| 1. | (12 posts) | Disney Vs. Everyone: Round 2 |
| 2. | (11 posts) | The Incredible Mutating Thread |
We looked at 71 posts by 45 different contributors.
Despite suffering through the Great Seattle Earthquake of 2001, MML Traffic doesn't skip a beat.
A near repeat of a thread last November. It started when James Culbertson wrote "I would like to believe that Disney has Miyazaki's best interests at heart but in the end I think they have their ultimate interests in their wallets. "
Sharon Westfall replied, "I'm a bit distraught, cause it seemed at first that Disney was doing fine. They put out a decent dub of Kiki in good time. At the same time announced a Castle in the Sky release. It seems like after the failure of the theatrical release of Princess Mononoke in the US, everything on this side of the Pacific has come to a standstill."
Joe Monson added, "As for the releases coming out slowly, I'd rather have them do a good job on the releases than for them to do a mediocre (or worse) hack-job by hurrying on the job. Since they have to dub all of them to make any real money (yes, the real money is actually in dubbed releases), they need to take the time to do a good translation (as the Kiki release showed them)."
Bruce Jones and Chris Wallace fought a civilized tit-for-tat, reminiscent of the last Disney thread. Good to know somethings remain static ^_^.
Sharon closed the thread with, "I think Laputa was originally suppose to be the same quick and dirty release, but then it got tinkered with, changed to a theatrical schedule, expensive re-scoring, etc. . . My gut tells me it goes back to Home Video, and plain vanilla DVD. . . Laputa's a much easier sell than PM... no chopped off heads etc. So I can take more kids this time, tell more friends, etc.
So many questions, no answers.
Dave Jutsum posted a huge message (must have saved them up while lurking) with several thread points, but the one that generated the most traffic was, "Comparing Shots Between Cagliostro and Mononoke. . . These shots jumped out at me as being particularly so after I watched the Cagliostro DVD. This is significant in that comparing the two provides a good basis for examining Miyazaki's work as a whole." I doubt Dave foresaw the twists and turns the thread would take. Anyways. . .
Artis Klapars replied, "Recently I saw the enormously overvalued movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Surprisingly, there was a similar rooftop chase, and also an episode resembling the scene where San stabbed Ashitaka with the crystal dagger. I wonder if the director Ang Lee borrowed ideas not only from the Matrix but also from Princess Mononoke." Unsurprisingly, the thread turned to deconstructing the CTHD/PM relationship.
Andrew Osmond wrote, "That strikes me as very far-fetched, especially as I didn't think the similarities were that close. (San and Ashitaka don't fly over the rooftops, do they?) And I'm sure there've been similar moments in many, many other films." Chris Wallace added, "such "wire tricks" are a staple of many Hong Kong films, including the works of director Tsui Hark, amongst others." And to complete the rebuttal, Sophia Elanor Rogers, "I was reminded of Mononoke a few times in CTHD- not for the action, but for the scenery and atmosphere. Ang Lee succeeded in capturing the natural atmosphere, and this is rare for a live-action director.
So, I think there's cross-pollination here, but no 'ripping off.'
From leftfield (way, way, out there) Jee Hoon Lee gave his thoughts:
I loved CTHD, although it is overhyped and I think that is causing a lot of people to form a backlash against it. . . It's just a pleasing remix of classic ingredients into a hearty new broth with a slight twist. . . Hm, that leads me to consider Miyazaki films as tastes:
Castle of Cagliostro - mouth wateringly good, salty and hearty.
Nausicaa - rich, heavy but an edge of bitterness
Laputa - sweet and sour with a touch of spicy sauce
Totoro - sweet, vanilla with nuts on top; alternatively, a sweet ricecake mochi with walnuts inside (oooh goooood)
Kiki - very sweet and velvety rich, a little fuffly but nice, like good Tiramisu
Porco Rosso - tastes like that sweet, red sauce they put on Chinese BBQ pork, but kinda hungry afterwords...
Mononoke - heavy meat sauce, somewhat bitter and aromatic
Alas, no further Miyazaki recipes were posted.
Griffin Waldau still has a few "Art of Kazetsukai-Tsushin" books for sale. What are you waiting for? Go get one! Ryoko Toyama reported that a commercial made by Studio Ghibli is currently airing in Japan. Joe Monson posted an article from the Daily Yomiuri about the creation of "Sen". Lots of "I'm ok" posts after the Seattle earthquake. Glen Stark broke the bank for a couple of Ghibli DVDs. A Seattle Times article on anime with quotes from (ack!) WSU students. Scott Ryan is putting together episode guides for "Sherlock Hound". Marc Hairston spotted another sane article on anime. Julio Gea-Banacloche says, "fear the intelligent mold!" Jorge confirms that the Spanish version of Nausicaa is being translated from the "deluxe" Japanese edition published in 1996.
Shake it Solt!
New month, new schedule: March 2001 issues arrive each Friday.