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Castle in the Sky
Inspired by "Gulliver's Travels," the fantasy-adventure Castle in the Sky (1986) was Miyazaki's third feature, and helped to establish his reputation as a visionary in both Japan and America. The orphan Sheeta inherited a mysterious crystal that links her to the legendary sky-kingdom of Laputa. With the help of resourceful Pazu and a rollicking band of sky pirates, she makes her way to the ruins of the once-great civilization. Sheeta and Pazu must outwit the evil Muska, who plans to use Laputa's science to make himself ruler of the world. Castle echoes elements in Myazaki's earlier Nausicaä, and anticipates imagery in his later films, from My Neighbor Totoro to Spirited Away. Disney's new English dub, which features Anna Paquin (Sheeta), James Van Der Beek (Pazu) and Cloris Leachman (pirate matriarch Dola) is lively and close in tone to the original Japanese, if a bit talkier. The exciting flying sequences, appealing characters, and fantastic vision of a steam-powered future Jules Verne might have imagined make Castle in the Sky a must-have for fans of Japanese and Western animation. --Charles Solomon
Kiki's Delivery Service
In Kiki's Delivery Service, a 13-year-old girl meets the world head on as she spends her first year soloing as an apprentice witch. Kiki (Kirsten Dunst) is still a little green and plenty headstrong, but also resourceful, imaginative, and determined. With her trusty wisp of a cat Jiji (a gently subdued Phil Hartman) by her side she's ready to take on the world, or at least the quaintly European seaside village she's chosen as her new home. Miyazaki's gentle rhythm and meandering narrative capture the easy pulse of real life (even if his subject is a girl flying high upon a broomstick) and charts the everyday struggles and growing pains of his plucky heroine with sensitivity and understanding. Beautifully detailed animation and the rich designs of the picture-postcard seaside town of red-tiled roofs and cobblestone streets only add to the sense of wonder. This charming animated fantasy is a wholesome, life-affirming picture that doesn't speak down to kids or up to adults. --Sean Axmaker
In "Kiki's Delivery Service," a determined young witch-in-training (Kirsten Dunst) sets out from her hometown to hone her powers out in the world, with only her cat Jiji (Phil Hartman) by her side. She finds a home and job in a picturesque little town, and puts her broomstick to good use as she sets up a delivery service -- and gets to know some of the townsfolk around her.
Action and fantasy are given a Jules Verne twist in "Castle in the Sky." Miner boy Pazu (James Van Der Beek) sees a girl slowly float down from the sky, suspended by a glowing crystal necklace. Sheeta (Anna Paquin) befriends the orphaned boy, but soon pirates and military thugs are chasing both of the children, so they can use Sheeta to find the fabled floating city of Laputa. To save Sheeta, Pazu teams up with some bumbling pirates -- and finds more than he ever expected up in the clouds.
Academy Award Winner "Spirited Away" opens with Chihiro (Daveigh Chase) being unwillingly moved to a new town. But when her parents take a detour into an abandoned amusement park, they are suddenly turned into pigs. Turns out the park is really a resort for powerful spirits and gods. To save her parents, Chihiro sacrifices her freedom and her name to the vicious Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette). And she allies herself with Yubaba's henchman Haku (James Marsden), a mysterious boy who seems somehow familiar to her.
While technically the Miyazaki three-pack is for kids, adults will probably enjoy the stories as well. These are well-crafted, beautifully-animated films that manage to be uplifting and sweet without ever descending to sappiness. In short, they're smart films. They don't talk down to kids, but they won't alienate adults by being childish.
The animation is uniformly beautiful, full of bright colors and clean lines. And Miyazaki has an excellent story-telling range: He produces the resort-towns of "Kiki," the richly dark-edged world of monsters, ghosts and spirits in "Spirited away," and the slam-bang action and majesty of "Castle." And he doesn't forget to mix plenty of the fantastical in too. In what other movies can you see a six-foot-tall baby, a pirate street-brawl, and a girl riding a dragon through underground tunnels?
