Studio Ghibli on DVD

[onedimension]

Anyone know why most of their titles are MIA on U.S. blu-ray?

[What A Disgrace]

Anyone know why most of their titles are MIA on U.S. blu-ray?

Disney distributes them. They have a habit of not liking their customers.

[onedimension]

Amazon now listing Castle In The Sky for May release on blu in U.S.

[manicsounds]

May 22nd for the US releases of "The Secret World Of Arrietty" "Castle In The Sky" and "Whisper Of The Heart"

Amazon is having a promotion of "Buy Arrietty and another Studio Ghibli BD and get $8 off the total

[Michael Kerpan]

We got the English Blu Ray of Arietty -- and our household consensus was that the British dub was a bit better than the American one (which we recently heard/saw in the theater) and that the Japanese original was significantly better overall. The American Disney version was the only one that had an added chunk of narration at the end -- and it had a worse closing song (the Japanese version and the UK version had the same nice celticy-sounding closing song -- albeit done by different performers).

[JonasEB]

Great, hopefully Disney doesn't repeat the title/credits mishap from the Nausicaa disc. Really pleased that they chose to do Whisper of the Heart now instead of later (and I wish they picked a Takahata instead of Castle in the Sky, but I'm glad that my suspicion about those DVD reissues forbidding Blu-rays turned out to be wrong.)

[MichaelB]

We got the English Blu Ray of Arietty -- and our household consensus was that the British dub was a bit better than the American one (which we recently heard/saw in the theater) and that the Japanese original was significantly better overall.

I haven't heard the US dub, but I also thought that the British dub (or Anglo-Irish dub, to be strictly accurate) played very well. Given that the film's source is a British novel, it felt situationally convincing in a way that these dubs often don't.

(I generally have to put up with the English dub as my kids are huge Ghibli fans but see no reason to watch them in Japanese. It's hard to persuade a six-year-old that the Japanese is "better" when she'll reply, quite reasonably, that she doesn't understand a word).

[bugsy_pal]

It will be interesting to see what the reviews of these blurays conclude re the picture quality. From my reading of the literature, it seems that some of the British blurays are thought to have been overly processed with DNR. I did see some screen shots somewhat that compared the Japanese, US and UK versions of Nausicaa, and it did appear that the UK version had more grain reduction applied. The US Disney disc was closer to the Japanese version, with more grain present and a less scrubbed image. I would imagi9ne this is more of an issue with the older Ghibli films.

I bought the UK bluray of Laputa and while it had a lovely clean image, I did at times feel that it was perhaps overly processed. However, not enough to affect my enjoyment - it was certainly way better than the DVD.

I also have the UK versions of Ponyo and Arrietty and I have no quibbles with them.

[Calvin]

Ponyo and Arrietty are unaffected as (correct me if I'm wrong) they were animated digitally. From what I can see, the Japanese releases have no DNR, the US releases have some and the UK releases have the most but I wouldn't say that any one of them is 'superior'. I really have to squint to notice any loss of detail in screencaps from the UK release and certainly don't notice any in motion. Here's a Nausicaa comparison. The colour timing seems to be slightly different too.

[Michael Kerpan]

Given that the film's source is a British novel, it felt situationally convincing in a way that these dubs often don't.

True -- but the Japanese architecture clashes a bit.

(I generally have to put up with the English dub as my kids are huge Ghibli fans but see no reason to watch them in Japanese. It's hard to persuade a six-year-old that the Japanese is "better" when she'll reply, quite reasonably, that she doesn't understand a word).

Our kids were older when we first encountered Ghibli films (youngests were 11). The first comparison was of Kiki (on video) -- and as soon as we got the subbed Japanese version the dubbed one was dumped. ;~}

[colinr0380]

While I'd always go for the original language tracks subtitled over a dubbed version, I don't see anything wrong with a well done dub per se. I do like the way that whenever the Film4 channel in the UK screens the Ghiblis, they usually schedule a couple of dubbed early afternoon screenings (for the kids) and a few late night subtitled ones (for the anime/world cinema connoisseurs)! That way everyone is happy!

[Peacock]

I wouldn't have a problem with some of these dubs if they didn't add extra information to the dialogue. Comparing the subtitles of the Japanese dub of Ponyo to the english one you'll see that many things we don't find out till later in the Japanese dub are revealed earlier and in more detail in the english one (such as the water wizard guy being Ponyo's father).

