How Neil Gaiman protected Princess Mononoke from Disneyfication

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RathDarkblade

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Mar 24, 2015
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#2
I love all of this, but especially the bit where the Miramax lady argues that "the audience won't get that [Ashitaka] is a prince", because he lives in a dirty hovel and wears rags.

They won't? Gee. As Gaiman says, we're not stupid. If the film calls him Prince Ashitaka, then he is Prince Ashitaka. I won't say, "He can't be a prince, he looks like a peasant"; I will say, "Something must have happened. What is it?"

In other words, I won't say "I don't understand this character; the film must be wrong." I will say, "I don't understand this character; my ideas about him must be wrong."

For the record, I've never seen Princess Mononoke.
 
#3
I'd recommend watching Princess Mononoke. I think it was probably the first Studio Ghibli film I remember seeing (initially in the cinema, at a Japanese film festival, with subtitles). Although Gaiman's English language script is good, some of the roles were severely miscast if you've heard the original Japanese. Billy Bob Thornton's voice sounds so very wrong, and Gillian Anderson (as the big mama wolf) is performed well, but her voice isn't nearly as deep as the Japanese voice artist.

But it's a very good film - I should probably crack out my DVD again sometime - it's definitely more for the 12+ crowd rather than the normal Ghibli audience of very young children. (Many of their other films are targeted at the 4-12 year old crowd but are still great fun for adults too)
 

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