Miyazaki also has an excellent grasp of character development, presenting us with the plucky Kiki and resourceful miner boy Pazu. But the best character is perhaps Chihiro, who starts off whining relentlessly, but showing her courage and love as the story goes on. Even the villains are multi-dimensional, even if "Castle"'s Muska goes perilously close to the megalomaniac tyrant cliche.
Miyazaki -- whose latest project is an adaptation of Diana Wynne-Jones' fantasy novel "Howl's Moving Castle" -- is definitely a wonderful filmmaker. These three movies are charming, evocative, emotional, and occasionally even epic. Highly recommended.
If it was just differeces in the way they word things, that's fine. But the problem is that the characters are changed, and story line are slightly altered. That bothers me. I don't remember Miyazaki's work marketing for younger children during the time I grew up in Taiwan, but they certainly changed that here. It is fine if the alternation is made for children, because that would be the only way my little girl can enjoy these great movies with me and my husband before she can read. But as a adult, I strongly recommmend you to watch these movies with English subtitle. Because that version is what the diractor intend us to see, and that is true art. Enjoy the art!!
C'mon, people -- they're DUBS. What do you EXPECT?
Watch them as they were intended to be seen -- use the Japanese audio track with English subtitles. If I'm not mistaken, you get the original soundtrack that way as well. It is AWESOME (and dare I say it uncharacteristic) that Disney provided the original japanese versions on these DVDs.
With a very few exceptions (Cowboy Bebop, for example), DUBS are almost always inferior to SUBS. As far as I'm concerned, people who are too LAZY to appreciate a foreign language film deserve what they get in Disney's alterations.
If you're an older fan of anime and have done research on the subject, you're aware that quite a bit of animation from Japan has been shown in the U.S. The U.S. versions are different (sometimes vastly different) from the originals because of the american attitude towards the audience for animation here in the states.
Anime in Japan is for everyone. Adults, children, action, romance, there is an animated film genre for everyone's tastes. Anime in the U.S. is, for the most part, for children. Japanese version characters cuss, whine, and even die sometimes. American versions of these characters get silly catch phrases and disapear for no reason (Voltron anyone?).
If you're showing these magical movies to your kids, they will certainly enjoy the Disney versions with wonderful american voice actors and a great score. If you're an older anime fan and want to experience the wonderful multi-layered plots and genuine characters that the director is so famous for, turn on the Japanese version with English sub-titles and enjoy. Even better, experience both versions and think it like a great re-telling of a classic tale the second time around.
The best example is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, written by James Schamus and translated from his script into Mandarin Chinese and subtitled for the theatrical release. When the film was dubbed for the DVD the literal translation was altered slightly, yes, but great pains were taken to match the characters' lip movements and actually form dialogue that made sense with what we were seeing. The best example of this technique in anime is in another Miyazaki film not in this three pack (Princess Mononoke). It bridges the gap and opens the story up to children who despite anyone's arguement that a child could enjoy these movies on a purely visual basis, get more enjoyment and understanding if it is dubbed - and forget subtitles are you crazy, no one under 15 ever wants to read subtitles.
Overall, I would agree that most films should not be dubbed and exist in their original language with subtitles. Any Kurosawa film deserves this, and it is the strength of a movie like Sayles' Men With Guns. But in a Miyazaki film, that has so much to offer to all ages it is a welcome strategy especially when a company like Disney can put the extra money into it (and it's not like Miyazaki has had his movie's stolen from him, his company has had complete control over the changes and has supervised any transfers or musical alterations - I do not think that such an auetuer would give up his masterpieces so readily).
And concerning John Lassiter (referred to in a review as a Disney Corporate hack), he runs Pixar animation - not a Disney studio - and has quite an impressive track record as an animator despite any ties to Disney (as distributor only) that may instantly set off those haters out there.
