| 1. | (10 posts) | "Princess Mononoke" VHS and TV Showings |
| 2. | (19 posts) | Differences in "Grave of the Fireflies" DVDs |
| 3. | (4 posts) | Takahata In France |
| 4. | (9 posts) | Miyazaki and the Saint-Exupery Influence |
| 5. | (6 posts) | "Sen" Theater Info |
| 6. | (3 posts) | Kiki on DVD |
We looked at 107 posts by 64 different contributors.
Sorry about the delay, my classes always finish at the most inopportune times.
Cynthia wrote (in HTML(!)), "I was looking in my local Circuit City ad (So. Cal.) and saw them advertising the PM video on sale for $12.99. Is this a national company?"
I replied, "Store locator at their website. I counted 45 states in their database." Then for anyone who hadn't realized it yet, "PM VHS out Tuesday (March 13th)."
A few people wondered if the video would make it's way to TV in their countries (UK and Sweden). No replies to the Sweden query, but Derek Webster answered for the UK, "I could see it cropping up on satellite in the next year then BBC2 or Channel 4 grabbing it (actually, Film4 would be most likely I'd think to get it first). It'll give Miramax the cash and maybe fuel interest for future releases without any risky theatrical or sell-thru video/DVD outlay."
Andrew Osmond added, "Yes, could well do. I know the existing Totoro and Porco dubs have been shown on Sky in the past, and of course the old Laputa dub made it to some ITV regions... Agree the three channels you name are the most likely."
A topic previously discussed, but brought up again by Fung Lee, "I was woundering if anyone has seen the new Grave of the fireflies DVD release for Region 2 DVD? How does the Region 1 version compare? Is the english dub in the Region 1 (us) release good?"
Chris Collette replied about the dub, "in my opinion, the dub of Grave was adequate. I think the voice actor for Seita really hit the nail on the head, although I didn't like Setsuko's english voice that much; it sounded too much like a thirty-year old woman trying to sound like she's 5. :) All in all, I liked how they handled it."
Lee Johnson is working on an interesting project, "I am currently in the process of constructing a site dedicated to comparing R2(jap) DVD releases of Ghibli works to R1(USA) DVD releases of Ghibli works" and also wrote, "both releases suffer from problems. The image on the R2 is better, but still suffers from some heavy pixelation effects due to it being anamorphic but encoded on a single sided single layered disc and the sound being encoded at a much to high rate. . . The R2 release is, in general, better than the R1 release, and can be bought for pretty much the same price - so it's a question of whether or not you want a dub (R1) in place of some interesting extras (R2)."
Hitomi Gehrig covered the other R2 version (French), "In an article its written that it was released from arte Video (arte is a TV channel which shows Hotaru no Haka last year) and Kaze Animation. The DVD contains the french dub, japanese with french subs, and an interview with Takahata Isao."
Michael Kerpan asked, "Does the French release include subtitles for the interview?"
Frederic Goetzinger anwsered, "It does! Not so many French speak Japanese! ^_^ But there are no English subtitles... BTW, I believe this interview is different from the one of the Japanese DVD"
Another thread on buying the DVD appeared coutousy of Robert Ryan. The US R1 DVD is widely availible, DVDPriceSearch is a great place to look for DVDs. AMOToyko and CD Japan were suggested for the R2 Japanese DVD by Steve Biggins. Martin Kaegi wrote, "if you are interested in the french version, go to www.fnac.com (but be warned, the site is in French. The title you have to search for is, IIRC, "Le tombeau des lucioles")."
Jorge spotted Takahata in Paris, "Isao Takahata attended the 2nd of March, day of open doors, to Gobelins in Paris, a school with several programs related to audiovisual media, one of which is an intense and dedicated 2 year traditional animation program very renouned in Europe and somewhat too in the States. . . I got there by 4 in the afternoon and he was just leaving. He had been given a toor around the school by Eric Liewer, Gobelins's responsible for the traditional animation program. I could not talk to Takahata-san, though. Pity."
Ilan Nguyen posted some more details, "Takahata's visit to the section for animated film at the Parisian C.F.T. Gobelins was completely unexpected, and has been made possible by several factors. The fact it was an "open day" at the school is one of them. . . He was attended at the FNAC-Etoile store for a public event, which finally appeared to have only a small public audience."
