| 1. | (16 posts) | Music, Songs, and Other Distractions |
| 2. | (10 posts) | Persuasive Speaking |
| 3. | (51 posts) | Theaters vs Video, and More! |
| 4. | (8 posts) | Studio Ghibli News |
| 5. | (9 posts) | Searching for Merchandise |
We looked at 193 posts by 74 different contributors.
Off by a day on my prediction, the listserv ends on Thursdays this month. The MML also cracked the 200 post mark this week, and caused five people to unsubscribe. Guess they'll be reading MML Traffic from now on.
Simple subjects often produce the greatest amount of messages. Alexis did just that by asking, "Anyone have songs they want to recommend?" The suggestions came fast and furious, so they're presented in a list with a few comments.
Wes Johnston came across some hostility in school, "I had to do a speech for my Basic Speech class last week so I did it on Miyazaki. . . I kinda tried to present Miyazaki as the best animator alive, and afterwards my teacher started reaming me cause she didn't think Kiki's had that good of animation, not on par with Disney in her mind. She almost compared it to those junky cartoons you buy at a truck stop or something. . . I'm just curious, was I wrong to say Miyazaki is the best animator or not? Maybe I shoulda just said Ghibli are the best storytellers are out there or something."
Ravenmoro replied, "If you feel he is the best animator, then by all means, speak your mind and proclaim it! I personally consider Miyazaki the greatest animator of our time. . . there are so many little touches in Kiki's Delivery Service and in all Miyazaki films than in all the current Disney flicks put together. . . I'm not condemining all Disney movies. . . But all in all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this goes for all films as well."
Mike Rieper wrote, "That brings up an interesting argument. By the way your teacher was talking it seemed she was seperating animator and storyteller, a valid thing to do. . . the title "best animator" suggests only the drawing aspect of the process, which may have led to the seperation of the terms. . . In my experience, the latest Disney films are of the highest quality animation, thus lending credence to the teacher's argument. But as I'm sure most of us would attest to, lack that Ghibli story. So I probably would've emphasized the storyteller/director aspects."
Scott Ryan took a deep breath and added, "I would start with a phrase like, "There are several factors to consider..." (That way whatever scattered thoughts bubble to the surface next, I sound like I have a well reasoned counter point.) "Firstly, it's not necessarily accurate to speak of a specific 'Disney Standard' of animation." (At this juncture it is important not to rip on Disney too hard. . . Consider her stubbornness as a challenge. Start a discussion with her about which Disney films she likes most and see if you can introduce her to a Miyazaki film that might appeal to her. --I doubt Mononoke would work for this purpose. Perhaps Totoro."
Russell Watanabe chipped in, "Animation style aside, I think the year the film was made and the budget used should be taken into account. . . But, hey, at least your teacher had seen Kiki's Delivery Service!"
The mail flow turned into a deluge after Robin Cassady posted about "Castle in the Sky", "I would rather not have a theatrical release. Usually, when a film is released in theathers, the DVD will not come out until the theatrical run has completed. I'd much rather have a DVD sooner. If this attitude seems odd to you, understand that I find the viewing experience of a DVD on a 40" HDTV with a DTS sound system superior to a 35mm print on the damaged screen or through faulty acoustics of the local theaters."
Many threads spawned, which is why the thread listing is so messy (People! Please watch the subject line!). Lee Johnson wrote, "i find that attitude a little selfish. Laputa needs a theatrical release, not so it can be viewed on a big screen, big sound etc., but so It can gain the audience it deserves." Chi Chung Tse replied along the same lines, "His film was designed to be shown in theater (The shot layouts, the density of the design and the kind of moment etc). I had seen Laputa couple times on film in the theater years ago before I got the LD and I found that on LD lots of detail was lost and the visual impact were not there even its still a great film. . . On a TV screen no matter how big you got, the castle became the size of a wedding cake. . . I myself wanted the DVD badly too but also wanted to share the amazing experience I have about seeing Laputa on a theater screen."
Talk of starting another petition circulated, but nothing solidified. Michael Johnson posted some tips for those wanting to sway Disney's opinion.
Then as things are wont to do, the thread turned to economics. Robin wrote, "I don't buy the premise that a theatrical release will be much help in expanding the market. . . I suspect that Disney lost a lot of money on the theatrical release of Mononoke. Hopefully, it will be made up in video/DVD sales. I think that losing money on a theatrical release of Castle might be more harmful than helpful to the cause of bringing Ghibli films to the western world."