Having seen these movies in Japan during their theatrical or original video releases, I was overjoyed at their release on DVD. And Disney has brought them to the American public with true style...dubbed English and the original Japanese language tracks, subtitles, and outstanding special features. For the purists out there, the English language track follows the original Japanese exactly, with the exception of a few lines that had to be slightly modified in English to help the viewer absorb cultural concepts that were simply "understood" in the original Japanese. And the voice dubbing is perfect, capturing every single nuance of every emotion that was intended to come across in the stories. The animation is, by far, the most realistic and thought provoking you will ever see, with textures that literally come alive with detail. As a side note, it is unfortunate that a fourth Miyazaki feature, "My Neighbor Totoro", did not receive the same respectful treatment from Fox, when they purchased the rights to that film, and effectively butchered it for the American DVD release.
Although appearing to rely heavily on the widely publicized popularity of the most recent film of the three, Spirited Away (The highest grossing FILM of all time in Japan, and the Academy Award winner for 2002's Best Animated Feature), as the key link of its sales strategy, all of these features are equally imaginative in concept and exquisite in execution. And the price is excellent...the Japanese paid between $45 and $55 a pop for each one of these when they were released on DVD in their home country.
This 3 pack of classics can be summed up very simply...The Japanese loved them. I loved them. My family loved them. You'll love them too.
At the heart of Miyazaki's work is his ability to weave incredible stories with central characters that will pull at your heartstrings and immerse you in a child's perspective. Even secondary characters have their own charm and the so called "evil" ones are likeable in their own way.
His attention to detail brings these characters so much to life in their simple gestures and expressive faces, without being overly dramatic or mushy. After each anime you will be left wanting more, especially in the case of Sprited Away.
These movies are a wonderful gift for parents and children - you will always find strong moral themes underlying all his work. Definitely not to be missed.
Finally, a million thanks Miyazaki, for not portraying talking, singing, dancing animals, stuffed or alive!)
Hint: I would recommend fast-forwarding through John Laseters intro for he irritatingly gives away the stories!
Although Disney has shown an irritating hesitation to publicize or release the films they have purchased the US rights to from Studio Ghibli, this three-set is still most welcome. Spirited Away was my introduction to the studio's works, and is probably one of my all-time favorite movies. These three DVDs, although sparing on the extras, hold up to scrutiny, and I give them my heartfelt reccommendation.
Kiki's Delivery Service is a light-hearted tale that gently chides the world for its harshness, well nevertheless remaining optimistic and true to its form. Spirited Away is a heartfelt adventure, in which the main character does not face good or evil, but simply a need to adapt to a new world and a new set of rules, and to overcome their lesser attributes. And Castle in the Sky is a wonderful, vaguely Star-Wars-y adventure about a confused girl who is ready to meet her destiny.
Did you notice I just used the word 'heart' twice in three sentences? Well, these movies have a *lot* of heart to them, more so than any typical viewing from the House of Mouse. These aren't a packet of slickly-paced jokes, or an 'epic' tale of Good vs. Evil. They simply...are. And they shine for it.
Each DVD contains three language tracks...English, Japanese, and either French or Spanish (Spanish for Kiki, French for the other two). The English version comes with subtitles for the hearing impaired, true to the dub (which is slightly different from the original Japanese version, although not much). There are also literal subtitles for the Japanese track...they're big and obvious, if you even stop to follow any of the instructions or pay any attention at all.
Actually, I prefer the dub for Kiki's delivery service, and I think I might for Spirited Away, too. I haven't yet tinkered with the Japanese Castle in the Sky (which, by the way, was rescored...the original score was maybe one hour of original melodies for a two-hour movie. Ghibli decided that they might as well fix an old annoyance, and the new soundtrack is awesome). Disney did a very good job; the voice actors for the English versions managed to cover some sort of poorly chosen lines rather well.
The movies are, in short, not 'Disney-fied' at all, and if you find the English versions unsatisfactory, you can still experience the pure Japanese bliss. Good show, Disney. Now take a cue from these guys in Japan!
This is a wonderful set and *well* worth the price!
Having gotten that off my chest, I have to say that I love Miyazaki's works. My children sat enraptured thru Castle In The Sky and all they could do afterwards was talk about parts of it and explain them to me. They loved Kiki's Delivery Service (even my son sat thru that one) and they are looking forward to re-watching Spirited Away, even tho I took them to see it in the theatres. When I compare their behavior to when they watch Disney (ie Treasure Planet), Miyazaki's films definately capture their attention much more.
