. -laughs- So it ended with the impression like "what a SOB!"

Yeah, I just hated how sickeningly cute Grave of the Fireflies was. What a disappointment!

</SARCASM>

Well, that's still better than getting turned into a pig...

Miyazaki is the last holdout for hand-drawn animation; he's the only major animator who refuses to embrace any kind of computer assistance.

A small feature on the Pixar Exhibition at the Studio Ghibli Museum: http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/museum/pixar/

While I agree they arent synonymous and they shouldnt be, I'll tell you why I watch anime.

The majority of shows I see on television are crap. There are a few exceptions, but by and large the shows are all the same. Crime, mystery, sitcoms. One show, recently cancelled that accually fit outside the mold was Dead like Me, which I enjoyed quite a bit.

Anime provides an open medium. When you are drawing your characters and environment, you are completely unlimited in what you can do. It makes for more interesting stories - more fantasy or scifi. Plus, in the anime genre, its quite common for the run to be limited to one over-arching plot line - often in increments of 13 episodes - most commonly in 26 episodes. I'm of the opinion that good stories can sometimes take a while to explain.

They make anime for every age group - from kids to adults to pervs - girls and guys alike. There is something for everyone.

I usually introduce people to anime with a combination of Perfect Blue - quite possibly the most freaky suspense movie I've ever seen. Also, Spirited Away the highest grossing film in Japanese history - more Disney, but still quite good.

Take the plunge - its worth it. Especially if you lack movies with ninjas and big fucking swords.

only the Japanese one is ever encoded in anything better than stereo

These days this is coming to an end. The studios doing the dub recordings are starting to record for the Americans who own 5.1 systems, and since they're doing the recording, its no problem to put together the audio tracks they want. With Japanese audio, they have to take what they can get, and if all the Japanese studio has left in their vault is the stereo track, you're not going to see a 5.1 japanese track. Sometimes I suspect they may just leave off the 5.1 track to make room on the disc for something else (Like Disney's release of The Cat Returns: 2ch Japanese, 2ch French, 5.1 English, when the Japanese release had 5.1DD and DTS Japanese audio tracks!)

I do agree that dub actors used to be hideous, and that they have gotten much better. I attribute half of it to maturity of the market and the actors, the other half I think belongs soley to Disney entering the market with the Ghibli films, and bringing with them the fact that dubbing is what they do.

Anime films without Pokémon in their titles haven't fared well at the US Box office (see Appleseed, Tokyo Godfathers, Ghost in the Shell 2, et al.).

How bout the works of Hayao Miyazaki such as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, etc.

I just don't believe it's only pokemon animes that did well in USA.

Anime films without Pokémon in their titles haven't fared well at the US Box office (see Appleseed, Tokyo Godfathers, Ghost in the Shell 2, et al.).

How bout the works of Hayao Miyazaki such as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, etc.

I just don't believe it's only pokemon animes that did well in USA.

Anime films without Pokémon in their titles haven't fared well at the US Box office (see Appleseed, Tokyo Godfathers, Ghost in the Shell 2, et al.).

How bout the works of Hayao Miyazaki such as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, etc.

I just don't believe it's only pokemon animes that did well in USA.

As seen in Nausicaa ...
Now we just need these engineered in a way to release excess poison as miasma. Oh, and dont forget to add giant mutant insects :)

You'll be able to buy two non-Miyazaki works after 22 February. 'Grave of the Fireflies' is from his comrade Takahata and can be found in better retailers. 'The Cat Returns' is arriving next month and is directed by someone other than Miyazaki, although he did act at Executive Producer.

You'll be able to buy two non-Miyazaki works after 22 February. 'Grave of the Fireflies' is from his comrade Takahata and can be found in better retailers. 'The Cat Returns' is arriving next month and is directed by someone other than Miyazaki, although he did act at Executive Producer.

http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/films/#film_g_t

For those of you who do not instantly associate that name with anything, a link.

I recommend the newer 7-volume reprint. The books are larger (good) and unflipped (great). A box set was planned for release in November but Viz (the US publisher) dropped it without explanation.

Or just visit the Nausicaa.net page that lists the links to the "original" files. Original in quotes as they're sourced from various TV commercials and NN makes no ownership claim.

Almost a year. It premiered on July 20th, 2001 and in the US September 20th, 2002. There's no official US date for Howl, but Nausicaa.net's FAQ has these dates for other countries:

* Japan - November 20, 2004
* Korea - December 24, 2004
* France - January 12, 2005
* Switzerland (French) - January 12, 2005
* Sweden - September 2005
* Belgium - 2005
* Hong Kong - 2005
* Israel - 2005
* Germany - 2005
* Taiwan - 2005

January 12th in France? Those bastards! It should be renamed Howl's Freedom Castle in protest!

Aint-It-Cool news reported on the 11th that Nausicaa.net had a news item on 11/23 that Pete Docter, the director of Monsters, Inc., would be directing the US release.

The Nausicaa site points back to a Japanese language press release from the 20th of November.

So this is hardly news.