Bruce Jones added some flame-bait, "we wouldn't want a big corporation to lose a few pennies would we now? Are you really a fan of Hayao Miyazaki's work if you think his work can't succeed in the box office?"
Marc Hairston restored some sanity, "I hate to say it but, yes. "Mononoke" did not make back the cost of its dubbing and marketing and even if it does well in DVD/video release, it will still have a long way to go before Miramax makes back the investment. . . Theatrical releases give *exposure* which helps with the later home video sales. But that's a trade off. How many home video sales does it take to make back the cost of running off 1000 prints of the film, the ad campaign, etc? A *lot* more than just the sales if you go directly to video. . . A straight to video release has fewer sales, but it doesn't have to sell as many units to show a profit. . . I'd love to see Laputa in the theater too, but if doing so loses Disney so much money that they drop the deal altogether, then I'd rather them stick to the video release only where they'll at least make some profit and we'll finally all get the Ghibli films released in the US."
David Mankins found an article by Charles Solomon on the status of the US animation industry. It's connected to much of what Marc writes about.
But wait! There's more!
David Griffiths thought that "Laputa" would have made a better first choice for theaters then "Princess Mononoke". Michael Johnson cleared up that point, "No, _Mononoke_ was theater released first because those were the terms of the agreement between Disney and Tokuma Shoten (the parent company of Studio Ghibli). This information is available on Nausicaa.net, in the Disney-Tokuma Deal FAQ. . . Tokuma Shoten insisted on this condition in the contract."
After some more flame-baiting from Volker Greimann, "I still say that they did not _want_ MH (or any other Ghibli) to succeed, because they felt threatened by Ghibli's ability to do what they cannot anymore: write great stories and arrange them beautifully." and in reply to a post about Americans and cartoons, "Yup, those americans, can't even... oops, getting started again, better stop now ;-)" Chris Wallace righted the thread, "would have running tv ads by the bushload have helped? I do not think so. Both "Titan A.E." and "The Iron Giant" ran a ton of tv ads on Cartoon Network, mostly during Toonami (their primarily anime-themed show) and both films tanked at the Box Office. . . Miramax could have sunk another $10 million to run television ads and maybe added another $500,000 to $1,000,000 (and I am being generous) in theatre revenues. . .
I have met Mr. Jessen, the gentleman in charge of the Disney-side of this deal and he does not want them to "not succeed". So many "conspiracy theorists" continue to hold to the notion that Disney bought these films to bury them so they will never compete with their own products. Tokuma Shoten, parent company to Studio Ghibli, *asked* Disney to enter into this agreement. Yes, they chose Disney because only Disney was capable of doing the planetary release schedule that they wanted. . . Disney aims for a different market with their animated films than Studio Ghibli does. The one time Disney did aim for the more "adult" market, we got "The Black Caludron" which darn near killed Feature Animation it did so poorly. . .
We have to face it. The general American animation market is not the general Japanese animation market. That does not make us "backwards", "barbarians", or "clueless boobs". We are "different". . . I am sure there is a small audience in Japan that likes stuff that the rest of the country hates. . . Rather than blast a corporation for exercising fiscal common sense and not catering to our unrealistic whims, we should be thankful that they at least care enough to (admittedly when full-court-pressed) to at least release it in a format that a) does the work justice, and b) in a way that respects the artist's intentions and integrity.
Ryoko Toyama added, "Not to meantion the $10 million Miramax paid Ghibli for the right (it was minimum gurantee for MH). And no, Disney had no choice. Unless they release MH in theaters, they could not get the video rights for other films (which they originally wanted.). . . If Disney was afraid of competition from Ghibli, or did not care about Ghilbi films, it could've just released the old English dub straight to video. Instead, Disney hired famous actors, including two Academy-winning actresses, and asked Hisaishi to redo the old music so that the film could have full-orchestrated score. . . It was unfortunate that our expectation was raised, and it is really unfortunate for the film and the American public if Laputa would not be shown in theaters, but the video release is what Disney said they would do in the first place. I just hope that Miramax would make several (if not more) prints of subtitled "Laputa" and show it in the art house theaters around the US."