[Michael Kerpan]

Typically, Disney's dubs (and the even earlier American dubs of Ghibli films) have lots more dialog (and sometimes narration) than the Japanese originals. Disney has also tended to muck around with scores on occasion. Disney has also made some small but significant changes to the originals.

Disney's Princess Mononoke dub seems to have been most true to the original (though it had a casting mistake or two) -- but it managed to lose a few sound effects.

[kidc85]

Accidentally, the first time I watched PORCO ROSSO was in a French dub. I was annoyed until I realised they brought in Jean Reno as the pig, which was inspired casting. The ever-reliable IMDb claims that I'm not alone in my unusual preference: Miyazaki himself prefers the French version as well.

[Michael Kerpan]

What I want is an Italian dub of Porco Rosso (with bits in Croatian, perhaps, when he visits some of the Adriatic islands off Dalmatia).

[jojo]

Great, hopefully Disney doesn't repeat the title/credits mishap from the Nausicaa disc. Really pleased that they chose to do Whisper of the Heart now instead of later (and I wish they picked a Takahata instead of Castle in the Sky, but I'm glad that my suspicion about those DVD reissues forbidding Blu-rays turned out to be wrong.)

They're really only releasing what's available from Ghibli. Ghibli has been slow to release their films on blu ray. Whisper of the Heart, Laputa, Nausicaa and My Neighbours the Yamadas are the only pre-Howl's blu-rays Ghibli has released in Japan up to now.

[feihong]

It seems to me as if Ghibli is dancing around chronologically until they reach Totoro. Like they're circling it, moving towards the middle, as such. In other words, I am suspicious that they will make us wait extra-long for Totoro.

[JonasEB]

They're really only releasing what's available from Ghibli. Ghibli has been slow to release their films on blu ray. Whisper of the Heart, Laputa, Nausicaa and My Neighbours the Yamadas are the only pre-Howl's blu-rays Ghibli has released in Japan up to now.

Oh, I know that, I just didn't expect Disney to do Whisper of the Heart now considering their slack pace (more so than Japan and the U.K..) I would have expected the upcoming Howl's Moving Castle instead. Yamadas would have suited me just fine but that was the worst selling Ghibli title in the U.S. (doesn't look like "Anime" = no for anime geeks) so as much as I would like to see it happen it's hardly surprising Disney isn't returning to it yet. Laputa was a part of the now clearly pointless DVD reissues in 2010 which at the time seemed like a gesture that Disney wasn't planning to do Blu-rays for those three titles.

Speaking of Ghibli on DVD, I really wish some enterprising U.S. company would pick up Takahata's amazing documentary The Story of Yanagawa's Canals. It's as much a masterpiece as Only Yesterday.

[manicsounds]

July 18th 2012 in Japan!



Totoro:

Audio:
Japanese (DTS-HD MA 2.0), English, Cantonese (DD 2.0 stereo) French, German, Italian, Korean, Mandarin (DD 2.0 surround)

Subtitles:
Japanese, English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Cantonese, Mandarin

Bonus features:
● Storyboard PiP
● Dubbing script (Japanese)
● Textless opening / ending videos
● Trailers

Grave Of The Fireflies:
Audio:
Japanese (DTS-HD MA 2.0)
English and Japanese subtitles

Bonus Features:
● Storyboard PiP
● Storyboard Video 1 (2 minutes)
● Storyboard Video 2 (1 minute)
● Dubbing script (Japanese)
● Interview with director Isao Takahata (18 minutes)
● Interview with critic Roger Ebert (12 minutes)
● Trailers
● Stills gallery
● Audio Interviews with cast and crew
● 2 Audio recording featurettes (6 minutes each)

So it looks like Ghibli didn't go all out in the extras department here. No lengthy documentaries, nothing new actually. I'd say the eventual Studio Canal will incorporate the Disney-extras made for Totoro.
Grave also had some extras on the US DVD not ported. (Gladly on some, like the one where they talked about how great DNR is)

[JonasEB]

Beaver on the U.S. Disney Castle in the Sky BD

Title shot indicates Disney once again left off the original untouched Japanese credits in favor of the burned in English ones. Seems the apparent dubtitle-only subs from the 2010 DVD reissue remain, but I see two subtitle options in the statistics (English and Engilsh SDH, as with all of the Disney Ghibli DVDs and BDs) so I have to wonder if this is simply an oversight on Gary's part (and really, if Disney could supply proper subs for the 2003 release, why would they not be able to do so now?)

