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These A-list U.S. stars will voice Miyazaki's Ponyo for its American release
An A-list cast—including Liam Neeson, Matt Damon and Tina Fey—will voice the masterful, otherwordly animation of Japanese virtuoso Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea for its North American release, with a bit of help from E.T. writer Melissa Matheson, producer Frank Marshall told reporters this week.
Marshall and his producing partner Kathleen Kennedy are deeply involved in bringing the movie to mainstream western audiences this summer. "Kathy and I came on to produce the North American, English-speaking version of Ponyo," Marshall said on Tuesday. "It's been a fantastic experience."
Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid," Ponyo tells the story of a goldfish and her quest to become human.
Marshall and Kennedy said that they've been longtime fans of Miyazaki ever since Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. "What we are trying to do is introduce his world to a lot more people, because I think his films get put in the art-house section or the specialized section," Marshall said. "But every time we introduce our friends and their kids to the movies, they want all the movies. It's a world that I think everyone should see and understand and experience. It's hopefully what we will be able to do with this new release."
Marshall and Kennedy are working with Toho and Walt Disney Pictures to release a "tweaked," A-list-voiced version of Ponyo in the United States on Aug. 14.
"We have a fantastic cast, ... from Tina Fey to Liam Neeson to Cloris Leachman to Matt Damon," Marshall said. "There will be a subtitled version on the DVD, but we are trying to say this is a new animated movie. It's not Japanese. It's just a fantastic story, so go see it so that we can try and expand it out of the specialized film world."
Marshall also revealed that the changes are in conjunction with the master animator to ensure his blessing. "We worked closely with Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki-san and [Toshio] Suzuki-san, who is the producer. We speak daily, and they have been very involved in everything. It's not a direct translation. We have tweaked the story so it is an understandable story for our audience. Melissa Matheson, who wrote E.T., came in and helped us shape the story. We are bringing all our resources and friends into this who have responded, as we have, to how wonderful these movies are."
Marshall added, "Hopefully this will trigger people to go and look at Miyazaki-san's other movies, because they are fantastic, too."
By Blue at 9:52 AM ON 06/18/09
Bravo for yet another MINDLESS, PATHETIC. BASTARDIZATION of art. Why do these morons insist on believing that Japanese stories need to be "tweaked" for Western audiences. "Mononoke" wasn't tweaked. "Sprited Away" wasn't tweaked. "Howl" wasn't tweaked. WE DO NOT NEED IT TWEAKED!!! Where is Lasseter? There's a reason the imports for "Sprited" and "Howl" were better (however slightly) than "Mononoke." It's embarrassing to me. Honestly.
Word of advice:
If you think that the film isn't good enough on it's own, then DON'T IMPORT IT!!!
By budgethero at 10:03 AM ON 06/18/09
tweaked?..un hu
By bigalOSU at 10:23 AM ON 06/18/09
Studios cannot afford to take chances nowadays and need to ensure that they make as much money as possible on their investment. It's the same with theatrical releases versus extended versions. The movies are cut down to make the experience more enjoyable for viewers that are not going to appreciate the additional length and material. Geez. I bet you're also the type of person to complain about all of these hollywood remakes, but you have a computer full of illegal downloads and bootlegs at home. HYP-O-CRITE.
Th movie industry is a business. Get over it.
By WEH at 1:22 PM ON 06/18/09
@blue
tweaked might very well just mean a rewrite of the literal translation by how much info is in this article, it doesnt say a rewrite to make it more appealing or anything against it either. Miyazaki films are great, and its not like its done in his fashion or something without him in it. i doubt it will be anything horrible, all his other movies are great!
By DanTGF at 5:22 PM ON 06/18/09
"We have tweaked the story so it is an understandable story for our audience"
Translated:
"We have dumbed down the story because we believe our audience is filled with morons"
By exobio85 at 2:00 PM ON 06/19/09
Oh thank god! I was afraid they might cast real voice actors in this beautiful film. Thank you Disney for giving us celebrities instead of real voice talent. Now if only we could add Paris Hilton too and I'd be set for life!
By LeDoctor at 5:57 PM ON 06/19/09
WHE is exactly right. All that has been "tweaked" are bits of dialogue that would not make sense if literally translated from Japanese to English, the story has not been changed or the movie edited. And all this under the supervision of John Lasseter and Mr. Miyazaki...
By Moron hunter at 8:16 PM ON 06/19/09
@ Blue "Bravo for yet another MINDLESS, PATHETIC. BASTARDIZATION of art. Why do these morons insist on believing that Japanese stories need to be "tweaked" for Western audiences."
Why does this moron think that Western audiences know every nuance of Japanese expression?
@ DanTGF
"We have dumbed down the story because we believe our audience is filled with morons"
We have tightened up the story so that more and more people can enjoy Miyazaki's artistry without being thought as morons.
@ exobio85
"Thank you Disney for giving us celebrities instead of real voice talent."
Hmmm...
Liam Neeson... Narnia, Phantom Menance, The Dark Knight...
Matt Damon... Bourne films
Tina Fey... SNL
also Cate Blanchett... Oscar winner
only a moron would think they were just celebrities.
Are you getting the big picture?
By jlandz09 at 8:24 PM ON 06/19/09
If you like the subbed version better, it's already there for you to watch. I think that the Japanese language is beautiful and the poetic qualities are lost when dubbed. However, there's nothing wrong with translating it to English while "tweaking" the dialogue so as to retain some sense of art as opposed to a dry, word-for-word translation that most subtitles give.
By V at 8:27 PM ON 06/22/09
...they're INTENTIONALLY WESTERNIZING and INACCURATELY TRANSLATING the script in a desperate attempt to "hook a wider audience"?!
This is like when Scifi Channel desperately tries to convince people that "this show we bought is great....but we assure you, it's not a science fiction show!" to avoid the stigma.
By ThunderMonkey at 10:11 AM ON 06/23/09
I can fully understand why they have to tweak the flim some, because what we have to recognize that the average American filmgoer is pretty stupid, and for the most part they don't like to think. However, I'm going to go see it in the theater, because it's a Miyazaki. When it comes out on video, I'll be watching the original version.
By Xinem at 11:15 AM ON 07/01/09
Disney has done a pretty good job with the Miyazaki films so far...but they've also made it clear that they're doing something different this time to try to *hook* a larger audience. Historically, I"m afraid of what that *probably* means.
By YTSL at 9:29 AM ON 07/09/09
"It's not a direct translation. We have tweaked the story so it is an understandable story for our audience."
This is confirmation of what I feared when I -- who had previously seen and loved the original Japanese version of the film -- watched the American trailer: i.e., that the story's been Americanized and/or dumbed down.
What did they tell Miyazaki in order for him to agree to this? That American audiences are stupid?!
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YTSL:
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