Studio Ghibli

Saruwatari

Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke are all spectacular stuff. I also have Laputa, but I haven't gotten around to watching it yet...

Catari Jaguar

I just watched Kiki's Delivery Service, the 1998 release dubbed one with Kirsten Dunst and Phil Hartman.

Was anyone else who saw this as shocked at how uncharming or even likeable it was?? A good few changes were made by Disney, naturally. The cat was made really obnoxious and I found Kiki to be rather annoying. The plot was non existant but not in an interesting, whimsical, innocent way that Totoro is.

I was very disappointed with this.

Your views?

Raziel

Watched Howl's Moving Castle yesterday, it was good but it fizzled out a bit at the end!

Catari Jaguar

Saruwatari wrote:

Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke are all spectacular stuff. I also have Laputa, but I haven't gotten around to watching it yet...

Oh, you should watch Laputa. It's gorgeous and funny. The characters are just so lovely and innocent. It's just a lovely, lovely, sad kinda film and the animation is incredible and beautiful. Only weird thing is in the English version, Dawson (of Dawson's Creek fame) does the voice of the boy, Pazu

Actually that annoys me in most dubs. Who does the little boy who gets the stuffed cat in Kiki? I know he's in another cartoon... Also there's a few Simpsons voices in Ghibli dubs too that I keep trying to place.

psicic

Lil Kitten wrote:

I just watched Kiki's Delivery Service, the 1998 release dubbed one with Kirsten Dunst and Phil Hartman.

Okay, so we disagree about Howl's(vivid flags just don't give it enough soul - I've nothing against digital animation, it's the trite story that was lacking in my opinion).

However, I agree with you about the dub of Kiki. I watched about three minutes of the dub because I wanted to hear what the actor voicing the cat sounded like and it was awful...sheer dross. I also think there were some minor changes to dialogue that sapped away punch and softened the features of Kiki's character.

Did you ever watch the subtitled version of Kiki's? I thought it was very good - displaying Studio Ghibli's ability to create a 'timeless' fantasy world that's a unique blend of pure fancy (Kiki's a witch), sixties technology (first example that sticks out is the radio designs) and nostalgia (the whole seaside town thing). It's not subtle with it's message, but it feels sincere in trying to communicate it.

For me, the loss of Kiki's ability to communicate with the cat JiiJii was really effective at demonstrating the loss/gain there is in her growing up and the way all relationships - no matter how strong or deep rooted - change over time.

Raziel - I watched Laputa with severe translation difficulties, but from what I remember and understood, it was an extremely good movie. Great concept and beautifully constructed visuals. Has to be the subtitled version though. Feckin' Dawson? No thank you...

Raziel

Laputa is another acclaimed Ghibli pic that I mean to pick up at some stage. On the subject of sub/dub, I strictly a sub man!

phasers

WellyJ wrote:

Laputa: Castle in the Sky,

Amazing

This is one of my favourite films of all time
the story is beautiful, and the music is captivating and enchanting

I'm alsa a huge fan of spirited away, it introduced me to the whole Ghibli scene
Totoro is great too.

Setun

Lil Kitten wrote:

I just watched Kiki's Delivery Service, the 1998 release dubbed one with Kirsten Dunst and Phil Hartman.

Was anyone else who saw this as shocked at how uncharming or even likeable it was?? A good few changes were made by Disney, naturally. The cat was made really obnoxious and I found Kiki to be rather annoying. The plot was non existant but not in an interesting, whimsical, innocent way that Totoro is.

I was very disappointed with this.

Your views?

I actually really liked Kiki's - I found it fairly simple but very captivating. It's basically the old coming-of-age story, but told in a novel, fun, and very enjoyable way. Not as brilliant or as deep as Totoro though, but worth a watch nonetheless.

monkeyfudge

The dub of Kiki is atrocious though... It's like they were trying to make it into a Sabrina the Teenage Witch movie.

Watch the original and it's excellent though.

Setun

True indeed. The recognisable voice actors are fairly off-putting, and a lot of the magic is lost in the dubbing.

Btw watched all of The Cat Returns the other day. It's one of the odder ones alright.