Ponyo, Kiki, Totoro, and CitS Special Edition DVD Discussion

[yamiiguy]

What do people think of the R2 Ghibli covers, they do have a sort of togetherness...





And the spines are numbered...

[magicalwands]

I like them a lot!



One thing I like about the new sidebar and border on the front contains a Totoro, the Ghibli mascot.





Now that I think about it, me wanting a togetherness for Ghibli exists for my Pixar and Disney collections too.

[ajmrowland]

At least the Diamond collection will probably have togetherness, but I feel the same way about Pixar.

[BK]

Hmmm....do you mean to say the new re-issues had the same spine?
Normally the whole packaging changes upon re-issue.

Also, Ponyo doesn't have the uniformity.
And lastly, what order are they numbered? It seems random.

[jediliz]

Ponyo is on my to rent list. Unfortunately, I doubt i'll be able to rent the Blu Ray because Blockbuster.com tends not to have enough Blu Rays for rental.

[yamiiguy]

Hmmm....do you mean to say the new re-issues had the same spine?
Normally the whole packaging changes upon re-issue.

Also, Ponyo doesn't have the uniformity.
And lastly, what order are they numbered? It seems random.

The new reissues weren't released here in the UK as far as I know and the Ponyo DVD hasn't has a press release or anything yet. And yes the numbering makes no sense, but it at least has uniformity

1 - Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
2 - The Cat Returns
3 - Porco Rosso
4 - Pom Poko
5 - Kiki's Delivery Service
6 - Laputa, Castle in the Sky
7 - Howl's Moving Castle
8 - Princess Mononoke
9 - My Neighbour Totoro
10 - Grave of the Fireflies
11 - Whisper of the Heart
12 - My Neighbours the Yamadas
13 - Spirited Away
14 - Only Yesterday
15 - Tales from Earthsea
16 - Ocean Waves*

*I think

The other titles in the 'Studio Ghibli Collection' are not numbered, I think because they are titles produced before the founding of Studio Ghibli (Little Norse Prince, Castle of Cagliostro). So yes, the numbers make no sense to me but I love uniformity

[TheSequelOfDisney]

Grrrrr!!! Yes, I am upset. Soaring and I'm Gonna Fly are some of the best parts of KiKi's Delivery Service, and now they have been excised! Why? What was wrong with them?!?! Those two songs are what make me think of KiKi's Delivery Service. I'd really like to pick up this rerelease, especially because of the new features. But, really? Why? Why change what we've already learned to love? In any case, is there any sign of KiKi on Blu-ray? If it was in sight, I'd rather wait. Grrrr, I don't know. KiKi, no doubt is my favorite Ghibli film, but they changed it. I guess I'll have to think about it.

[ajmrowland]

Well, seeing as the Dub was already changed to begin with, I see very little wrong with it.

[magicalwands]

Those two english version songs are what I love from Kiki's Delivery Service. The actually add too the movie rather than detract from it (like the Cyrus and Jonas version of the Ponyo song.) It doesn't make sense to keep their nasty song in but throw out Sydney Forests' great songs!

Also, I just threw in the Ponyo DVD and they only have subtitles for the english version. There is no literal translation track. Sigh, Disney what have you done?

EDIT: There is in fact a literal english translation! But, it is not accessible through the menu!

[kenai3000]

Grrrrr!!! Yes, I am upset. Soaring and I'm Gonna Fly are some of the best parts of KiKi's Delivery Service, and now they have been excised! Why? What was wrong with them?!?! Those two songs are what make me think of KiKi's Delivery Service. I'd really like to pick up this rerelease, especially because of the new features. But, really? Why? Why change what we've already learned to love? In any case, is there any sign of KiKi on Blu-ray? If it was in sight, I'd rather wait. Grrrr, I don't know. KiKi, no doubt is my favorite Ghibli film, but they changed it. I guess I'll have to think about it.

Those two english version songs are what I love from Kiki's Delivery Service. The actually add too the movie rather than detract from it (like the Cyrus and Jonas version of the Ponyo song.) It doesn't make sense to keep their nasty song in but throw out Sydney Forests' great songs!

Also, I just threw in the Ponyo DVD and they only have subtitles for the english version. There is no literal translation track. Sigh, Disney what have you done?

EDIT: There is in fact a literal english translation! But, it is not accessible through the menu!

As an Anime fan myself I must say that the restoration of the original opening & ending songs is a good thing and that's because it makes it feel like an actual dub instead of an Americanized one. Having not seen Kiki's Delivery Service in full I can't give my opinion on the English songs, but I can give my opinion on how most Anime fans I know insist that all of the original music is left alone. I personally think that if music is changed it changes the whole feeling of it.

I apologize for going off-topic here, but I feel like this needs to be addressed. A perfect example is Dragon Ball Z when that first came out in the US all the music was changed and it was corny and most DBZ fans hoped that FUNimation (the company that dubs it) would one day keep the original music alone a sign of hope came when they left the music in the original Dragon Ball series alone, but then when the US got the third series Dragon Ball GT all the music was replaced just like in Z and fans were angry especially with the opening song which is a rap song fans call Step Into The Grand Tour.

