| 1. | (13 posts) | Studio Ghibli DVD Release Schedule |
| 2. | (5 posts) | Princess Mononoke VHS Rental Stats |
| 3. | (4 posts) | Jigo's Monk Role |
| 4. | (5 posts) | Thoughts on the Future of Studio Ghibli |
We looked at 90 posts by 50 different contributors.
Good news this week for region-less DVD player owners. If you have a DVD drive in your computer check out http://www.inmatrix.com for some workarounds. I just patched a Toshiba SD-M1402 and finally watched the Metal Gear Solid 2 DVD I had sitting around for three months ^_^.
Fukumoto Atsushi broke the news of Studio Ghibli's DVD release schedule:
2000 Nov 17 HO-HOKEKYO TONARI NO YAMADA-KUN
2001 Feb PANDAKOPANDA, PANDAKOPANDA/AMEFURI SAAKASU NO MAKI
Mar Lupin III: KARIOSUTORO NO SHIRO
May MEITANTEI HOOMUZU (theatrical release version)
Jun MAJO NO TAKKYUUBIN
Sep KAZE NO TANI NO NAUSHIKA
Nov TONARI NO TOTORO
2002 Jan HEISEI TANUKI-GASSEN PONPOKO
Apr MIMI WO SUMASEBA
May YANAGAWA HORIWARI MONOGATARI
Jun TENKUU NO SHIRO RAPYUTA
Jul UMI GA KIKOERU
Aug KURENAI NO BUTA
Nov MONONOKEHIME
These are the Japan release dates and the DVDs will be encoded Region 2. To read the entire announcement (in Japanese) visit the Studio Ghibli site.
Atsushi later added, "Regarding the release of Omohide Poroporo (or lack of it): According to an article of October 5 edition of Denpa Shimbun, it is to be relased in August 2002. . . I suppose the Ghibli's WWW page has an error."
Clayton Wheeler wondered about the inclusion of English and French subtitles on the "Tonari no Yamada-kun" DVD, "Is it usual for Japanese DVDs to have subtitles in other languages?" Ryoko Toyama answered and also cautioned about blindly importing, "Many Japanese are usually curious about how their favirte character sound in other languages. The Ghibli LD box set which was sold in Japan also included the English tracks of Totoro, Laputa, Kiki, and Porco. . . in the case of Yamadas, sustitles are included since there has not been English or French dub of Yamadas. . . just because English subtitles are included in Yamadas, it doesn't mean that they would do the same thing for Nausicaa. We do not know what kind of features will be included in other titles than Yamadas."
Ryoko also noted that the Yamada DVD will contain all the storyboards (664(!) pages) and 74 episodes of the manga on which the film is based.
Patrick O'Connell posted some stats (Video Business Magazine sent him the data) of how the Princess Mononoke VHS is doing as a rental:
Marc Hairston disagreed, "We really need to look at our expectations before we start throwing words like "bombed" around. Did you expect it to make a million dollars each week when the average Blockbusters has one or two copies for rent and 40 to 60 copies of "Mission to Mars"?. . . The question is given the number of copies out there, how is it doing? How is it doing compared to other arthouse films? Nearly a million dollars in the first three weeks when it took in around $3 million at the theaters is actually pretty good. . . My guess is that it will be one of those that has a long shelf life, not grossing a lot each weekend, but a steady renter that will ultimately pull in a nice return"
Robin Cassady added, "Perhaps most of the people who are sophisticated enough to enjoy Princess Mononoke have abandoned VHS for DVD. :-)"
Sophia Elanor Rogers wondered, "what kind of monk Jigo is supposed to be..Is he an actual practicing monk or is he just disguised as one?. . . Is he a historical reference or a complete invention of Miyazaki's?" David Mankins replied, "In many phases of Japan's history there were monks who were basically opportunists of the sort Jigo is. Being a monk gave one some license in wandering around the countryside. . . The wandering monks sometimes had a strained relationship with their more settled (and hierarchical) brethren. . . In some periods they were almost considered a social problem and a nuisance. . . "wandering monk" and "bum" were almost synonymous."
Michael Wojcik commented, "Feudal societies generally have two or more interacting hierarchies, simply because it's tough to fit a large, spread-out population into just one. Often organized religion provides one of the alternatives, and some ambitious people find their way into it, its ostensible otherworldly mission notwithstanding."
Mike Arnold mused on the recent death of Tokuma Yasuyoshi, "I spent some time with a friend who works as a manager of a (Tokyo) video store. . . He said that Miyazaki is probably going to have trouble doing the kinds of projects he wants to do from here on out. Tokuma had always been very supportive of Miyazaki's work, even if it wasn't financially "safe"."
Mike Rieper wrote, "I would think that at this point in his career Miyazaki the director would have enough box office clout that he could get the financial backing he needs and deserves." Heyado (arrg, the lack of names again!) replied, "Akira Kurosawa. . . had serious trouble getting his last few films produced. . . Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas financed at least one of his films. . . Perhaps if it comes to it, Spielberg (animation fanatic) will come to Miyazaki's aid"
Robin Cassady poured some cold water on the Spielberg angle, "Dreamworks and Disney are arch rivals. The Ghibli association with Disney makes a Dreamworks involvement very unlikely."
Mike also gave something for people to chew on, "I think the real problem would be when Miyazaki finally steps down and his name can no longer be attached to projects. Think about how many times do we refer to films as Miyazaki films and not Ghibli films?. . . Dreamworks doesn't quite have the same clout to it if Spielberg isn't associated with it."
Tom Wilkes posted some info and cover scans to "Goshu the Cellist". Marc Hairston posted some shots of the Totoro cameo during a Powerpuff Girls episode. Shun Chan passed along some updated info for the "Castle in the Sky" showing in Hollywood on October 22. Proof that Geeks Love Miyazaki.
My cable modem installation is this Saturday, just in time to wreak havoc on the next issue (knowing my luck). Thanks for reading, see you (hopefully!) next week.