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The Secret World of Arrietty
Mar. 6th, 2012 03:49 pmI decided to treat myself a bit last night and head up to Near River North to catch dinner and a movie. Timing issues aside (I misjudged travel/eating times and ended up wandering around for an hour and a half), it was awesome. I had tonkatsu ramen at Ginza which I have been craving, ugh, real ramen <3, and then headed to the AMC to see The Secret World of Arrietty.
Arrietty's the latest Studio Ghibli film, based on Mary Norton's The Borrowers. I loved that series as a kid and I love Studio Ghibli, it seemed like a winning combo. And it was, for the most part!
The good: the film is gorgeous. Ghibli scenery porn at it's finest, full of lush plant life, stunning vistas, intricate detailing... and the cinematography and pacing were perfect. The music was also A+. The story was quiet and low key, nothing earth-shaking, but lovely and well told.
The okay: the US/English-language voice cast was good but not stellar. I'm an unapologetic sub/original language snob, though, so your mileage may vary. The ending was a little bittersweet for my tastes (if fitting and practical).
The bad: The US dub Anglicizes everyone's names, which I don't think Disney has done before? Shō becomes Shawn, Sadako becomes Jessica, etc. It was particularly jarring because the film is very obviously set in Japan (Wikipedia says Koganei, Tokyo) unlike, say, Kiki's Delivery Service or Howl's Moving Castle. There was no reason for it and it makes me want to punch something. Also, there's a character who's less 'civilized' than the Clock family - he lives outside, wears furs and face paint, and speaks in broken English. His skin is, of course, significantly darker then the other characters. Fail, Ghibli. Fail.
I've tracked down a subbed version of the film, so we'll see how that changes things (random aside: do you know how much more sense Spirited Away and Howl's make subbed? Lots!).
Arrietty's the latest Studio Ghibli film, based on Mary Norton's The Borrowers. I loved that series as a kid and I love Studio Ghibli, it seemed like a winning combo. And it was, for the most part!
The good: the film is gorgeous. Ghibli scenery porn at it's finest, full of lush plant life, stunning vistas, intricate detailing... and the cinematography and pacing were perfect. The music was also A+. The story was quiet and low key, nothing earth-shaking, but lovely and well told.
The okay: the US/English-language voice cast was good but not stellar. I'm an unapologetic sub/original language snob, though, so your mileage may vary. The ending was a little bittersweet for my tastes (if fitting and practical).
The bad: The US dub Anglicizes everyone's names, which I don't think Disney has done before? Shō becomes Shawn, Sadako becomes Jessica, etc. It was particularly jarring because the film is very obviously set in Japan (Wikipedia says Koganei, Tokyo) unlike, say, Kiki's Delivery Service or Howl's Moving Castle. There was no reason for it and it makes me want to punch something. Also, there's a character who's less 'civilized' than the Clock family - he lives outside, wears furs and face paint, and speaks in broken English. His skin is, of course, significantly darker then the other characters. Fail, Ghibli. Fail.
I've tracked down a subbed version of the film, so we'll see how that changes things (random aside: do you know how much more sense Spirited Away and Howl's make subbed? Lots!).