Then in 2007 when FUNimation released season sets of Z they announced that there would be 2 English dub options one was the broadcast track that everyone knew and the other one was the one DBZ fans had waited years for the English dub with the original Japanese music track, but some fans were still angry that the original opening song was replaced with dub music. Then in 2008 season sets of GT came out with the same 2 English dub options as Z had, but this time the original opening & ending songs were dubbed into English.

Z saw another release back in November this release is called the Dragon Box and it is touted as the definitived DBZ experience and it really is. This time FUNimation fixed the opening song error on the season sets and gave us the original opening song on these sets.

This all ties in with Kiki's Delivery Service because Disney is throwing a bone to the fans of the Japanese version by making the dub closer to the Japanese version than what it was before it's like keeping all of the original music is a bad thing now.

Whew that was a long rant, and I apologize if I have offended anyone.

[ajmrowland]

I think I'd at least want an option for the older dub, even though I never saw the movie.

[magicalwands]

I agree with some of your points for dubs, kenai3000. For your Dragonball Z releases and rereleases, it is not at all similar to what Disney does. Yes Disney dubs them, but their dvds also include the original Japanese tracks as well along with a literal english translation sub. I used to love dubs, then I hated them, but now I am okay with them because they HAVE to be done. These films are so wonderful, imagine being very little and not having learned how to read yet.

So, I believe dubs should be made but, the right voices must be chosen. The dvd release should also include the original Japanese track with a literal translation sub. And finally, if there are any modifications in the picture for the english version, the Japanese track should be played with the original images.

Whew! I never would have thought I would turn into a dub snob!

[yamiiguy]

I don't watch the dubs now but the ones I have watched were pretty good, especially Laputa. However I think that dubs should be as close to the original script as possible and I don't think they should add or take away anything. Japanese should always be an option along with English subtitles and not dubtitles.

[TheSequelOfDisney]

I agree that the original Japanese version should be available, however, I do think that there should at least be an option to have the English dub and everything that was originally changed for the films initial American release. It's not like I don't want to hear the original Japanese version, I would just prefer to have the English dub that I've already become aquainted with.

[space_monkey]

I just received the Kiki's Delivery Service DVD I ordered for my daughter. We started watching maybe the first half hour last night and the dialog does not sound right.
Primarily when listening to Kirsten Dunst and Phil Hartman's dialog, it sounds like they are talking into a fan.
I'm not sure the proper term for describing the artifact but I'm sure there's probably some term related to modulation or something along those lines. It is there constantly and is more noticeable on longer continuous audio like if she exclaims "wheeeeeeeee" while on her broom or something. I don't think I heard it on other adult dialog or sound effects or music.
I have no experience with the older version so this may be how it was originally recorded but it is highly distracting for me and makes it very difficult to enjoy the movie.
There was no mention of it in the review on this site so I'm hoping someone else can confirm my issue with the new Kiki dvd where their voices sound like they're talking through a fan.
If you can confirm it on the new version, if possible, please also reference if it also exists on the previous version as my intent is to pick up a version for my daughter and I'm not picky about which one.
Thanks.

PS - for those interested - Another mark against this dvd is that it does not appear to be closed-captioned. It's not a huge issue since there are English subtitles but they are not for the deaf and we have a deaf relative. However, I doubt that would be on the previous version either.

[buffalobill]

Well, as with the dvdbeaver reviewer I had to take a firmware update & it still didn't fix it. Then I thought it could be the disc so I exchanged it. No change. It freezes when I press play for the movie. I can play the movie by going to scene selection & going straight to chapter 1. It plays through the movie perfectly. If I let it play to the end of the credits it freezes there too though so I have to stop it just before the credits end. I have 2 Insignia NS-BRDVD3's. Same thing with both. Hopefully another firmware update will be offered soon. The latest one is dated 2-12-2010. Sucks but at least I can play it.

[BK]

Not sure why the review for Ponyo is unnecessarily negative.
I mean, why does it feel the need to say that people won't be able to watch the bonus features if they don't have a Blu-Ray player and bought the Blu-Ray?
Eventually they will have a Blu-Ray player/PS3 or whatever.

I mean, the same could really be said for all combo sets.

Besides that, the special features do look very light. If there was a 9hour TV special I'm sure there could have been a lot more ported over.

Does anyone know if the Japanese release is any different?

I also do not particularly like the fact that the storyboards can't be accessed outside of PiP? Is that correct? That makes no sense. It's been done for many releases though right?

[Little Red Henski]

I think I'd at least want an option for the older dub, even though I never saw the movie.

I would love the option to listen to the original JAL English dub. I wouldn't want to listen the old Disney dub again. The Japanese songs sound a lot more 1950'sish than the songs Disney used.

[ajmrowland]

Yeah, but I meant the old Disney dub, and while I probably would not mind Japanese, i myself not quite there yet with foreign dubs. Im just saying, it'd be a nice option to have both English dubs, as well as the Japanes dub.

[Little Red Henski]

There are 3 English dubs. I'm just saying if I could only have 2 of the 3 I would pick JAL & new Disney. Especially since the JAL dub has only been released on Japanese laser disk.