"It's a small world" came into play with David Ghodsi's message, "I was there and enjoyed the talk. I was happy to hear from takahata's mouth why he did "tonari no yamada kun" and also that goshu will be released in theaters in France. And Ilan thanks for your translation effort."
Ilan then added, "The release of "Gauche" is yet far from being a fixed issue, but at least, there are attempts by some French distributors to work on that film. . . there may be a little chance for Takahata to attend at some upcoming film festivals in Southern France. This is no reliable announcement, though, since it is probably still a matter under discussion."
A continuation of a thread last week, but with a twist. Hitomi Gehrig wrote, "Well it remebers me more at the bookes from Antoine de Saint Exupery. wasn't Miyazaki san once in the Sahara Desert on the traces of Saint-Ex?. . . The books of Sain-Ex are from the same period of time where Porco Rosso takes time. I really get the same feeling by reading this books as by watching Porco Rosso. They're so good. Saint-Ex was a poet and pilot, his most famous book is the little price, le petit prince the original is french. And in his book: terre des hommes, there are sceneries, which are really close to Porco Rosso."
Julio Gea-Banacloche replied, "I loved "Terre des hommes". Of course, I was young and impressionable then, but I thought it was reallly, really good. The idea that we are all connected, regardless of race or creed, we cannot be strangers to each other, is very Miyazaki-esque. . . The English translation is called "Wind, sand and stars," IIRC, and if anybody else is curious about it."
Ryoko Toyama confirmed the Miyazaki link with "Terre des hommes", "It is the favorite book of Miyazaki-San. He mentioned it several times (see the mail archive as well), and drew the cover of the Japanese version."
Julio replied, "Wow. Now I'll have to read it again! :-)"
Ilan Nguyen added, "Miyazaki went to France in March 1998, and had a trip from Paris to Cap Juvy (that name probably needs a check) in the Western Sahara (which was used as a relay at the time of the Aeropostale). . . Miyazaki did that trip along with Suzuki Toshio and IIRC, Okuda Seiji was also with them. They did that fly on an old Sovietic airplane (a model old about half a century), with a stop at Toulouse (visiting the hotel and the room St-Ex was always staying at on his way). . . I do not know about this cover, but he did draw some illustrations after his 1998 trip, that were published in a special issue of Animage's Roman Album collection, with a special talk he had, "in the desert", with Anno Hideaki"
Joe Monson posted useful news about the "Sen" theatrical run (for those in Japan ^_^), "Toho has started selling advance tickets today to see "Sen" when it is released in July. Adults are 1300yen (instead of 1700 or 1800) and children are 800yen (instead of 1000). A pass good for two adults is available for 2400yen."
Derek Webster wrote, "I saw these for sale at the cinema last night - the tickets look rather nice with the poster image on them. . . Do you know how long these will be on sale for? Or is it something worth buying just now in case they sell out?"
Joe replied, "I don't know how long the advance tickets will be on sale, though I would assume there wouldn't be any specific end date. The more they sell ahead of time, the better! You should buy them now just for the cool tickets. :-)"
Joe also passed along an on-line Toho theater locator.
Ilan Nguyen posted a detailed look at the upcoming Kiki DVD, "It will be released on June the 8th, 2001, and will cost 4700 ¥. Japanese and English languages will be included as subtitles as well as dubbings. The complete e-konte of the film will also be included. Bonuses include the movie's trailers, and a 4'45'' spot of parts of "Sen to Chihiro no kamigakushi"."
Wow. Dual language tracks on the sub AND dub. Neat. Studio Ghibli is releasing some impressive DVDs; I hope this goad Disney into getting their act together.
Marc Hairston scanned an article from Time that contained a Miyazaki mention. Ryoko Toyama posted the tracklist to the "Sen" Image Album. Ryoko also passed along a site about the "Umacha" commercial Studio Ghibli created. Joe Monson's wife is making/selling stone inkan (personal seals). Mark Yates wrote up a message on Miyazaki and trees. Kevin Tucker spotted "Princess Mononoke" on display at Tower Records. Not to be outdone, Anthony Cooper's dad (hey, gotta be specific) saw it at Costco. David Mankins noted that the PM VHS is doing well at Amazon.com. Andrew Osmond gives advice for UK readers.
Thinking about importing a DVD from Japan? I can't help you with a stand-alone player or a Mac, but PC users should visit InMatrix, which is DVD hacking central.
See you next week!
