Comments on: Gake no Ue no Ponyo (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, Japan 2008)

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:05:59 +0000

With interesting looks like this one at the wonderful ‘Ponyo on the cliff by the sea’ (a so much more evocative and poetic title than the truncated ‘Ponyo’) you really do make the case for global film.

How it didn’t get nominated for best animated picture at the Oscars is beyond me – but maybe the beauty of the work (so much more than the candy-coloured pabula created by Pixar) is beyond them.

Thank you for this, especially the insight on traditional woodblocks.

By: TV

TV — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:29:22 +0000

That’s true, I guess the lengthy dub gestation isn’t the whole explanation – it could be that Optimum decided to go for this half term release, rather than Christmas when the market for younger children’s films is busier. I think the intended audience demographic has swayed pushing the English dub version in trailers etc. If the film’s to be successful, it will have to reach the younger children that it was made for, so it will have to be mostly English dubs. I think that the adult audience would be a definite secondary consideration for this particular Miyazaki.

A few (British) adults I spoke to who were introduced to Miyazaki with Spirited Away were disappointed after seeing Ponyo (in the Japanese dub) and expecting something of the complexity of Spirited Away, rather than something made for the under-7s most in mind. I think that’s a shame for sure as I think Ponyo is great, and I agree that Miyazaki is very special indeed. Incidentally the Japanese adults I’ve spoken to about the film had no problems taking to Ponyo, as they can see Miyazaki’s films more in the context of his other work.

I am worried that some cinemas aren’t offering both versions. NMeM can do this because we can play the digital drive in 2 versions, but I guess many places would be limited to 35mm. In that case I can understand why they went for the English dub.

Tom

By: venicelion

venicelion — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:19:58 +0000

In reply to TV.

Thanks for these points Tom.

As you know, I’m no expert on children and viewing conditions, so I bow to the experts but I’m still worried about this release. I’ve just heard somebody say that another well-known UK arthouse is only showing the American dub and there seems to be a concerted effort to promote the American version ahead of the Japanese one. Your reference to Miyazaki supervising the dub only slightly explains the delay since according to IMDB the film went on general release in North America in August 2009. So the question remains as to why we had to wait another six months.

By: TV

TV — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:48:56 +0000

…according to Optimum the release took so long because Miyazaki himself was supervising the English dub!

By: TV

TV — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:34:12 +0000

Hi Roy.

A quick point re. the languages. Optimum isn’t forcing cinemas’ hands on this. In the case of National Media Museum, I asked for the film to play that way. I think Ponyo will appeal most to children of about 5-7 years, for whom reading subtitles for 100 minutes will be a tall order, I think.

I canvassed opinion with some (progressive) colleagues with children of around that age, and they convinced me this was the way to make the film accessible to as many people as possible.

If the target audience were very much older, as for Spirited Away and Howl’s, I would have gone with subtitles for all shows.

At least people have the option which version to see.

Tom