I don’t watch much anime but I have seen several of Miyazaki’s features and thought they were superp(especially Mononoke).
His latest anime “Spirited Away” recently won the award in the Berlin Festival. While I haven’t seen it yet, I am pretty confident, given Miyazaki’s track record and the award that it is superb.
My questions: Does anyone know what has happened to the US release. I believe it was slated for some time this year but I don’t know when. I am looking forward to finally seeing a Miyazaki on the big screen.
Also do you think that this will be the Miyazaki anime that will catapult him into the American mainstream? Mononoke was great but probably not a children’s film per se and Americans aren’t perhaps ready for more mature animation.
Spirited Away appears entirely appropriate for children and so it should have greater acceptance. I am pretty sure that it will get great reviews like Mononoke. I just hope Disney does a better job marketing it.
I think Miyazaki is one of the geniuses of modern cinema and it’s such a shame he is not better known in the US.
It would also be great if “Spirited Away” could win a nomination for Best Picture at the Oscars.
I love Miyazaki! I haven’t heard of this one, though.
Now that I know it exists, I can’t wait to see it!
Fenris
http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/sen/
This has some info on the movie. Incidencally the site is a great source for all things Miyazaki.
If you search www.imdb.com you will find reviews for it. IIRC it is currently ranked at the top in the animation category.
IIRC, it was released in Region 2 (Japan) just a couple of months ago. If Disney rushed it out, they could release sooner than this fall–they have some sort of contract where they have to give a period of months (6?) before released in Region 1.
This is going to be a good fall for American Miyazaki fans. Porco Rosso is also coming out on DVD this fall. Trust me, I’ll be waiting in the store for the first shipment…
I sincerely doubt it has even the remotest chance at a Best Picture nod (heck, it took Disney 50 years to get its first and only), particularly with the new Animated Feature category. Now, after last year’s debacle of choosing Jimmy Neutron over Waking Life, if this film can’t score a nod, then the category becomes totally discredited to the point of meaninglessness.
Sweet! I just hope that I get to see it subbed, not dubbed. Mononoke was near ruined for me by that dratted Clare Danes.