Kiki and Laputa are out, Totoro's been delayed (AGAIN!), and 3 others are due in the New Year. Check it out: http://nausicaa.net/

I wouldn't suggest 'Spirited Away' as being something I'd consider having appeal that works outside of Japan as well as inside.

Nausicaa and Laputa, made by the same group as "Spirited Away" were much more universal in their appeal. I too didn't understand "Spirited Away" as it draw heavily on Japanese mythology, I think.

"Laputa" is a fun, broad movie that has a grandness of scale that I loved in TV shows like "The Mysterious Cities of Gold", circa 1980's.

Nausicaa is just cool, very alien in some ways but its not based on anything inherently J so I'm pretty sure most western audiences would get it.

I guess this is the kind of thing that I'm asking for when I want different stuff than what is coming out of Pixar these days. I want to see something more grand and provoking that a few goofball superheroes ...

Don't get me wrong, I'll watch The Incredibles, and probably enjoy it. I just would like to see something more challenging, not mindless eyecandy for kids/adults with childlike appetites.

I wouldn't suggest 'Spirited Away' as being something I'd consider having appeal that works outside of Japan as well as inside.

Nausicaa and Laputa, made by the same group as "Spirited Away" were much more universal in their appeal. I too didn't understand "Spirited Away" as it draw heavily on Japanese mythology, I think.

"Laputa" is a fun, broad movie that has a grandness of scale that I loved in TV shows like "The Mysterious Cities of Gold", circa 1980's.

Nausicaa is just cool, very alien in some ways but its not based on anything inherently J so I'm pretty sure most western audiences would get it.

I guess this is the kind of thing that I'm asking for when I want different stuff than what is coming out of Pixar these days. I want to see something more grand and provoking that a few goofball superheroes ...

Don't get me wrong, I'll watch The Incredibles, and probably enjoy it. I just would like to see something more challenging, not mindless eyecandy for kids/adults with childlike appetites.

You need to get mentally prepared (or unwound) after it too. I read that when it first aired in Japan, it was a double-feature with Totoro. That seems like a very good idea to me; I watched them together too, and if I hadn't watched Totoro right after Grave, it would have been a lot tougher...

My vote would be Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds. Classical style, decent plot movement, traditional story. I'm tired of people trying to put Akira back in the limelight. It had it's hayday when people were obsessed with it just to say they watched anime. Put in a few hours of Neon Genesis: Evangelion or Escaflowne and maybe we'll talk

Here are a few teasers of Howl's Moving Castle.

There's a 2-minute trailer floating around from a pay-per-view channel in Japan. It can't be found at the previous link due to 'requests' but with a little digging...

An acquisition and release date haven't been announced, but are basically formalities. For comparison, it took about a year for Spirited Away to make it from Japanese theaters to US theaters.

The film is already scheduled for theatrical release in France early in 2005.

It's also making an appearance at the Venice Film Festival. I don't expect it to win 'Best in Show' like 'Spirited Away' did at the Berlin Film Festival, but it's great to see animation put on equal footing with live-action unlike the Acadamy Awards.

IIRC, Studio Ghibli had to invoke a minor miracle to prevent Disney from turning movies like Tenkû no shiro Rapyuta into Mickey's Vacation in Laputa

In the 1980's New World Pictures made a horrible english dub of Nasuicaä they called Warriors of the Wind. This experience I believe is what compelled Miyazaki to specify in the deal with Disney that the films must be released unedited, except for language translation. But that was part of the original deal by which Disney attained all international distribution rights for all if Ghibli's films (including Japanese distribution!)

Um, no. Their mother was recovering from tuberculosis (like Miyazaki's mother). They went to the country to give her a better environment to recuperate in. As for the time period, it's described as late 50s, not late 40s. Check here if you like.

If you weren't totally wrong, you might be right.

It seems like I've heard of something like this before

-jim

Is it just me, or is that a Totoro Gameboy I see in those pictures?

Is it just me or has no one noticed that this movie is a rip off of the Japanese Anime movie "Laputa" (by Miyazaki Hayao)...? Maybe the story is original, but the world and technology it is set in doesn't seem to be.

All the works of Miyazaki have a much more European feel to them. At nausicaa.net there is an oft-cited FAQ that directly addresses the question of when and where Laputa takes place: "It is believed to have taken place at the end of the 19th Century or the beginning of the 20th Century, in an alternate universe where flying technology was more advanced (a la Verne). According to Miyazaki, he wrote "Laputa" as a "science fiction novel which was written in the end of the 19th century". The events of Laputa takes place "In an imaginary country. The Slug Ravine, where Pazu lived was modeled after a mining town in Wales. Miyazaki went to Wales for location hunting, and learned that the town had had a huge labor dispute the year before. This story and the scenery of the depressed mining town (he being a former chairman of a union) affected him, and made him put the scene of the townfolk fighting with the pirates in the movie. You can also see a socialist-looking poster in the house of Pazu's boss." It seems thus Laputa has more of a Jules Verne/Johnathan Swift 18th/19th century flavor to it. In contrast, "Sky Captain", from the looks of the trailer, takes it visual cues more from mid 20th century WWII era cultural icons. I'd go so far as to say "Sky Captain" also feels more American than anything Miyazaki has done.