howl's moving castle starts June 17th!

greg · Post by **greg** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 6:56 pm

Attention anime/Miyazaki fans: Howl's Moving Castle starts tomorrow in theaters in America!

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/castle/

it290 · Post by **it290** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 9:15 pm

I saw it in Portland a few days ago. Apparently Miyazaki was in town and my mom made a big fuss about it (she works for an animation firm there). Anyway, I have to say I was pretty dissapointed. I'm not the biggest Miyazaki fan in the first place, but I didn't really feel like HMC had anything going for it compared to his previous work. The plot was pretty cliched, the animation wasn't all that great, and the movie was lacking the multitudes of interesting creatures usually seen in a Miyazaki movie. It's not terrible, but it definitely doesn't get much of a recommendation from me.

greg · Post by **greg** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 9:59 pm

The plot is from a children's book... I think it's from a British writer.

Capt. Takehiko · Post by **Capt. Takehiko** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 1:20 am

Dianna Wyne Jones... or something like that.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:03 am

Thanks for the heads up; I'll go see it tomorrow.

I'm not going in with really high expectations. That said, I loved The Cat Returns (not Miyazaki, I know), and everyone seemed to disregard that film.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 2:25 am

I saw in the theaters here a while back. It's not Miyazaki's best work, but I still really enjoyed it. The plot has a few issues (the ending bothered me), and the animation does look a little clunky in a few places, but I still enjoyed it a lot. I highly recommend it if you're an animation fan, and give it a moderate recommendation if you're not.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 3:34 am

I'll wait and get it on DVD (if it's ever released) so I can watch it in Japanese with English subtitles..

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 4:01 am

iatneH wrote:I'll wait and get it on DVD (if it's ever released) so I can watch it in Japanese with English subtitles..

It might take a while, but a DVD release is bound to happen.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 4:07 am

Yeah, I remember Disney taking God freaking FOREVER to get off their asses and release Nausicaa and Laputa...

TalkingOctopus · Post by **TalkingOctopus** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 5:44 am

I saw it in Seattle last weekend. It was OK. The animation was gorgeous, but I didn't care for the plot, characters or story much. Worth watching once, but I never want to see it again. Disney gave everyone a survey with 100 questions as they entered the theater. You were supposed to fill it out after the movie, but the font was small, the survey was too long, and it was dark so I just wrote that the survery was way too long and turned it in. Did you guys have to fill this thing out too?

it290 · Post by **it290** » Fri Jun 17, 2005 3:57 pm

Nope, no survey for me, but then again I didn't go on opening night.

(the ending bothered me)

Me too, especially the part with the, um, blonde. Maybe the Japanese voices make that part seem a bit less ridiculous, but I think everyone in the theater got a good chuckle out of that bit.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 5:06 am

Another vote for 'good but problematic'. Man, the first 3/4s are great, than the end just turns to sentimental goo with all the loose ends neatly (and far too convienantly) wrapped up.

Certainly this is still great stuff, but also far from a perfect film.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 5:12 am

Hmm, really?

I used to like sentimental goo when I was all in love and stuff, but now I'm the most bitter son of a ***** you'll ever meet. But at least now I can spend my money on video games

I'll have to look around the Chinese malls in my area to see if I can find a DVD, the quality of those have really improved from a few years ago.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Sat Jun 18, 2005 3:02 pm

iatneH wrote: I used to like sentimental goo when I was all in love and stuff....

The the English dub may also be part of the problem. Lines like "Now I have something to protect...it's you!' could have come out of one of the recent star wars movies. It might not be quiet so jarring subtitled.

Still, by the end Miyazaki has painted himself into a courner such that the only 'nice' resolution is pretty unbelievable.

greg · Post by **greg** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 6:44 am

I saw the movie today with Undamned and Jon. Awesome stuff. It was extremely Miyazaki through and through... like a cross between Laputa and Spirited Away. It was so awesome to see more of the turn-of-the-century flying machines, boats, trains, etc. There's a special display solely on this sorts of stuff in the Ghibli Museum. It was another story about lifting a curse (Spirited Away, Porco Rosso), but the plot was not at all predicatable, so I can't see why some of you didn't care for the plot (unless all you know of Miyazaki are from Mononoke Hime and Spirited Away). The ending part about the prince was wrapped up a bit too conveniently, but overall, it was another beautiful Miyazaki movie.

As far as the dubbing went, Billy Crystal as the fire sprite really made the movie. My friend is refusing to watch it until it's released on DVD since he boycotts any and all English dubbing. I still felt a bit uncomfortable watching a dubbed anime, but the acting in these Ghibli movies tends to be rather good, I didn't mind. And since the Evil Empire has once again barely spent any amount of money at all promoting this film, it will soon become a box office failure according to their evil plans so that they can make money on the anime fans with the DVD sales and still keep anime out of the mainstream audience. I just went to Amazon.co.jp to have them alert me via e-mail once the import DVD is available.

ncc1701p · Post by **ncc1701p** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 7:00 am

Yep.. im a purist what can I say.

. Yeah i hate disney butchering anything miyazaki-related. They want it to fail.. Even though anime is slowly killing Disney. as I posted on /. Disney will be nothing more than a place where you go for an amusement park and buy loads of moolah. But yeah .. maybe i could go to the movie and watch it and cover my ears.

