| 1. | (5 posts) | Anime Poll Article |
| 2. | (10 posts) | Princess Mononoke DVD Confirmed |
| 3. | (5 posts) | Old Stories and Miyazaki |
| 4. | (4 posts) | Future Boy Conan Article |
| 5. | (9 posts) | Humongous Nausicaa Thread |
We looked at 53 posts by 27 different contributors.
The cable modem installation went smoothly. No more phone line fights!
Andrew Osmond wrote, "I now have an article commenting on the recent big anime poll in Japan. . . Includes a pic from Heidi, one of the top ten. The caption wrongly says it's 'virtually unknown in the West,' which I'll try to change to America."
Glen Stark confirmed Heidi's popularity in Switzerland, "I certainly have yet to meet anyone in Switzerland who doesn't know it! People here are blown away when I tell them the same man is responsible for PM." Stefano Marone chipped in, "Same in Italy... Heidi is universally known, even with people who don't know anime. It is currently on screen now in Italy (RAI) , every morning :)"
It took awhile, but BVHE finally confirmed the December 19 release date. Here's a rundown of what's included:
Specs:
Special Features:
5.1 Surround
1.85:1 Aspect Ratio Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions
French Language Track
Behind the Scenes Featurette Theatrical Trailer
and of course. . . Japanese Language Track
Many news sites didn't bother reporting the above since the date had unofficially been out awhile.
Sharon Westfall put her master plan into action, "I've given the stuff for the flowers (the kodamas, card and candy) to my cousin, who's going back home this weekend. . . Here's a screen capture of the card I made for Mr. Jessen, to explain to him what the flowers are for. . . and from the archives, the previous discussions on the list regarding the reason I'm doing this."
Chris Meadows wrote, "A book has come into my possession: _Japanese Fairy Tales_ compiled by Yei Theodora Ozaki, published in 1908. . . I'm wondering if any of these tales have any bearing on Miyazaki?" He listed the table of contents to which Ryoko Toyama replied:
> THE STORY OF THE OLD MAN WHO MADE WITHERED TREES TO FLOWER
It's a story of an old man who made cherry trees to flower by sprinkling ashes of his dog, which was killed by his neighbor. At the end of Mononoke, after plants sprouted, Kouroku said, "Shishi-Gami was Hanasaka Jijii...". In the dub, it was "I didn't know the Forest Spirit can grow flowers." The line was based on this story. The body of Didarabocchi (Night Walker) was blown up (I can't think up a good description), his remains were probably sprinkled around the mountains, and then, plants grew out of it.
> THE QUARREL OF THE MONKEY AND THE CRAB
This is a story of a crab who traded a rice ball for a persimmon seed. The crab planted the seed, and watched over it every day, singing, "grow, grow, seed..." In "Totoro," Satsuki wrote her mother saying that Mei is watching over the planted everyday, waiting the seed to sprout. She said, "Mei is like a crab in Saru Kani Gassen (the Quarrel of the Monkey and the Crab)", and drew a picture of little crab, and said it was "Mei Gani (Mei Crab)." In the dub, it was changed that Mei drew that picture.
Andrew Osmond posted his Future Boy Conan article that ran in Animation UK for comments. Kevin Cook replied to this tidbit ("a writer praised the short Canadian film 'Crac!' (1980), by Frederic Back. Miyazaki was 'blown away' by this film.") brought up in the article, "you can find the Oscar winning short animated film 'Crac' on the 'World's Greatest Animation' DVD released by Image Entertainment. (along with a whole slew of other great animated shorts)"
Ryoko Toyama wrote, "Heidi was made by a production company called Zuiyo Eizo. After Heidi, Zuiyo Eizo went bankrupt (or nearly bankrupt) due to high production cost of a series they were trying to sell to Europe. . . the company was split into Zuiyo (not Zuiyo Eizo), and Nippon Animation. Zuiyo got most of the debt and the right of Heidi, and Nippon Animation got the production departments. . . (so Miyazaki-San and other staff became NA employees). . . Zuiyo itself does not make any animation AFAIK, but the money from Heidi has been enough to keep it floating. Actually, Zuiyo is now trying to remake Heidi, called "Heidi and Clara.""
One of those Impossible to Quote® threads. When Andrew Osmond, Mike Arnold, and Michael Wojcik are tossing around 200+ line bombs, look out <G>. For those who choose to read through, follow the thread order provided above.
Steven Feldman noted a Joe Hisaishi article in Video Watchdog (#64). Andrew Osmond spotted a Mononoke-related column in the October issue of Pulp. Joe Monson wrote about why Japanese videos/DVDs are so expensive. David Mankins passed along a piece of Porco Rosso oragami.
David Mankins missed the start of next week with his message, but it's worth a look (and comment). Hopefully I'll have some messages in that thread to write about next week.
Jaa, ma ta.
