Podcast: Play in new window | Download
We pushed this topic up in anticipation of the US release of Ponyo, the new film from Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. We reflect on our first times being exposed to the works of Studio Ghibli as well as take a look at our current view of the studio that may not be performing on the same level as it did in the earlier years. Please enjoy and do note that Dom may be spoiling some items in Ponyo, but they are likely not items that will ruin the film for you.
Intro/Outro Music: Kiki's Delivery Service/My Neighbor Totoro (Studio Ghibli in Concert, 2008) by Joe Hisaishi
Loading ...
no more direct downloads? i kinda like my routine of fetching them, so i hope not. ^^ but whatever is easier.
I got an anonymous credit....sweet. I got to be the someone at the very beginning. Thanks for listening to us fans!!
This podcast was great! Just a couple of things I want to mention. I think someone said otherwise, but Pom Poko was released on DVD in the US, although they changed the transformation to using their "pouches" (despite them not being marsupials). Everyone needs to see Totoro!! I rented the "Earthsea" movie (Ged's War Chronicles) last time I went to Japan (I was surprised that the Japanese DVD had English subtitles) and I loved it. But maybe I'm just easy to please. Keep up the good work SWORDS!
-DNL
Another Citizen From The Spectacular Country of Florida
nevermind. thank you.
I've seen Howl's Moving Castle in Japanese.
However I love anything to do with Lupin.
Kevin, you are now officially a jerk store for not liking Princess Mononoke, what gives?
-Nate Out
I've seen the film three times, watched the entire making-of R2 discs, and still I don't find the film compelling. It's a great piece of art, but I keep finding it to be too preachy. I have the same problems with Spirited Away and likely will have the same issue with Howl's Moving Castle.
Dom, Princess Mononoke had one of the biggest box offices for a foreign film, let alone a foreign animated film. So they were not all box office failures in the US. Box office points down!
You guys are also all jerk stores for thinking Totoro is "missable". It's, like, the Star Wars of Japan, in that it's the favorite movie of an entire generation.
Princess Mononoke only generated $2.3 million in the US with 129 theatres at the peak. Per theatre average dipped from 18k to 10k to 5k and 3k and downwards within the first 4 weeks. Given the huge international take ($157 million), the US box office was nothing (though marketing and Miramax's lack of enthusiasm could also be blamed).
And Totoro is missable in the same way that Mickey Mouse is missable. How many people have actually seen all of Steamboat Willie? Granted we're comparing a feature film to a short film, but both are a matter of presenting endearing characters rather than providing much of a conflict.
$2.3 million for a foreign film is crazy good. Spirited Away got $10 million, which I believe is in the top 10 all-time for foreign films.
You're thinking of Totoro being "missable" from a story context, I'm thinking of it from a cultural context. People now in their 20s and 30s in Japan, almost 100% of them have seen Totoro, and more than 50% of them have had it as their favorite movie at some point in their lives. It's just that culturally important.
Check your numbers again: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=foreign.htm
I believe you mean $2.3 million for a foreign-language animated film is a decent haul.
Totoro is still missable from a cultural context as well. Lots of people know a bunch of big-name Hollywood icons like Darth Vader, Mickey Mouse and the whole Disney gang, Indiana Jones, Rocky Balboa, and others, but there's no real requirement that people see the films. They already know enough from the other cultural offshoots. Gone with the Wind has the highest adjusted gross in the United States, but how many people nowadays can say they've seen it all? or even parts of it?
OK, I was wrong about the box office, I'll admit it.
Spirited Away is still #1 for movies from Japan, which is nothing to sneeze at.
But are you seriously saying Star Wars, Rocky, Raiders of the Lost Ark, etc. are missable from a cultural standpoint? If that's what you're saying, then I just will have to disagree with you and leave it there.
As for Gone with the Wind, yeah, probably less than 20% of people under 30 have seen all of it. But easily more than 50% of people over 30, and that's still the majority of people in the USA.
I'm saying that culture has already told you most everything you need to know about those films. There's nothing in there that will shock you unless you're very young and haven't been exposed to most of the major plot points and spoilers. An adult that has never seen Star Wars can still understand why his co-workers have Darth Vader toys in their cube, but it doesn't mean he *has* to see the trilogy. And I'm not going to force him to see the films either. Same goes for Totoro.
I doubt 50% of the people over 30 have seen Gone With the Wind. I put it at 10-20%.
Well, then you're basically saying no film is a must-see for cultural literacy, and that's why I disagree with you.
People over 30 have lived in the time where there were only 3 TV networks, and they used to show Gone with the Wind every year; it was a TV event experience. Same with films like The Ten Commandments, The Wizard of Oz, and It's a Wonderful Life. You basically had to try hard to miss those.