DVDizzy Forum

Reviews for My Neighbor Totoro & Whisper of the Heart.

brownie wrote:I wish these upcoming releases could have special features like the Spirited Away dvd!

I'm curious how different the new My Neighbor Totoro dub will be from the old one I grew up on..hopefully Dakota Fanning won't annoy me.

Anyway, I can't wait for all three! I haven't seen Whisper of the Heart yet, but I'll certainly buy it.

i saw the new dub when it aired on TMC last month...unfortunatly Dakota Fanning will not only annoy, she will kill as she has killed this dub! All the other voice actors were okay but Dakota Fanning brings little life to her character.

judging by the lack of special features and the terrible new dub I would rather just stick with the Fox version...or better yet shop around for imports...I know there are imports out there that have both the Japanese and Fox dubbed versions of the film...and in widescreen!!!

I wont mind buying the Disney versions of the other films

I have to say that I have never seen Howl or Whisper, but I'm sure that I will buy them. I will also buy Totoro. Is Dakota really that annoying??? Anyway I think that these movies are the bonus features. I think that any foregin movie is a bonus feature because it's a chance to see something different, from somewhere else, with different people who work on these movies and put different and special meanings to these excellent movies. Sure Disney is great, fantastic, wonderful, spectacular, and magnificent, but what if all we had was disney?? We wouldn't have the chance to experience different cultures, and the way that they see things. Anyway, I can't wait for these three releases.

TheSequelofDisney wrote:Is Dakota really that annoying???

Yes (unless you're netty, then she's a wonderful actress)

Escapay

A Howl's Moving Castlereview.

Please, tell me your thoughts! Here's mine:

I have never seen Howl's Moving Castle, until yesterday. It was fantastic!!!
The picture quality was stunning, and the sound was superb. The dubbing was also quite excellent. I have yet to see all of the bonus features, but I will sometime this week. Now I've already seen Fox's My Neighbor Totoro, and now when I get to see it again, it's like I've never seen it before. Also the picture, and sound were great, and the bonus features were pretty good. The only thing that I didn't like was some of the voices. I have to admit that Dakota and Elle were pretty bad at playing the roles of Satsuki and Mei. I think that it might have been better if they picked someone else. And lastly, I have nothing to say about Whisper, because I didn't have enough money to buy it. !!! Anyway, post here what you thought about these movies!

Well I won't probably be getting these movies till this weekend, so I'll post my reviews and thoughts afterwards, however my Howl's Moving Castle review probably is in the vaults back in the Howl's Moving Castle theatrical thread.

i just got Howl's Moving Castle let me tell you it was great. this is one of my fav movies of 2005. to put it simple Howl's Moving Castle is excellent. for me Howl's Moving Castle is up there with spirited away. i loved it.

You know my feelings about Japanese Anime'. It just bothers me that people think that this is great animation, and when you compare it to Walt Disney animation at its best, and Warner Bros. animation, it just doesn't stand up. All of the characters have the same facial expressions when they are talking. There is no depth to the picture like in "Snow White", or "Bambi".

I loved "Spirited Away"...........but so far nothing else has compared to it. They are all just a poor second.

dvdjunkie wrote:You know my feelings about Japanese Anime'. It just bothers me that people think that this is great animation, and when you compare it to Walt Disney animation at its best, and Warner Bros. animation, it just doesn't stand up. All of the characters have the same facial expressions when they are talking. There is no depth to the picture like in "Snow White", or "Bambi".

I loved "Spirited Away"...........but so far nothing else has compared to it. They are all just a poor second.

eeeehhh, anime is LOTS of things. To put it simply: every genre is covered since animation is just a medium.

You want to know why so many people think is great in terms of animation?

Go watch: BLOOD: The Last Vampire, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Witch Hunter Robin, (in a lesser way) Appleseed, Metropolis....

You need to look more for quality animation. And it is not just the animation but the stories: take a look at Angel Sanctuary, Please Save My Earth.

You just need to see the amount of detail and how fluid the animation is.

Besides, Disney has made only 45 AC so far, and there are over 400 anime series/movies, just in America. So it is not fair that you get to judge something just by a couple of experiences.


... nevermind that since we're getting off topic here. I want to have How'ls at least; haven't seen it but if it is at least as good as CHIHIRO.... it will be great.

i like Walt Disney animation but STUDIO GHIBLI just makes better movies. disney is great. but just look there new movie is the wild they are
Copying DreamWorks. disney just needs to come out with some original movies. i just wish disney would be more like STUDIO GHIBLI and just make just really good movies. right now STUDIO GHIBLI is the best.

isaac15 wrote:disney is great. but just look there new movie is the wild they are
Copying DreamWorks.

No they aren't, becuase "The Wild" isn't even a Disney film. It's made by a new company in San Francisco called, "Complete Pandemonium". Disney is simply distributing it like Valiant, but it isn't really made or owned by them.

I saw Howl during its limited theatrical release, and I have to say it was very good; should've beat W&G for best animated, if you ask me.

DVD treatment was terrible, though. Is it just me, or is Disney getting lazier and lazier?

I probably get all three from Amazon later next week since I order all three with Justice League Season 1 and Batman Beyond Season 1.

