| 1. | (9 posts) | New Grave of the Fireflies DVD |
| 2. | (2 posts) | Who Says Fans Don't Matter? |
| 3. | (3 posts) | Princess Mononoke in (parts of) Europe |
| 4. | (5 posts) | Studio Ghibli VHS Tapes Disappearing? |
We looked at 62 posts by 37 different contributors.
Longest thread was. . . five messages long. Coupled with the amount of postings, it makes for a lot of Quickies. However, the threads weren't too shabby.
AJ Kock wrote, "Is it a new one or just the first release for Japan" Joe Monson replied, "It's just the ffirst release for Japan. Central Park Media licensed the North American rights to the film and has released a DVD in North America"
Ryoko Toyama posted some additional info, "Squeezed, letterboxed (Vista size), Dolby Surround, 8 minutes bonus movie (interviews of Isao Takahata and Akiyuki Nosaka, the author of the original novel, and introduction to the film.) 2,980 yen, from Warner Home Video."
"Squeezed" really means "anamorphic widescreen". Some people complain that the CPM release looks like VHS, the new release ought to make them happy.
Michael Johnson forwarded a message from David Jessen (recipient of the letter campaign). Seems that Sharon Westfall's plan worked to perfection:
Dear Sharon and Everyone at the Miyazaki Mailing List,
Thank-you for the flowers, kodamas and Maui Caramacs!! They were quite an unexpected surprise. It was my pleasure to play a role in adding the Japanese language track to the upcoming PRINCESS MONONOKE DVD release. I hope everyone enjoys the disc. And yes, the subtitles are a translation of the Japanese track. Thank-you for your continued support!
Best Regards, David
Sharon added (which many people probably did in their heads), "YEA!!!! Success!!!!!"
Glen Stark wrote about Princess Mononoke's success in Switzerland, "in Zurich, the theater that was showing it was near capacity even several weeks into it's showing time. . . So I would say it did quite well here. . . The only thing that beats it is Heidi. But of course this is Switzerland. " Martin Kaegi added some comments, and a question, ""Heidi" was (and still is) extremely popular on television here and the (german) theme song was a huge hit that everybody in Switzerland as well as in Austria and Germany could still sing to you if you asked them. . . does anybody in Germany or Austria know if there are still plans to release PM theatrically?"
Hergen Lehmann replied, "The official theatrical release date for Germany is currently April, 19th, 2001. Details as the number of copies and theaters for the premiere are still unknown. . . it should also be mentioned, that after the "berlinale" film festival in february 1998, there already was an "official" release date for summer 1998, which was cancelled quietly later. A recent interview (in german) with german BVI vice president Wolfgang Braun"
Michael Kerpan wondered, "CD Japan now lists certain items in the Ghibli Video Collection (such as Totoro) as out of print. . . Is it possible that these Japanese video releases are going out of print?" Ryoko Toyama replied, "They are available "only for limited time." This is supposed to let people rush to stores, as they won't be available later. . . Buena Vista Home Entertainment Japan has discontinued the production of most of the Ghibli videos, if not all of them." Bleah, the famous Disney "moratorium". Standard practice in the US (have you seen a Snow White VHS tape at retail?), expect to see the films resurface in another decade (the standard timespan).
Stefano Marone dug up info on the Italian release of Princess Mononoke (or "principessa Mononoke"). Andrew Osmond posted a smattering of Mononoke articles (with many insightful comments). Chris Wallace wrote a piece about the (uncertain) future of ""Castle in the Sky". Chris Meadows shared his thoughts on Disney and DVD. Julio Bruna posted a Mononoke artice. I don't know what it's about since it's in French; Julio says an English version is in the works. Yu-Yuan Chen noted this site with all sorts of Studio Ghibli posters (nice, but expensive!). Steven Feldman posted the only reply to the "ultimate Miyazaki book" thread.
"A day late but worth the wait"©