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2009-08-17

Poster - Ponyo in Latin America (El Secreto de la Sirenita)

Poster - Ponyo in Latin America (El Secreto de la Sirenita)
Poster - Ponyo in Latin America (El Secreto de la Sirenita)Just when I feared I was running out of material to keep this big party going....What the...ahhh, I think my jaw just hit the floor. I'm speechless.

These are the posters for the Latin American version of Ponyo. It premiered in mid-July in Mexico, and, oddly enough, I never heard about it. Thank goodness we found this now. We need the laugh!

The second poster is somewhat normal. It's the first one that...wow. Just, wow. That's really all I have to say. I let the rest of you take over.

Check out the official website here. The animated menu screen uses the "paper cutout" waves and boats from the Ponyo title sequence. It really looks very nice. And just wait until you see the trailer that's dubbed into Spanish....wow, again.

10 comments:

Sean L. said...

They look like the designer was using Photoshop while intoxicated.

I don't even want to talk about Ponyo's superimposed orca tail on the first one. Sweet mother of God. That's just downright insulting. Why? WHY?!

Unknown said...

How come they put a fish-mermaid tail on Ponyo? Blasfemy!

By the way, the text is also hilarious. Translation: "She had the face of a little angel and the tail of a fish. The secret of the little mermaid".

No one in America seems to respect the sensei's work. Too bad.

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

Augh! It sounds just like the voice-overs on Univision. At least she's not in a soccer match.

The tail, um...thing. That's the weirdest part. It's Autotune for the eyes. And it looks to me like she's wearing stockings and heels, which is REALLY creepy. My eyes The goggles do nothing!

hjg said...

Yes, the first one, from the mexican release, was an atrocity. Not only the added fish tail: the title is "The secret of the Little Mermaid" and the caption reads: "She has the face of a little angel and and a fish tail" ???
The second one is from my country, Argentina, it was ok for me (better than the american, with its CGI waves).

Anonymous said...

Whoah... That first poster... Weird tail...thingy.
Are they trying to make her into a traditional mermaid? Because that's just downright creepy.

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

@hjg - I'm glad to hear Ponyo made its way down to Argentina. Marcee and I are planning a trip down to Buenos Aires early next year, and I'm greatly looking forward to it. I do hope I'll learn to be more comfortable on planes by then.

Very interesting to hear your thoughts on the US poster. We already polled the question on which Ponyo poster was the best, and it did pretty well, better than I expected. Now I think we should reexamine this and see if it played a role in turnout.

hjg said...

Hope you like Buenos Aires (I live there).. but don't expect to find the city from Marco (3000 leagues...), it has changed a bit from then, haha

I doubt there is someone in the marketing area to blame about Ponyo's performance (here and there). Sometimes art and mass public does not get in sync, and that's all. I found this comment from a fan in "ghibli tavern" board interesting:

"My little sister wont stop reminding me of how terrible she thought the movie was, it was a little kids film, it was totally stupid, the art was horrible, she didnt like how the background didnt move but the characters did (have I mentioned that I think kids these days are totally spoiled by cgi animation? Make 'em watch more traditionally animated stuff!) why did the characters lack detail sometimes, (it's drawn on paper!) etc. etc. etc, basically she ripped the movie apart and hates it. But that's to be expected from a 13 year old brat who doesnt appreciate art, hates animated movies, and only watches Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. She's brainwashed. And she hates everything that I like, we're total opposites. But she bashes Ponyo worse than she did Coraline, and now she's going around telling everyone that Ponyo was a stupid movie! AUGH! That's no way to generate popularity for Miyazaki's movies! "

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

That's understandable. You do that when you're 13. It will pass.

Ah! Someone else who knows about Marco! Fantastic series, just awe-inspiring, deeply moving, endlessly captivating.

I'm curious to know your opinions of Bogota, since that's where Marcee lives. As an American, I am deeply skittish about the Colombia, but they have dramatically turned themselves around this past decade. I hold no faith that the peace will hold, but I'll cross my fingers just in case.

hjg said...

I know very little about the situation in Colombia, (we are quite far apart); it seems to me things are comparatively better than some years ago (less violence, FARC weaker), I hope international politics do not put the foot in...

Marco is great, yes. Very good script, many touches of human depth (Takahata's hand). And kudos for the local color, both for Italy and Argentina (I believe that Miyazaki travelled there and here...) We have an old (spanish) dubbing, luckly. A pity that it's so difficult to get in english -even with subs.

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

My friend, this is your lucky day. Take a look down at the "Buy These DVDs" column. You'll see a box set for Marco (3000 Leagues in Search of Mother). This is the Taiwanese box set, it sells for about $25 USD, and it includes ENGLISH SUBTITLES.

There is also progress being made (very slowly) on the Marco fansub. Episodes 1-12 are available for download now. I really need to contact those guys and tell them where to get the box set. They could just throw the subs together on a good weekend, and we'd have the entire series translated. That would be spectacular.

I find it hard sometimes to choose between Heidi, Marco and Anne. Heidi has the energy, the exhileration, the joys and sorrow. Marco has the emotion and the drama, the best and widest cast. Anne has a wonderful playfulness, and Yoshifumi Kondo's character designs, and the final episodes are devestating.

Heidi Marco Anne is Takahata and Miyazaki's true masterpieces. The Ghibli films are so greatly influenced by them.

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