Judging by its new trailer the latest slice of Hayao Miyazaki magic, From Up On Poppy Hill, looks like an unusually grounded affair from the Japanese master and his son, director Goro Miyazaki.
The story, based on a popular '80s manga, concerns a group of kids who fight to keep their school's clubhouse running as developers - and their wrecking balls - move in. It's set in the run-up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and brings the Studio Ghibli touch to familiar themes of childhood, although without the magical-realist elements of Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle et al.
As The Playlist notes, this Ghibli joint is not being distributed by Disney in the west. Instead, GKIDS, the animation house behind A Cat In Paris and Chico & Rita, is stepping up. This means no English dub-track and the chance to see it with Japanese subtitles. There's no official UK release date as yet but check back for more on that count.
I've only heard the dubs with kids lately, so haven't heard the Arietty one t's Optimum for the UK releases isn't it? No idea if that would change.
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Well fingers crossed the DVD release at least has a dub then (will this still be part of the Studio Ghibli DVD Collection or will it have different branding?)
I agree with you regarding the dub for Ponyo, that was pretty annoying but the one for Arrietty is probably the best one they've done IMO. In fact I probably prefer it to the subbed version, a Ghibli first for me. Then again I have seen the film about 25-30 times this year so it's probably more of a familiarity thing than a preferenc More
Posted by Harry Tuttle at 16:01 on 09 August 2012 | Report This Post
RE: Fireflies
That Pixar isn't involved tells you a lot about the power relationship between them and Disney. If the raft of sequels didn't already give you a clue.
I'm a bit surprised about the comment wrt to the distributor so maybe Empire don't know. It's not all bad with GKIDs, Harry - A Cat in Paris is currently showing on Sky b]an English dub, and the R4 DVD was released with it as an option. The advantage also being that the last Pixar dub wasn't done by finding acting talent but trying to get p More
No English dub is a bit of a pisser for anyone with young kids into Ghibli's work Ponyo was one of the first films my daughter saw in the cinema so she'll be dissapointed at missing out on this. Then again the subject matter might not be entirely suitable for her anyway so no harm done potentially. More
Posted by Harry Tuttle at 15:00 on 09 August 2012 | Report This Post
RE: Fireflies
Apart from the dream sequence, Whisper of the Heart, Only Yesterday, My Neighbours the Yamadas, Ocean Waves - grounded isn't uncommon for Ghibli and some of their best work is (Grave and Only Yesterday are in my top 3). I think the specific comment is that Miyazaki has a preference for fantasy rather than the studio. A studio that regularly makes 'grounded; animations
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True, but it was so devastating it's not exactly for repeated viewing. This looks like a mild drama. It doesn't look like a film I'd rush to the cinema to see, but you do have to admire Studio Ghibli for going down these routes with animated features.
L: edward.reed
Grave of the Fireflies had no magical elements in it and was fantastic.
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