| 1. | (8 posts) | PM in Germany and More Dubbing Madness |
| 2. | (2 posts) | Kai Model - Difficult? |
| 3. | (6 posts) | Strange Nausicaa.net Linkage |
We looked at 50 posts by 31 different contributors.
Light week on the MML.
Hanno Mueller wrote about the theaterical release of "Prinzessin Mononoke" in Germany, "The German dub of Mononoke Hime, named "Prinzessin Mononoke", will be released to German cinema theatres starting April 19, 2001. . . Since practically all German releases of foreign movies are being dubbed, there is a lot of experience with dubbing by the film companies, and Disney has always been the highest standard in German dub. . . In February, a Buena Vista Germany spokesman has told me on the phone that it will be a "small scale" release, after it hasn't been as successful in foreign markets as they had hoped. "We're devastated. It wasn't successful in any market outside Japan yet.". . . in March a local Hamburg art cinema told me that they are not going to screen it because it will be in all the big multiplex cinemas of the city. So here's hoping for a good release of the movie. "
Hanno also translated several German review to English, you can find them here.
He also posted a self-introduction complete with dubbing comments, "Back in 1999, I read US reviews about Mononoke and found out that it would be a not-to-miss movie. . . Since I celebrate my birthday each year with a special movie screening for my friends of a film that is very rare or obscure or not even available here in Germany, I took the chance to ask a friend to get me the Mononoke DVD from his next US visit. . . That movie rocked and instantly turned me into a fan. :-)
Now, about dubbing. You guys should be GLAD that Disney is doing the English dub and you can be happy about its quality. . . Disney Germany has always been a stellar performer in dubbing. They have the song lyrics translated and re-record the songs with great singers.
(Phil Collins even sang the German version for "Tarzan" himself - and he did quite well.). . . With "Mononoke", I cannot understand why people keep nit-picking the soup/water/piss comment over and over again. That is the one actual mistake I can point out in the English dub, and we all know by now that it was a poor choice but done with the best intentions. . . I couldn't be happier if the German dub was of the same quality (I haven't seen it yet). If Disney USA keeps up doing dubs this good, there's little to worry. I admit that I prefer watching the DVD in Japanese with subtitles. But boy, you should watch those cheap, uninspired German dubs of other Anime to appreciate the high quality of the Disney work for "Kiki" and "Mononoke"."
Chris Kuan replied, "For me, the issue cropped up because others criticised the dub, citing this as the prime example. . . But due to the vehemence of the protests, the replies by Neil Gaiman, Steve Alpert and/or BV seem to have delivered the impression that this particular scene was so difficult to accurately translate within the confines of timing, culture and mouthflaps that he had to resort to a seemingly out-of-place vulgarity. . . I merely point out that - to me - a very simple alternative was available. Now, a translator can't think of everything, so I accept that this was just one of those things. . . Of course, the whole issue makes less sense to me because it would be acceptable to me to have a slightly out-of-synch sub script. . . can anyone who has the DVD (or a darn good memory) post the *sub* version of Jigo's comment about the gruel?"
Chris Parrr answered, "He says "gruel tastes like hot water"."
Christy Williams wondered, "I plan on buying this kit because it looks so cute, but the instructions are in Japanese. Does anyone have a translation or is the model easy to put together without one?"
Vance Palodichuk replied, "I just winged it, and mine turned out okay. The post wasn't perfect, but I liked it. The kit is cheap (though not always easy to find), I wouldn't worry too much."
HobbyLink Japan sells all sorts of Studio Ghibli models, including the aformentioned Kai model.
I stumbled across one of the weirder references to Nausicaa.net:
The following is from this page describing search engines (and Y2K):
"We've introduced a new problem, somewhat alien to traditional research: we're drowning in a sea of much-replicated trivia. Which Nausicaa are you looking for? The Greek Princess, the Anime character, or the Star Trek race?
Ha ha. Anime reference. Very funny, well go look for it yourself, kids and see how while Phaecia might have the pedigree, the Valley Of The Wind gets all the good press.
[...]
But truth has no correlation to the number of hits (either that, or we're gonna have to start marking The Valley Of The Wind on maps."
The hyperlink on "the Anime character" leads to. . . ding-ding-ding!.
Anton Celestial asked, "but wasn't it cited in this list that naushika inspired someone in the crew of star trek to put in that nausicaan race? I guess that we should put the valley of wind into our maps, then ^_^"
I replied with quotes from a Star Trek: TNG convention report, "Yes, boys and girls, Captain Picard did indeed say "Nausicaans" when talking to Wesley on Samaritan Snare. However, it was unlikely that Patrick Stewart knew where the reference came from when filming was going on. (He would probably be laughing his head off at the image of three copies of the Princess Nausicaa coming into a bar and looking for trouble...)"
Alan Takahashi proved the "Small World Theory", "Well, isn't THIS a blast from the past... :-)
(As the original author of this, I'm a bit surprised to find this coming back at me here. To get the history of this straight somewhat, this came from one of my "STTNG Slideshow Chronicles" which were transcribed notes from Rick Sternbach's STTNG slideshow. Though many Miyazaki references made it into STTNG, I'm afraid the "Dirty Pair" were more popular... :-))"
Scott Ryan discovered that "Princess Mononoke" is returning to the Egyptian Theater in Seattle, for two Midnight showings (I'll be at one). Dave Jutsum put the opening clip from "Breathing life into drawings" on the web. Attempted spamming! Lee Johnson commenced work on his Ghibli DVD page (comparing DVD releases around the world). Lee also put up a in-depth guide to "Yamadas". Paul Mayer hooked everyone up with his Studio Ghibli merchadise connection. Joe Monson recommmended some piano books.
I think the listserv ends on Saturday this month, but I've been wrong before. Look for the next issue Sunday (hopefully).