From the heartland of America, Michael Wojcik wrote, "Here in dismal Lincoln, NE (pop. around 200,000) _PM_ appeared only for one weekend in May in the local art theater. . . that theater, the Ross, announces its schedule months in advance and does a nice job of explaining each selection, and even so some regulars I know skipped _PM_ on the grounds that it "seemed like a children's movie". I tried to persuade them otherwise, too, and failed - and as a literary theorist persuading fellow intellectuals is more or less my job."
Tom Tanida added some advantages of the Tokuma/Disney deal, "if Pioneer/Bandai/ADV/whoever licenses these titles, we may get them all on DVD more quickly. . . but they probably sell 50-100,000 copies max, as opposed to the 1,000,000 or so that I'm guessing Disney will manage to sell of Mononoke on VHS&DVD in the first 90 days. Disney/BVHE's name & business channels really do count for something when it comes to getting magazine reviews/media exposure, promotional materials sent to (and displayed at) chain stores and rental outlets, and so forth."
So that runaway thread is taken care of, but wait! More from the first part of the thread from Robin, replying to the "selfish" accusations, "Right, as though everyone who wants it in theaters desires this for altruistic reasons. Sure, I believe that. Not."
Altruistic (adj): Unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness.
Scott Ryan replied, "I suppose all actions can eventually be interpreted as a selfish motive. The issue here, as I see it, is the degree of gain. . . Weighing "theatrical release" versus "direct to video,". . . Which approach would be more likely to make Miyazaki a household name? Which approach would be more likely to enlightened the public at large to the storytelling potential of animation?. . . I'm confident that, if Disney throws its weight behind _Castle in the Sky_ to the same degree they have in the past for features such as _Lion King_ or _Toy Story_, profits would be comparable. I think _Castle_ is a winning horse and backing it will pay off handsomely."
Robin finished off the thread holding to the original line, "IMO, A successful video release will do much more to promote the Ghibli name than another failed theatrical release will."
Ryoko Toyama posted several bits of Studio Ghibli news:
*The theatrical release of "Laputa" in the US *might* be difficult. (In that case, it will be video released as "Kiki" was.)
*"Nausicaa" will be theater released in Korea on Dec. 16. This is the first time that a Ghibli film is released in Korean theaters.
*"Yamadas" is most likely to be released in France in next spring.
*Trailer of "Sen to Chihiro" (30 seconds) will be shown in Japanese theaters (Toho franchise), starting on Dec. 16.
*Mononoke stamps will not be issued since Ghibli did not agree to the project. It was the mistake on the part of the Postal Agency to publicize the project before getting Ghibli's consent.
All sorts of merchandise searching this week.
Laura Bissey asked for help in her search for a Totoro necklace, "I saw one in the Totoro store in Harajuku last year, but was unable to get back there to pick it up before I left. I've tried to find it online, as well, but to no avail."
Scott Ryan replied, "Did the necklace look something like this? http://www.jaspanet.or.jp/COMINICA/accessory.htm" No reply, but I think he found the correct item.
A Catbus mousepad is what Christy Williams wants for Christmas, "My mother really wants a mouse pad with a picture of cat bus on it. Im having trouble finding one with this character, I have only found ones with just Totoro." According to Joe Monson, the outlook doesn't look good, "I've never seen one here in Japan."
Ryoko Toyama posted links to a store in Japan that sells an amazing variety of Studio Ghibli goods (unfortunately, no shipping outside of Japan). A Levistone pendent from "Laputa" comes with this warning, "You cannot really fly with this pendant". She also reported that the Totoro video is being reprinted (in Japan) this month, as reported a few weeks ago, it had gone out of print.
Marc Hairston browsed around and found what he called, "the Ghibli item *least* likely to ever get imported to US" (A "Laputa" Zippo lighter). And for those with 148,000 yen to burn, a Totoro writing desk (complete with chair) is in your future.
Tom Tanida consulted his Magic 8 Ball and discovered some interesting info. Deborah Goldsmith noted that the "Princess Mononoke" DVD was doing well at Amazon.com. David Ghodsi found info on the PM DVD release in France. Felix Wong passed along word of some new "Castle of Cagliostro" models and a wooden Gunship model. Michael Kerpan posted his thoughts on the "Yamada" DVD. Russell Watanabe spotted "Princess Mononoke" in a segment of "Life & Times". A review of "Panda Go Panda" spotted by Andrew Osmond. David Mankins saw a "Nausicaa" review in the Winter 2000 issue of "Whole Earth Review".
Remember to get those "Princess Mononoke" DVD pre-orders done. Visit DVDPriceSearch for links to cheap places.