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2006-07-21

New Feature - "Movie Night"

I've been debating with myself for some time whether I should feature movies for watching here at Conversations on Ghibli. Video sites like YouTube have provided a home, even if only a temporary one, for people to upload everything from fan-made music videos to theatrical shorts and feature films. I've uploaded a couple films for your viewing - Horus, Prince of the Sun, the 1984 Nemo pilot - and I've been seriously tempted to bring out more.

I added Horus and the Nemo pilot to this site because they were relatively obscure in the West. Chances are, you probably haven't seen them before stumbling onto this site. But the Ghibli films are another matter. With a couple very notable exceptions - Omohide Poro Poro, Umi Ga Kikoeru, Ghiblies Episode 2 - all of the studio's feature films is now available in America on DVD. You should already own them all.

Well, after a lot of thinking and pondering, I've come to a decision. The answer is Yes.

Yes, I'll be showing more movies here at Conversations. But we're going to set some ground rules first.

Rule Number One: You're going to buy all the DVD's that are available in the States, or your region of the world. The best way to show your support is with your wallet. That's what motivates the evil corporate businessmen. If we want to see more of Miyazaki and Takahata's pre-Ghibli works released in the States, we're going to have to demonstrate that there is a real demand. We are genuine fans. Not leechers, not pirates. That means you, junior.

Rule Number Two: Don't ask me where you can steal films over the internet. See Rule #1. If you want to see Animal Tresure Island or Puss in Boots, you're gonna have to cough up the cash.

Rule Number Three: Don't complain if or when YouTube or other such video sites take down something that's posted here. It's their neck that's on the chopping block, so they get to set the rules. That's life.

Rule Number Four: You will write letters to the DVD publishers of Miyazaki/Takahata movies (Disney, Discotek, Pioneer, Geneon, and Manga Video), thanking them for their support, and asking them to continue to release more DVDs in the future. Ask Manga to put out a better Cagliostro DVD. Beg and plead Discotek to release Horus, and have me and/or Ben Ettinger do a commentary track.

Rule Number Five: Send John Lasseter a fruit basket and thank him for pushing the Ghibli catalog through Disney. Be sure to thank him for that clever Miyazaki riff in "Cars." Ask him if Tales From Earthsea has a snowball's chance in hell of ever being released here.

Rule Number Six: God willing, we will soon be watching Omohide Poro Poro. You will bawl your eyes out at least once or twice. You will declare it to be the Greatest Movie Ever Made. You will vow to never stiff your family with "Disney Princess" videos ever again. Your daughters will thank you by going to college and not appearing in a future installment of "Girls Gone Wild."

Rule Number Seven: You will have a great time. Tell all your friends about COG's Movie Night.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I look forward to seeing some new films, and will abide by your rules!

re: Rule #4, writing to dvd publishers.
I was going ask if you had a list of address, but I went ahead and looked some up for myself. The best I could find for Disney was a questions form:
http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/contactus/contactus.html
If you have anything better I'd like to know.

Here are some others, for anyone interested:
Discotek media
online comment form
http://discotekmedia.com/contact.html

====
Pioneer Entertainment (USA) Inc.
2265 East 220th St
Long Beach, CA 90810

Tel: (310) 952-2162
Fax: (310) 952-2791

Website: http://www.PioneerAnimation.com
(Website redirects to Geneon)

====
Geneon Entertainment Customer Service
c/o The Right Stuf International
PO Box 680
Grimes, IA 50111

Use this address to send your comments
and or questions.

====
Manga Entertainment
online comment form
http://www.manga.com/contact.php


What do you know about the new Cagliostro dvd coming out soon? Is it just a repackaging of the same transfer?

Cheers!
Philip

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

Excellent! This hadn't even occured to me. Now we can all contact these publishers. You have my sincere gratitude.

No, as far as I'm aware, Manga isn't planning to reiuusue Castle of Cagliostro. That's just my own personal hope. The US DVD has the advantage of accurate subtitles, but there are a wealth of problems that need to be remedied: cheesy animated menus, grainy picture quality (seems to have been pulled straight from a 35mm print), no trailers, and no storyboards.

The Japanese Cagliostro DVD has excellent picture quality, storyboards, and trailers; unfortunately, the subtitles are actually "dubtitles" of one of the older American dubs. So, either way, you're losing out.

As an aside, the movie is available in the UK under the Optimum label, but I'm not able to comment on it, as I haven't seen it yet.

So I think it's about time we got a better DVD, with the proper features and the original movie poster on the package. Don't you?

Anonymous said...

Actually, IGN reports that a new "special-edition" DVD of 'The Castle of Cagliostro' will be released on August 29, 2006. You can find out more information here: http://dvd.ign.com/articles/715/715200p1.html
The manga video site has it listed under "New Releases".
Best Wishes

Anonymous said...

I was wondering: What was the "clever Miyazaki riff in 'Cars'"?

Anonymous said...

Sorry.. One more question: From what movie or show is that screenshot that's heading the top of your blog? It's a beautiful picture and looks like it's part of a great-looking movie or show.

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

Do you mean the banner to this website? That's from Omohide Poro Poro, and one of the best scenes in the movie, at that. Don't worry, we'll be watching it pretty soon.

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