Pinocchio: Fie on you Miramax, Fie!! (1 Viewer)

[Vickie_M]

I've been looking forward to Roberto Benigni's Pinocchio for months, and I just lost all interest in it.
From Yahoo
Actors to Dub 'Pinocchio'
Thu Oct 31,10:09 PM ET
By Justin Oppelaar
NEW YORK (Variety) - Miramax has enlisted a clutch of U.S. thesps, including Cheech Marin (news), Eddie Griffin and Queen Latifah, to record voice parts for the English-language version of Italian funnyman Roberto Benigni (news)'s rendition of "Pinocchio."
Marin, who has lent his voice to such animated pictures as "The Lion King" and "Oliver & Company," will voice the Fox in the live-action retelling of Carlo Collodi's classic fairy tale, set to bow Stateside on Christmas Day.
Griffin ("Undercover Brother") will dub the Cat, while Queen Latifah will voice the Dove and Kevin James (news) ("King of Queens") the Fire Eater. Taking on the role of Pinocchio's father Geppetto will be David Suchet (news), and the puppet's best friend Lucignolo will be voiced by Topher Grace (news) ("That '70s Show").
Benigni, who has the title role, will do his own English dubs for the U.S. version -- as will his co-star, Nicoletta Braschi, who plays the Blue Fairy. The picture opened in Italy on Oct. 11 and grossed $20 million in its first two weeks.
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This is the kind of thing that makes me shake with anger. I don't want to see a crappy dubbed version! I want to see the original! I want to see the version that Italians are going ga ga over. ARGH!!! DEATH TO DUBBING!!

 

[Rob Lutter]

:rolleyes
Why can't they just release it in Italian with subs? Would it kill them to do so?

 

[ThomasC]

oh please, what about the illiterate?
the only dubbing i might accept is if the entire cast dubbed it themselves, but even that sounds extremely stupid. having some originals and others of different ethnicity dub it will make it just plain painful. if you're going to dub a movie, stick with one accent. the last thing we need is accent inconsistency.
well, let's hope they do it right with the dvd...

 

[Tino]

That article says that an English language version is being created, not that it will be the only version available when it is released in the States.
I'm sure that most of us will get the original Italian version as we did with Life Is Beautiful.
Boy Vickie, I wish I were as excited as you about this film. I was really looking forward to it too. Unfortunately, I have seen the trailer and think it looks absolutely horrible. I truly hope I am wrong and it turns out to be wonderful.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Why can't they just release it in Italian with subs?

Well, I imagine that a good chunk of the audience Miramax is looking for is families with young children - young enough not to be able to read or who have to work at it.

 

[JasenP]

I wonder what sort of cuts they will also make for a more "U.S. Friendly" film. :rolleyes

 

[David Rogers]

DVD will likely see a release that has the original soundtrack with subtitles.

Problem solved.

 

[ThomasC]

That article says that an English language version is being created, not that it will be the only version available when it is released in the States.

The article says that "Miramax has enlisted a clutch of U.S. thesps...to record voice parts for the English-language version..."
I've never heard of a movie that was released in both dubbed and subtitled format in theaters at the same time, and I really doubt Pinocchio will be an exception.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Spirited Away. Around here, one theater had subtitled prints for the 10pm and midnight shows, though earlier shows were dubbed. Also a movie that has appeal to both the world film enthusiast and family crowds. And also put out by Buena Vista (though Disney vs. Miramax).

 

[Ross Williams]

I had some interest in seeing this, Miramax just killed it. I really hate Miramax now. They used to be a cool independent studio that cared about films. Now all they care about is selling to the lowest common denominator.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

I was on the fence with this one, but Miramax just knocked me off. If a dub version is all that's available in theaters, I'll wait for the DVD.

(Not that I was really looking forward to this one anyway, but I'm with Vickie: dubs suck.)

 

[DonRoeber]

I was really looking forward to this, but no longer. Really upsetting.

I hope the region 1 dvd will have subtitles, and the original audio.

 

[Randall Dorr]

Piss on Harvey Weinstein!
Miramax has been going downhill ever since The English Patient was a big success. That's when they realized if they appealed to a broader audience, they could make more money. Forget the fact that only bland rubbish can appeal to the masses.
In an effort to make their films more acceptable to idiot moviegoers, Miramax has edited and/or dubbed and/or re-scored all of the following:
Iron Monkey
Princess Mononoke
Shaolin Soccer (which was almost retitled Kung Fu Soccer)
All the Pretty Horses
Farewell My Concubine (although the footage was restored for the DVD)
Armour of God II (Released in the US as Operation Condor)
Armour of God (released in the US as Operation Condor 2: The Armour of the Gods. You saw that right: They released a sequel as an original film, and released the original film as a sequel!)
Holy Smoke
Italian fore Beginners
Supercop
Malena
Priest
Shall We Dance?
And who knows what they're planning to do to the dozens and dozens (if not hundreds) of foreign and independent films they've acquired the rights to.
Some of those unreleased films include:
Prozac Nation
Avalon
The Legend of Zu
But some of the film they have chosen to release include:
Pokemon 4ever
She's all That
Get Over It
On the Line
Last but not least, there is the whole Gangs of New York debacle. Scorsese's dream project that he's been working on for twenty-five years. Originally a four hour film, it's been cut down to 160 minutes.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

NEVER EVER trust Miramax NOT to butcher a film

Their record stands against them

 

[Ricardo C]

Forget the fact that only bland rubbish can appeal to the masses.

WTF? Is it National Sweeping Generalization Day and no one told me?

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

Well, Zu Warriors opened on one screen here today, wiht no fanfare. Having never seen the original language version, I have to assume that the mess put before my eyes has been heavily chopped up.

I would expect in the case of Pinocchio that the Italian language version will be what is made available on a larger basis. Not ready to hang Miramax just yet...

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Legend of Zu (Zu Warriors) is missing approximately 20 minutes from its original version, totally altering character arcs and focuses on top of the horriffic innacurate dubbing

 

[ThomasC]

I would expect in the case of Pinocchio that the Italian language version will be what is made available on a larger basis.

if they're going to go through this much effort to dub it, i doubt it.

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

Thomas, Miramax made an English language dub for Life is Beautiful, but the predominant version in theaters was the Italian version.

Vickie, a well placed letter to your fellow Chicagoan Roger Ebert's "Movie Answer Man" column might get him to bring up this issue. While he may not have any control over the Pinocchio situation, his voice can get a national debate going on it.

Jeff, I'm not surprised that the film was hacked like that. It was nothing less than a disaster.

 

[ThomasC]

Thomas, Miramax made an English language dub for Life is Beautiful, but the predominant version in theaters was the Italian version.

but i thought that was after the academy awards, and that the only version before was the subtitled version.