I REALLY wish there was some way to get better versions of this set from a different producer. Someone who knows how to translate Japanese anime faithfully, like Pioneer or ADV would have been a much better choice. And talk about awful - does anyone else have a problem with their DVD stopping immediately after Disney's spoken intro by the corporate flack? Every one of my DVD's stops immediately after that point and I have to scene select the 2nd scene and rewind the DVD to the beginning of the movie. Way to go, MouseHouse.
For an example, compare the English version of the scene in "Spirited Away" where Yubaba gives Chihiro her final test with the Japanese version. Yubaba's dialogue is substantially different: in the original she says, "This world has rules, you know", where in the English dub the line is "Not so fast, Haku, I get to give Sen one final test." The English subtitles for the Japanese track properly give the former line. There are a number of scenes containing such differences-- the one where Chihiro confronts Kaonashi is another excellent example-- and in all cases the subtitles are true to the original Japanese version. If you're getting the dubtitles (or "hearing-impaired captions"), then you've selected the wrong subtitle track.
I realize many people have a problem with Disney's treatment of Miyazaki's films, but this is one area where the criticism is unfair. Disney has provided both options: if you want to view the English-language dub, you can; and if you want to watch the Japanese-language original, with subtitles properly translated from Miyazaki's scripts, you can do that as well. (It takes some extra setup to get the original Japanese opening and closing credits to display properly, but that's another issue entirely.) In addition, the transfer quality is just as good as on the region 2 DVD's, and "Spirited Away" looks far better because Disney's release isn't plagued by the red tint that made all the flesh tones in the region 2 edition look wrong. The extras alone make "Spirited Away" worth the purchase, especially the NTV documentary on disc 2, but anyone who truly loves anime or Miyazaki's work should own all three.
...I would have been more disappointed if I hadn't been so impressed with each of the three movies. Purchased together or individually, they are a must for any fan of animation. Each movie comes with its own surprises!
Make sure you pick up "My Neighbor Totoro" and "The Castle of Cagliostro", too. Both are also directed by Miyazaki. Young girls may prefer the former while boys might prefer the latter, but both movies are so well done they can easily be enjoyed by chidren of either sex and fortunately by adults, too.
My number one complaint is the poor translation of the original Japanese. Its as if Disney thinks that no one in this country can appreciate the a foreign language movie and so they don't even bother with this rather simple detail as if no one will notice. And Disney seems to want to perpetuate the western notion that animated movies can only be silly cartoons meant to entertain small children, because the dialog they added is 100% silly childish chatter. The genius of Miyazaki's movies is that they are loved by small children while simultaneously having a deeper element that only adults can appreciate, but this has been seriously compromised in the Disney version.
They also souped up the music score. I had heard that they had ADDED music (since American audiences apparently can't handle movies with gaps in the backgound music), but I didn't realize that they actually CHANGED existing music to make it more exciting. All you have to do is watch five minutes of "Castle in the Sky", and then rewind and watch the same five minutes with the original language and music track, and you will see the difference.
If you are a Miyazaki fan, I understand that you will still have no choice but to buy these DVD's. But for the rest of you, I hope you can help send Disney a message that we deserve better.
Also available on DVD by Hayao Miyazaki and Sudio Ghibli:
*My Neighbor Totoro
*Princess Mononoke
For reviews specific to the films themselves, see the individual listing for that film.
Castle in the Sky- The first time I imported this DVD three years ago, I really enjoyed it. And now, as I see it in English, I love it even more. It has more action than most of Miyazaki's other movies, but it's not gory or anything. It's a great dub, with a wonderful reworking of the soundtrack by Joe Hasaishi.
Spirited Away- My second favorite Miyazaki film. As with all of his films, it has wonderful animation. This is the show that really shows Miyazaki's amazing imagination. It's full of a sense of wonder rare today among animation or any other type of film. Once again it has a great dub and great music. One note though, is that this is the one you might not want to show to really young children. It does have a little blood, and there are several scary scenes. I do know some children who greatly enjoyed it, but it's probably best that a parent watch the show first and judge whether it is appropriate.