Hopefully another review addresses these issues more definitively.

[manicsounds]

The US Disney DVD has both English and Japanese credits. Just whichever language you choose at the start would take you to the appropriate credits. Don't know about the BD but I'm pretty sure it would be...

[zeroman987]

Beaver on the U.S. Disney Castle in the Sky BD

Title shot indicates Disney once again left off the original untouched Japanese credits in favor of the burned in English ones. Seems the apparent dubtitle-only subs from the 2010 DVD reissue remain, but I see two subtitle options in the statistics (English and Engilsh SDH, as with all of the Disney Ghibli DVDs and BDs) so I have to wonder if this is simply an oversight on Gary's part (and really, if Disney could supply proper subs for the 2003 release, why would they not be able to do so now?)

Hopefully another review addresses these issues more definitively.

Are the dubtitles really a big deal? Is it a difference in opinion on the quality and accuracy of the translation or has there been a material change to the story. I remember hearing that Studio Ghibli protects the integrity of their IP overseas.

The reason I ask is because I have been pretty happy with the dubs for the Ghibli films because it allows me to focus on the beautiful art on screen. The subtleties of the dialog is not super important to me as long as the translation doesn't destroy character or plot development.

[Feego]

Since I have never watched these films with their English dubs, I can't say how accurate they are compared to the original Japanese tracks, but when I watched the 2010 Castle in the Sky reissue, I noticed there were large chunks of Japanese dialogue left untranslated because they chose to leave it out in the dub, and occasionally there were subtitles where there was no Japanese dialogue because they added dialogue in the dub. Whether or not it remained true to the spirit of the original language, this was a major annoyance for me.

[Titus]

I don't know about the other films, but I remember that there was quite a bit of controversy among fans regarding the Spirited Away dub that Disney/John Lasseter produced, which made some subtle changes and additions that had a significant effect on the film. The biggest point of contention was the final line that they decided to add, which drastically changes the ending of the film.

[JonasEB]

The US Disney DVD has both English and Japanese credits. Just whichever language you choose at the start would take you to the appropriate credits. Don't know about the BD but I'm pretty sure it would be...

All of the DVDs have a branching system but Disney's BD of Nausicaa doesn't. You only get the credits with English titles regardless of selecting Japanese in the language menu.

Are the dubtitles really a big deal? Is it a difference in opinion on the quality and accuracy of the translation or has there been a material change to the story. I remember hearing that Studio Ghibli protects the integrity of their IP overseas.

The reason I ask is because I have been pretty happy with the dubs for the Ghibli films because it allows me to focus on the beautiful art on screen. The subtleties of the dialog is not super important to me as long as the translation doesn't destroy character or plot development.

The key point of contention for Studio Ghibli is cutting scenes out of the film, I think they're more lax about language. I also generally like Disney's dubs but using the dub script for subtitles does have some negative side effects, the most troublesome one being "phantom dialogue" - dialogue on the screen when no one is saying anything. Normal subtitles read better when watching the original Japanese for that reason. I haven't listened to the dub of Kiki's Delivery Service in a long time but, as I recall, the cat Jiji has a lot of rewritten dialogue that changes the character and, like Spirited Away, there is a significant change to the ending of the film. The wikipedia page has some notes about this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiki%27s_D ... n_versions" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Feego, can you (or anyone else) confirm for me whether the 2010 Castle in the Sky has one or two sets of English subtitles and if there are two, are they different or are they the same? I've read about the dubtitle thing several times but never any specific statements from that side about the disc. This site says that it does have conventional Japanese-to-English subtitles as well as the dubtitle (English for the hard of hearing) track. I have the 2010 reissue of My Neighbor Totoro and that does have both types of English subtitles but I think it defaults to the dubtitle track (#1, if you use the remote control button to add/change subs instead of the main menu) rather than the straightforward translation (#2). I'm just wondering if the genuine subtitle track has simply been overlooked on the 2010 edition of Castle in the Sky.