*** Official "SPIRITED AWAY" Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[StevenA]

Doesn't gel too well with the warm applause that Daveigh Chase recieved.

She did a good job, and she was the voice of Lilo, so she was applauded.

I don't know why there's such a reluctance to support the view that a film should be released exclusively with the original voice cast along with an accurate subtitle translation of the original script, as opposed to American actors' voices, speaking an innacurate translation of the script, coming from the mouths of Japanese characters, in a Japanese film?

Princess Mononoke was released in Australia and other territories as a Japanese film with English subtitles. The US is, for some reason, still living in a timewarp when foreign cultures have to be homogenized and made "familiar" before they can be consumed.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Princess Mononoke was released in Australia and other territories as a Japanese film with English subtitles. The US is, for some reason, still living in a timewarp when foreign cultures have to be homogenized and made "familiar" before they can be consumed.

I have friends currently living in Germany and London, and have other friends who have lived in France, Japan, Canada (Quebec), Holland, and other countries, and they have all told me that dubs are virtually always distributed, are often easier to find than subs, and that animated films are more often distributed dubbed.

I'd like to know the source of your information.

 

[StevenA]

I'd like to know the source of your information.

Any of the Australian members of the forum who are into anime can confirm that Mononoke was released in its original language there and apparently Spirited Away will be released the same way. Nausicaa.net indicates that Switzerland also had a subtitled release, and I believe several other territories had a subtitled release, but I will defer to others who may be able to confirm this more specifically.

However, if you're making the point that I should not single out the US as the only country who releases dubbed anime, you are quite correct and I should have phrased that post differently to avoid making that unintended inference.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Any of the Australian members of the forum who are into anime can confirm that Mononoke was released in its original language there and apparently Spirited Away will be released the same way. Nausicaa.net indicates that Switzerland also had a subtitled release, and I believe several other territories had a subtitled release, but I will defer to others who may be able to confirm this more specifically.

So because one certain animated film was released subbed in at least a couple of countries, and was dubbed in the US, you can draw the conclusion that

...America is living in some kind of timewarp in comparison with the rest of the world when it comes to supporting films in their original language?

Based on my friends in the private sector and the military, I think we are average or above average relative to the rest of the world. Go to France sometime and you will find yourself running across the city to try to catch the showing that was listed as VO (version originale) in the newspaper, most are listed as VF.

 

[StevenA]

Michael, I have added a paragraph to my last post acknowledging that those particular comments could have been phrased in a better way

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I've been pro-subtitles ever since I was a teenager. I started seriously watching foreign film in theaters when I was 18, which was 17 years ago (to the day, I just turned 35 this morning). I remember bitching out a video store manager for ordering the dubbed 'My Life as a Dog' on VHS for rental in 1987...in a college neighborhood, no less!
Animation (not just anime...anybody ever see Light Years) and action flicks are the two 'genre' (term used loosely) that tend to get the short end of the stick in the USA, but also in other countries. Most (non action) live action genre of foreign films are mostly subtitled here and I am grateful for it.
I don't find dubbed animation always as wrong as I do dubbed live action, but I prefer it, and I refuse to buy any DVDs without OSL.
There are varying degrees of wrong presentation. Without a glossary and some explanation, some things from different cultures (especially Eastern ones) just don't translate at all because we don't have the proper background and context. Sometimes the right words just aren't available in the target language!
So don't go thinking that a sub is not a 'reenactment' of dialog and plot, because it often is. But usually more accurate and faithful than a dub, yes. Does it preserve the original performance, yes. Is matching the voice (not words) to the original animation as important as matching a live-action actor's voice to the rest of their performance. Not in my opinion (especially when the voice was recorded AFTER the animation), but it is still important.
So we have common goals, I think.
I'd like to see more anime. I'd like to see ALL anime, in theaters and at home, available in the original soundtrack language.
Same with Kung Fu.
Maybe instead of arguing with each other, we should expend the same energy getting our friends and aquaintances to go see some good anime.
Jeff, you once says that any dubbing is as bad as pan-and-scan. I assume you will boycott any dubbed showing of 'Spirited Away', just as you will boycott the pan-and-scan IMAX 'AotC'.

 

[StevenA]

Maybe instead of arguing with each other, we should expend the same energy getting our friends and aquaintances to go see some good anime.

I agree we are both essentially on the same wavelength (well, almost )
Oh, and Happy Birthday!

