ROBOGEEK writes in with this news on Mononoke Hime. Ya don't know? Well read ye heathen read. The geek that needs professional lubrication calls for you. And you must listen.
Now THIS is cool news! :-)
Of all the cool animated feature films on the horizon, the one RoboGeek is most anxious to see is already out - but not here. MONONOKE HIME (The Princess Mononoke) is the latest - and last - masterpiece from Japan's most successful filmmaker of the past decade and a half, Hayao Miyazaki.
It is also the biggest hit in Japanese box office history, and has grossed over $140 million since its release July 12 by Toho on 250 screens (no other Japanese film has ever broken $100 million). It broke the existing box office record in one fourth the time it took "E.T." to set it back in 1982, and its record total attendance in Japan is now over 12 million (one tenth of the population). Lines were four hours long all summer long, beginning at 6 a.m. daily. Many theaters screened the film seven or eight times a day to keep up with demand, and the film is expected to stay in theaters through March. (It is now also playing in Hong Kong and Taiwan.)
Just to put this in perspective, Disney's highest grossing animated feature in Japan, "Aladdin," grossed $19.7 million. "Beauty and the Beast" grossed $14.8 million.
It is a sweeping, bloody epic adventure, set in the Muromachi period (1333-1568). It tells the tale of a war between the ancient gods and man for dominion over nature. Caught in the middle is a young Emishi prince named Ashitaka who embarks on a quest to free himself from a mysterious curse. On his journey, he meets San - the Princess Mononoke - a young girl raised by a wolf god. She leads a war against the Tatara, led by the Lady Eboshi, who is trying to build a humanistic kingdom and is cutting down the forest for her iron making operation. Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of this fierce struggle, and desperately tries to forge a peaceful coexistance between the two sides of the conflict.
"Mononoke Hime" clocks in at 133 minutes, took three years and only $20 million to produce. It consists of 144,000 hand drawn cels - some 80,000 were drawn by Miyazaki himself. Miyazaki's previous films include "Porco Rosso," "Kiki's Delivery Service," "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Nausicaa." The last five films produced by Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli were #1 at the box office in Japan for their respective years of release. However, none approached the phenomenal success of "Mononoke." (Miyazaki's previous champ, "Porco Rosso" grossed $23.56 million in 1993.)
Disney signed a deal with Tokuma Shoten Publishing Co. (Ghibli's parent company) last year for distribution rights covering the U.S., U.K., France, Spain, Australia and Brazil to eight of Studio Ghibli's animated features. However, as part of the deal, Miyazaki gets script approval and veto power over all artistic and commercial decisions. Per the agreement, the only changes Disney is allowed to make to the films are to dub them; they may not be re-cut or altered in any other way.
Reports are that "Mononoke Hime" will be theatrically released in the U.S. sometime next year (either spring or summer), both dubbed (featuring "A-list" name actors) and subtitled, and then later on video.
There don't seem to be any current plans to theatrically release the other Ghibli films, athough Disney may be waiting to see how "Mononoke" performs first. However, there already are plans to release all the films on video beginning next fall with "Kiki's Delivery Service" (a personal favorite of mine), which - rumor has it - features actress Kirsten Dunst voicing the title character.
But many tantalizing questions remain:
What is Disney's American release strategy and schedule? That is, will Disney hand it off to Miramax as it could very likely receive an R rating? When will it come out, and how will the subtitled and dubbed versions be distributed? What actors has Disney lined up to do the English dubbing? How will these films be marketed? How will Disney integrate these films into their current slate of upcoming films?
Disney is sitting on a goldmine with thie eight-picture package. I'm just praying they don't screw up.
- RoboGeek!