Timon/PumbaFan wrote:

No they aren't, becuase "The Wild" isn't even a Disney film. It's made by a new company in San Francisco called, "Complete Pandemonium". Disney is simply distributing it like Valiant, but it isn't really made or owned by them.

Can't the same be said of Japanese Anime'.........it isn't made by Disney it only distributed by them?

I don't see depth in animation from the Japanese Anime', there is no background motion, and everything is in the foreground. There isn't much fluidity in their walking and running. As far as story goes, they take so long to get to the story that I get totally bored with it. I guess I am just spoiled by the Walt Disney Classics, and Warner Brothers cartoons. To me, these Japanese 'toons are just like Saturday morning cartoons, lots of action and no substance. When I read that Japanese Anime' uses the same amount of gels for a 30-minute Saturday morning 'toon that Disney used for its 7-minute cartoon shorts, that tells me where the quality lies.

I think I give the Japanese Anime' films a fare shake, because I do try to watch them, I rent them whenever I can, but I just can't get into them. I think I would rather watch a terrible B-movie before I sit through an Anime' film.

Maybe it is just the age thing again. I was raised and cut my teeth on Disney and Warner Brothers, so all of the others are just pretenders to the throne.

dvdjunkie wrote:
I don't see depth in animation from the Japanese Anime', there is no background motion, and everything is in the foreground. There isn't much fluidity in their walking and running. As far as story goes, they take so long to get to the story that I get totally bored with it. I guess I am just spoiled by the Walt Disney Classics, and Warner Brothers cartoons. To me, these Japanese 'toons are just like Saturday morning cartoons, lots of action and no substance. When I read that Japanese Anime' uses the same amount of gels for a 30-minute Saturday morning 'toon that Disney used for its 7-minute cartoon shorts, that tells me where the quality lies.

First, you have seen Spirited Away, but yet you say there isn't much fluidity in their walking and running. Please. Studio Ghibli and some other Japanese animation companies show the most detail in their films, more than what Disney has done in a long while. You can see it in the example when Sen puts on her shoe in Spirited Away.

Second, It is rude to call theatrical animation from Japan "toons". That is comparing Snow White, Lion King, and Sleeping Beauty as "toons" which they are clearly not. Toons refers to Saturday morning cartoons, which in no way the best of Japanese animation is even remotly close too.

dvdjunkie wrote: I don't see depth in animation from the Japanese Anime', there is no background motion, and everything is in the foreground. There isn't much fluidity in their walking and running. As far as story goes, they take so long to get to the story that I get totally bored with it. I guess I am just spoiled by the Walt Disney Classics, and Warner Brothers cartoons. To me, these Japanese 'toons are just like Saturday morning cartoons, lots of action and no substance. When I read that Japanese Anime' uses the same amount of gels for a 30-minute Saturday morning 'toon that Disney used for its 7-minute cartoon shorts, that tells me where the quality lies.

I have to agree with castleinthesky, for the most part. It sounds like most of what you've seen are things like Pokemon, Digimon and the like. Though as a side note, I actually enjoyed Digimon (only seasons 1-3 so far) on a different level. Maybe you've been turned off anime by the fanboy-hype which, I'll admit, is incredibly annoying. However, despite the fanboys, there are many excellent anime films. Plus, you seem to be ignoring many a mediocre Disney film in your overly harsh critique of anime (like pretty much anything produced in the last 6 or 7 years, minus Pixar's work, Fantasia/2000, and Lilo & Stitch).

The best examples of anime have just as much depth as some of North America's best animation work. Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle are two examples; but there are ones other than those distributed by Disney. Here's some you should consider renting, that are available on North American DVD:

Grave of the Fireflies [Review]
Metropolis (2001) [Review]
Akira [Review]
Ghost in the Shell [Review]
Appleseed (2004) [Review]

I would see them, but I am not a fan of Anime at all, just don't like it.

dvdjunkie wrote: Can't the same be said of Japanese Anime'.........it isn't made by Disney it only distributed by them?

Yup, you're exactly right. Disney just distributes them in America, but they don't really make them or own them.

castleinthesky wrote: Second, It is rude to call theatrical animation from Japan "toons". That is comparing Snow White, Lion King, and Sleeping Beauty as "toons" which they are clearly not. Toons refers to Saturday morning cartoons, which in no way the best of Japanese animation is even remotly close too.

Actually anything animated is considered a "toon"! A certain rabbit taught us this:

http://www.ultimatedisney.com/rogerrabbit.html

I haven´t yet seen none thes four. But During the Oscars ceremony I saw a little sneak peek of Howl´s moving castle. And that "moving castle" the way it was expressed made me to rent Spirited away ond DVD. I have to admit that I that it got me. The story is just superb!

Because I really love the Disney´s animated classics I always critisized anime for its characters and its complete style of animation. But what makes me to go and to rent a DVD is really the story. Thats just what makes the anime movie special to me. So far I´ve seen Metropolis, Memories, Spirited Away, Grave of the Fireflies... The movie that really touched me is the Grave of the Fireflies, its so real, so depressing, so sad... Thats a story you wont find and Disney. But thad does not mean its bad. For me is Disney a medice to throw away my troubles, to made me happy etc.