Sorry for the semi-rant. But im sure most other die-hards would agree. I would even watch it w/o subtitles. Oddly and luckily enough.. the region2 dvds do have english subtitles. Which i find odd. Its the only dvds i get from Japan which have no subtitles that are in Region2. Anyways nice to be back to shmups again and again and again

. My friend is refusing to watch it until it's released on DVD since he boycotts any and all English dubbing. I still felt a bit uncomfortable watching a dubbed anime, but the acting in these Ghibli movies tends to be rather good, I didn't mind. And since the Evil Empire has once again barely spent any amount of money at all promoting this film, it will soon become a box office failure according to their evil plans so that they can make money on the anime fans with the DVD sales and still keep anime out of the mainstream audience. I just went to Amazon.co.jp to have them alert me via e-mail once the import DVD is available.

TalkingOctopus · Post by **TalkingOctopus** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 7:30 am

I didn't realize it was dubbed. It was subbed in the theater I saw it at. I only watch anime subbed as well.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 1:23 pm

greg wrote: And since the Evil Empire has once again barely spent any amount of money at all promoting this film, it will soon become a box office failure according to their evil plans so that they can make money on the anime fans with the DVD sales and still keep anime out of the mainstream audience. I just went to Amazon.co.jp to have them alert me via e-mail once the import DVD is available.

There was a time I could have believed that Disney was purposely securing rights to Miyazaki to keep them out of the market and ensure a small run in the US, but I really think they are too much of a mess now to worry about that.

The Evil Empire is going to collapse under its own weight very soon. Every movie they make now is a complete financial failure and most of their money comes from other companies they own (Pixar, Miramax)--that are all jumping ship shortly. Unless there's some sort of complete retooling of Disney, I doubt it has more than 10 years left in it; all of which makes it hard for me to believe they would pass over any opportunity to make money.

While I do think Miyazaki's films could find a larger audience, I doubt they'd ever be a hit like they are in Japan. American's have a pretty specific taste in movies that don't really include the likes of Miyazaki so I'm not sure anyone needs to evoke a conspiracy to explain what's happening.

Wow, back to the film for a minute though, please don't take my disparaging remarks as anything but a great film. Ghibli's movies still fly far higher than about anything else, and even while I don't love every single one, the worst of them for me (actually, that being Kiki's) is still a fantastic movie. In short, while I still had difficulties with this, it remained nonetheless an amazing film.

it290 · Post by **it290** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 6:03 pm

I don't know about Disney collapsing. They do still rake in a shit-ton of money from merchandising and DVD/VHS sales (practically every mom in America has a collection of Disney films for their kids)... not to mention all their other revenue from their theme parks, TV/radio stations, etc. Probably their animated films will continue to decline, though, and I imagine they'll be outsourcing more and more animation as time goes on.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 8:29 pm

I for once am happy that the works of Miyazaki haven't become mainstream here in the west. Imagine otherwise how cheapened-out (can't think of a better expression right now) his movies would feel if they got the same treatment as most big-budget animated movies here. Lunchboxes, crappy PS2 games, cheap plastic action figures, and God fobid, Happy Meals.

It would be like having a sweet young maiden get her virginity stolen away from her by means of rape in front of your eyes, and being unable to do something about it. It's more like their niche status adds to their magic and beauty.

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 5:26 pm

I thought it was pretty cool if I do say so myself. Pretty freakin' bizzare...even for a Miyazaki flick. The animation was gorgeous and the dub was...well it was ok. I had mentioned to Greg after the movie that if I had one bone to pick with his movies it would be his reluctance to completely vilify his characters. C'mon man, make a truly evil antagonist for once! All in all a good movie.

greg · Post by **greg** » Mon Jun 20, 2005 7:05 pm

Miyazaki's truly evil antagonist was the guy in Laputa... I forget his name. He was pretty evil and would stop at nothing to become king. And Lepka from Future Boy Conan is evil to the core. I think he just is tired of antagonists who are evil for evil's sake, and wants to make his characters more nuanced.

the worst of them for me (actually, that being Kiki's)

No way! Kiki's is probably my favorite Miyazaki movie of all times. That's the one I can watch over and over again and never get bored.

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Tue Jun 21, 2005 2:03 am

greg wrote:
the worst of them for me (actually, that being Kiki's)
No way! Kiki's is probably my favorite Miyazaki movie of all times. That's the one I can watch over and over again and never get bored.

Note I said 'for me'. For some reason Kiki's just feels too long to me with not enough substance to propel the movie up to a full 2 hour running length. Understand, I've been a Miyazaki fan for the last 10 years, so I'm not attacking the man or his work, but I do feel there is room for finding fault and people are going to find that fault in different places. Kiki's is clearly a good film, but I just don't like to watch it as much as many of his other films which feel better paced to me. Totoro for instance, which often puts everyone to sleep, has a more managable running length to balance out the lack of action, while other Ghibli films are more punchy and always keep you anticipating what might happen the next moment. Kiki's stalls out for me, and I feel that while many of his films are aimed at a female audience, Kiki's is especially so and I've always felt I missed out on something that some of my female friends have really appreciated in Kiki's.