The Future of Ghibli US Releases

ChibiOne writes "Nausicaa.net is reporting very interesting news regarding the US release for the works of (Hayao Miyazaki's) Studio Ghibli. Steven Alpert (VP at Tokuma International, parent of Studio Ghibli) spoke after the screening of "Porco Rosso" in New York and revealed several new release plans. AnimeOnDVD has a complete report." It says "every Ghibli feature film should be released in the US by the end of next year" as well as a widescreen re-release of Totoro. Here's hoping!

Comments

Disney dismay

[Snart Barfunz]

I wish there were some way for these to be released through another studio - somehow the Disney association devalues them for me. But it's great news that the dual language DVD is coming out. I prefer to watch Miyazaki's movies in Japanese with English subtitles, rather than hearing voices which don't fit the characters, or lip-synch properly.

Pretty light on details.

[andih8u]

So who's going to be distributing this? Will it be a major studio with wide theatrical release? Or a quest to find a theatre that's playing it? All in all, they'll still find out that US audiences in general still won't be interested in it as most people still regard anime as "cartoons", so a theatrical release will be a money loser for them.

Re:Pretty light on details.

[nyamada]

Disney is distributing this -- they have a deal with Studio Ghibli for all their works, I believe.

I believe that it will _not_ get theatrical release in the US, but will be released straight to DVD, as was "Castle in the Sky" and "Kiki's Delivery Service". More's the pity.

Re:Has Studio Ghibli ditched Disney yet?

[MooCows]

There are some Region 2 releases with English subs, like Nausicaa

You'll have to import them from Japan though.

Pom Poko?

[SmileeTiger]

Any idea if Pom Pokow ill be released? I couldn't see an anime where raccoons run around with exposed *ahem* bits. Perhaps Disney will nuter them?

Re:Has Studio Ghibli ditched Disney yet?

[F34nor]

They became EVIL when they undermined the US Constitution with the Sunny Bono Copyright Extension act. The creation of intellectual oligarchy is by far their worst crime.

Re:Ghibli releases

[MonkeyDluffy]

Subtitles can be more accurate than the dubs for a number of reasons. One is that dubs may modify the script so that the dialog corresponds to the lips moving - so they may have to add or shorten the actors lines. Another is that sometimes there is a tendency of sanitizing/deculturalizing the dubs, while the subtitles for the same movie/show are a more correct translation of the japanese. By sanitizing I mean that sexual or volent dialog may be cleaned up, and by deculturalizing I mean cultural references may be changed to something more "westernized", or language jokes changed to different puns or jokes in english. Subtitles are assumed to be for the purists, and dubs are assumed to be for kids (hence the sanitization) and casual viewers.

-MDL

Surprised by Mononoke rerelease

[Robotech_Master]

Don't get me wrong; I like Mononoke quite a lot. But it's Miyazaki's darkest film, made for a teenaged set, not a kiddie set like Spirited Away, the movie for which he won an Oscar. Add to this that the rerelease is in a foreign language, with subtitles (which is usually the kiss of death for theatrical showings)...why are they even bothering? It'll probably show on about three screens and about six people will see it, and Disney will end up another $10 million in the hole. That's not going to do a lot of good for Miyazaki's reputation.

Problems with the Fox Totoro; other options

[MEK]

We are used to the Fox dub voices -- and fond of them. Nonetheless, the overall average of the voiice acting quality is higher in the Japanese original. I hope Disney's dub is at least as good.

While the Fox dub preserved the original sound effects and music, it muted these -- quite severely at points. Environmental noises are very important in this film -- and they are all too often almost inaudible. However, the Fox dub did an excellent job in their translated re-recordings of the opening and closing songs.

The pan and scanning of the Fox release does make a big difference. In some scenes, important visual information is definitely lopped off.

The source used by Fox was a bit battered and faded (not their fault, I suppose -- and Ghibli/Tokuma did not make any new source available for the Fox DVD). The restored version of Totoro issued by Buena Vista Japan looks absolutely gorgeous -- and scenes that take place in the dark are vastly better looking.

Although the Japanese DVD LOOK utterly gorgeous -- it has the most annoying dubtitles imaginable. Not only do we have subtitles for conversations we don't hear taking place (or which are 10 times wordier than the Japanese dialog), but we get subtitles for noises (as with hearing impaired subtitles). The Korean DVD (R3, NTSC), on the other hand, looks just as good, is considerably cheaper -- and has excellent real sub-titles. It also has a very good Korean dub (the Korean father is the best one in any version). For those with little kids to entertain, the Korean might not work -- as it does NOT contain the old English dub. For anyone who doesn't need an English dubbed alternative -- the Korean release is highly recommended.

(There are also Taiwanese and Hong Kong releases. I don't have -- and haven't seen -- either of these, however).

MEK

Re:lip-sync=shorthand?

[AhBeeDoi]

I agree with you that lip-syncing per se isn't a problem, but I think when people say that, they're often using it to summarize a whole range of things - like the OP said, voices that don't fit the character, for example.

General Patton was a little guy with a high and squeaky voice, a stark contrast from the commanding and very masculine voice of George C. Scott, the actor who protrayed him in the movie Patton. Often times, the entertainment business is not so much about fulfilling fantasy as it is about reinforcing our prejudices.