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Angry Spirited Away Fans Strike Back
peter_gzowski writes "Anime News Network is reporting that, 'The Japanese consumers in the Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures of Japan have filed a lawsuit against Walt Disney Japan over the red tint on the Japanese DVD release of Spirited Away.' Japanese consumers who purchased the Spirited Away DVD were very disappointed when they discovered a red tint to the film. A hundred thousand consumers complained, but Buena Vista Home Entertainment Japan (a subsidiary of Walt Disney) pretended nothing was wrong with the disc. The original source of news of the suit can be found (in Japanese) at Mainichi. No response from Disney yet."
The article states: They claim that, after analyzing the DVD, they found that its color balance was biased towards red.
Anyone have any ideas how this happened? It doesn't seem like it's one of those things that "just happens". It sounds to me like someone in the DVD production group seriously goofed and it was missed by the QA team. If that's the case, it's a pretty amazing oversight... I'd love to hear the opinions of those who know more about video production than I.
That was in thousands of people -- 126,926 *thousand* people, or ~127 million people.
i have the region 2 (japanese) of spirited away--but it's still shrink-wrapped, so i can't give a first-person account :P nevertheless, here are plenty of firsthand accounts of the red tint.
on the same forum there is another thread reporting that the publisher of the korean release (dec 7) has announced that it will not have the red tint--although i'm not sure how that's been arranged. this seems to be a pretty severe acknowledgement of the red tint problem if the report is true.
Sample picture
I have no knowledge about the problem, just passing on the link I found. The effect is somewhat subtle from a single image, but I bet it's much worse when you watch the whole movie. Seems quite possible that the shirt on the right should be white.
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- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
From the mail :
"(...) Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away)" is a digitally-animated movie produced by Studio Ghilbli, and its full-digital frames were designed and produced on computers. The coloration of the master for the DVD and VHS was strictly supervised/approved by Studio Ghibli's color designers and DP/Cinematographer.
The "Spirited Away" DVD/VHS was produced through an entirely novel procedure in mastering, and both Studio Ghibli and Buena Vista Home Entertainment Japan believe the quality of the DVD/VHS to be the best and the most faithful in terms of reproducing the original movie under the given circumstances.
As for the trailers on Disc 2, they have been included solely for the purpose of providing necessary information on the film, and because of this nature, it was not specifically color-corrected. Consequently, some differences in coloration may be detected between the same scene on the trailers on Disc 2 and the main feature on Disc 1. We assure the highest standard of quality control has been maintained on the manufacturing of both DVD and VHS, but differences in coloration may be detected depending on the type of equipment and/or the settings of the system being used.
That's their explanation at least.
Why are they asking for a replacement plus eighty dollars?
Has it caused them emotional and psychological distress to that degree?
Surely a replacement and legal expenses would be more reasonable...
Google reckons that "Congenital color vision deficiency overwhelmingly affects more men than women. About 10 million men in the United States (7% of the male population) have a color vision deficiency compared to 0.4% of women. Caucasian men experience the highest prevalence of this disorder." et al.
Try a colour vision deficiency test yourself.
C.f. the overheard conversation in Return to Castle Wolfenstein:
It's funny, until you ask the Institute of Electrical Engineers (largely composed of caucasian men) whether they require their members to be able to distinguish wiring colours. Go on, ask them. ;-)
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
- Disney red-faced over 'faulty' DVD
Ironic that this happened in a country with a reputation for a highly developed sense of artistry and aesthetics. What were they thinking?KYOTO -- Buyers of a DVD version of the popular animated film "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" have launched a lawsuit against its retailer, Walt Disney Japan, claiming the color is "completely different" from movie theater showings.
The Kyoto District Court suit, launched by three buyers from Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures, claims that a heavy red tone persists throughout the DVD version, ruining the film.
They have demanded that the company replace the copies they bought with a better version, and pay them 10,000 yen each in compensation.
A total of 3 million copies of the DVD have already been produced, and Walt Disney Japan and consumer centers have reportedly fielded numerous complaints from other buyers.
Walt Disney Japan began selling DVD copies of the film through Buena Vista Home Entertainment in July. However, a red tone that buyers claim persists through the film makes the movie dark, and consumers say it is completely different from the movie version.
Buyers of the DVD reportedly analyzed the colors by computer and found that of the three primary colors, the red tone was extremely strong.
Buena Vista Home entertainment reportedly posted a home page message saying that the tone of the colors could vary depending on the playing environment, but the firm is reportedly refusing to exchange copies, saying the DVD is not a defective product.
Buena Vista officials said they would consider a response together with Studio Ghibli, the makers of the "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi" film, but added that the DVD was an original product whose tones were produced while respecting the intentions of the producers. (Mainichi Shimbun, Dec. 3, 2002)
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"