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Jeff, you once says that any dubbing is as bad as pan-and-scan. I assume you will boycott any dubbed showing of 'Spirited Away', just as you will boycott the pan-and-scan IMAX 'AotC'.

Shoe-betcha. Why should I feel the agony of horrible acting when I can watch it right now in my HT?
Thankfully, we at Otakon now have our own 35mm theater, guess what we're ordering?

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I live in eastern Kentucky. Can somebody just point me in a direction where I can watch this film. I'm starting to like this Miyazaki guy.
Oh yeah, has anybody picked up the book by Helen McCarthy yet? I like it, but I'm wanting to know if it's a good source for Hayao Miyazaki.

 

[Steve Y]

Definitely go see this!

Like Edwin I was at the SFIFF in April and was blown... err, "spirited" away, like the rest of the audience, young and old. This is not just a film "for kids" - it's also a film for anyone who remembers what it's like to be a kid. It has the rambling yet calculated narrative of the best dreams and fairy tales.

As I've said elsewhere, I think it has greater audience potential than Princess Mononoke.

I just wish everyone could go see it without any preconceptions about the story. I see that some early reviews are already giving away "small" plot points. Stay away from them! Don't read reviews! It's GREAT! You'll love it!

I can say nothing more about the dubs that haven't already been said; I suspect they're professionally done (and unless you have serious artistic objections, don't let them prevent you from seeing it on the big screen) ... but if you can, see it with the original track.

~Steve

 

[Jeff Kleist]

It opens nationwide next Friday Dome

 

[KDHM]

Princess Mononoke was released in Germany Dubbed in German I already had the US DVD so I went to see it on the big screeen anyway.
kd

 

[Joseph Young]

The version of Spirited Away arriving at my local artplex theater (which normally always, and I mean always respect the original language tracks where applicable) is showing the english dubbed version of the film, starting October 4th.

In other words, I will definitely still go to see this, but I am very disappointed.

~j

 

[Dave Mansell]

I'm trying to decide whether to wait until the film opens in the cinema here in the UK, or to order the Region 3 DVD. Anybody here have any thoughts?

 

[Matthew_Millheiser]

I'm trying to decide whether to wait until the film opens in the cinema here in the UK, or to order the Region 3 DVD. Anybody here have any thoughts?

Buy the Region 3 DVD. Although the picture quality isn't completely perfect (colors are a tad flimsy), it's more than good enough and the film itself is an absolute wonder. Miyazaki fans will be elated. Animation fans will be boisterous. Film lovers everywhere will plotz with delight. Schnauzers will be ebullient.

The second disc's documentary is not subtitled in English, unfortunately, but I watched the whole damn thing anyhow. Man, I want to visit the Ghibli museum so bad, I could pee. More fun than a bucket o' snouts!

 

[Jeff Kleist]

The Ghibli museum is virtually literally next door to uber-fanboy favorite GAINAX
Apparently the Ghibli gift shop has chewed up quite a bit of Gainax's storefront foot traffic.
I should scan my pictures of my visit there

 

[Dennis Pagoulatos]

Unfortunately, I'm convinced that Spirited Away, dubbed or not, will bomb at the box office! Has anyone seen the terrible commercials on TV for it? The only thing you can say after watching them is....HUH??
Now, I don't expect them to distill a complex story like that into a 30 second TV spot...but they damn well better come up with a better marketing strategy than the generic "voice-over guy" finding a "clever" way to work the title of the film into his babbling.
This will do about as much business as Mononoke did here in the U.S....maybe a bit more depending on how many theaters it will show in.
It doesn't look good though...even if the whole membership of the HTF goes to see it...fanboys alone do not make a blockbuster!
-Dennis

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Dennis, I have to agree that SA will probably bomb

However, I think their word of mouth technique that worked so well with crouching TIger could probably generate 20-30 million

I haven't seen the commercials, but ANY commercials are better than the NO commercials Mononoke got

 

[Dennis Pagoulatos]

Jeff, you do have a point there; I don't recall seeing any commercials for Mononoke...so maybe the "there is no such thing as bad publicity" will hold true!

If they make 20-30 million at the box office on this, I think that would be considered a success...DVD rentals and sales will generate most of the revenue though (which is nothing to sneeze at!)

-Dennis

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I saw a commercial last night for Spirited Away, and I was actually pretty happy. Why? Because I want to see this movie!