Kiki's Delivery Service- The movie that got me hooked on Miyazaki. I saw it on Disney channel in 1998, and I immediately was addicted. My favorite of Miyazaki's films. Very fun, great animation, great dub. You'll be cheering by the end. Even outside animation it's one of my favorite films.
I already own these three DVDs, and they are definitely all worth owning. The extras, especially on the Spirited Away disc are great, and they are ones you'll want to experience multiple times.
If Disney decides to bring some other Studio Ghibli films over to the U.S., hopefully they'll give them this treatment.
I fell in love with Miyazaki movies when I first saw "warrior of the wind" an adaptation of Nausica, and I am now impatiently waiting for Nausicaa to be released as well. Those movies are masterpiaces that you will never get tired of. I can watch it over and over and always find something new to enjoy.
An easy way to order all 3 of the new Miyazaki titles as one item.
All three movies are made to be enjoyed by people of all ages. All three feature world-beating animation, wonderful scores and terrific scripts. Other than that, these are three very different and distinct movies. I consider each movie to be a masterpiece in its own way (Castle in the Sky being my personal favorite). If you haven't seen any of them yet, I envy you. You're in for a unique treat. Do yourself a favor and see as many Miyazaki films as you can get your hands on. This is the best place to start.
Make no mistake, while Miyazaki is a master film director, internationally acclaimed and without a doubt the best Japanese director since Akira Kurosawa, this trio is no dull study for film students. Each movie is a exercise in splendor and capturing a child's sense of wonder on film. Miyazaki layers his simple stories with some much depth that the dance of lesson and entertainment is inspiring to watch in action.
Trademarks of a Miyazaki film include young female heroes, flying, non-descript European settings and environmental messages.
Spirited Away: Enter a world of pure imagination, like "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" or "Alice in Wonderland." Inspired by the classic tales of a child lost in fairyland, "Spirited Away" is breath-taking in it's scope and wonder, and beautiful to behold.
Castle in the Sky; The inspiration of Disney's "Atlantis," but superior in every way possible. A girl with no memory, and a magical jewel. A boy with no family, who loves her and will do anything to help her. Villains who are not villains. Friends who are not friends. Top this off with Miyazaki's environmental statements, and the magic of Laputa, the magical Castle in the Sky from Jonathon Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
Kiki's Delivery Service: A classic Miyazaki tale, resplendent with all of his hallmarks. A story with no villain and plenty of magic and charm. A coming-of-age story in every way. Some of his most spectacular flying animation.
You really cannot go wrong with this set. This is an artist at work, in the prime of his skills, making the kind of movies we all wish we had grown up with.
Parents Note - Miyazaki makes movies for children, and while there is a difference of standards in Japan and America, these movies can be watched without fear. "Kiki's Delivery Service" is probably best for the smaller kids, and my 4-year old niece absolutely adores it. "Castle in the Sky" might be a little older, but it is easy to understand and a delight for all ages. "Spirited Away" is a little bit more complicated, and might have some scary scenes, but is still a kid's film in every way.
Both Spirited Away and Kiki's Delivery Service are much sweeter stories than (& lack the violence of) Miyazaki's acclaimed Princess Mononoki, but no less excellent. Both are gentle stories about young girls coming to terms with growing up and fitting in with society. Unlike Disney, and American animation in general, these stories are much more character driven than plot dependent but never drag. I was swept up from the first moment and the stories kept me interested all the way to the end. None of the characters are black and white good or evil. They are all multifaceted giving the films a very true to life feel despite the mythical and magical themes portrayed in both films.
Also, the violence associated with other anime is absent here, making these 2 films a great way to introduce younger audiences to Japanese culture and mythology through anime. I would highly recommend either of these films and to find them together along with a 3rd Miyazaki film is a real treat.
The Poems, all three hundred of them, may be summed up in one of their phrases:
"Let our thoughts be correct".
-- Confucius
When I woke up this morning, my girlfriend asked if I had slept well.
I said, "No, I made a few mistakes."
-- Steven Wright
