Ha! I hadnt heard about the early DVD release. I dont think Japan is getting theirs until December. Unless thats just their Blu-ray release in December. When you read your DVD release info, did it say anything about a Blu-ray version?

But you're correct, UP does have it in the bag, and deserves it. I too havent seen Ponyo yet, but no matter how good it is, Hollywood is going to love UP that much more making it the contender for the award.

Also, dont forget this brilliant piece of garbage:

"Marshall told the Sci Fi Wire website this month that Ponyo's dubbed version was "tweaked" with the blessing and daily consultation of "Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki-san and [producer Toshio] Suzuki-san." According to Marshall, "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." He also emphasized that the subtitled version will be available on DVD. "

So fuck that dub anywho... :(

(Bayformers fo life!) ;)

I wish everything would just come out on dvd and in the theaters at the same time. I really hate going to theaters in general, but if you wait till the dvd release spoilers are inevitable.

I was fortunate enough to see Spirited Away in a theater years ago, and should Ponyo open in a theater near me, I'll make the effort to go see it. Otherwise, it's a sad commentary on Disney that they court prestige without bothering to promote the living hell out of the work of one of the world's greatest artists (which is what Miyazaki is).
And yes, the Ponyo trailer is trippy - who needs drugs when you have movies like this?

that is why Disney seems to not understand certain things. for releasing a potential masterpiece like ponyo on dvd before theatres means disney does not get the genius of Miyazaki and never will that or they are scare if they relised it in theatres and it made big box office they would wind up with being proven wrong for putting the dvd out before a theatre run. and disney does not like to be made wrong

Well, I've always believed that Disney has handled Miyazaki movies with incredible stupidity. Not just because of limited or pointless theatrical releases, but because they fuck up their DVDs, too. I mean, they'll spend so much money getting big stars to voice characters (like Patrick Stewart, Mark Hamill, and so on), but they'll spend hardly anything on advertising the DVDs.

It's the Japanese DVD that's being released. It will have English subtitles.

Up was not engrossing, or as engrossing, as any other Pixar film- I don't think it deserves an Oscar for anything other than technical achievements, Maybe.

SPOILERS!!!:
The kid suddenly cares so much about that stupid bird-creature? The old-adventurer wasn't even doing anything illegal (regarding capturing the creature for display)- maybe if it was in a specialized habitat, there would've been more than just the One creature and it's equally annoying kids!

The old-adventurer turning crazy would've been cooler to focus on instead of the, you know, "GET IT?! THEY'RE DOGS!!!!"-jokes and a whiny bastard kid who hates having a mom, a dad and a stepmom. "OMG THAS SO SAD!" Shut up.

I, for one, find this to be a fucking hilarious move on disney's part.

Also, I see the reason to downplay some of the Japanese stuff that would be, as you said, 'terrifying to US audiences'. They need to be eased into the less, for lack of a better word, 'sane' aspects of Japanese culture.

Anyone look at the voice cast for the english dub? Liam Neeson, ok sweet.
The two leads? Well, this just shows Disney is using this as a platform for its two newest stars.

Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas.
Those names look familiar? They should, they are the respective younger siblings to Disney's franchise players.

Hey, if it comes to a theater within 50 miles of me, I'll gladly see it on the big screen. It's just more fun.

AWESOME! Hayao and Ghibli make a Ponyo!

What?

I'm actually kind of excited about Ponyo. It has this weird, creepy, insanely Japanese brand of cuteness that I find bizarrely awesome. Releasing it at home before going on to theatres might actually be a good idea, though; who knows, maybe someone will be so awed by the DVD release they'll want to see it on the big screen, too. I think I'm going to see it in theatres anyway if at all possible; you can't just skip out on the latest Miyazaki film, insane, freaky and fish-based or not.

And yes, Up does have it in the bag and definitely deserves it.

That trailer makes no sense... the world gets f up because of ponyo... and she doesn't save anything! It makes it seem like she is the only one that will rescue the world, but in truth, wasn't it all about a love story? ohhhh Disney...

took my fair share of LSD... never saw a baby running on a giant catfish.

this movie was on all kinds of crack

but it was awesome.

I noticed someitmes in the dubs of Miyazaki movies, some dialogue gets changed alot. Still makes for a good watch, but I remember when watching Mononoke in Japanese (saw it many times in english), that little dialogue variations actually made a bit of a difference in a bit of the story!

Kind of like with the first Pokemon movie, when I saw it in Japanese, it wasn't so much a story of a Pokemon with power, as it was with one trying to found out "who made me?" moreso. I much prefered the dialogue in Japanese there too, of course.

Anyways, as for Ponyo... I saw it subbed (apparently through a cam, but best cam taping I've ever seen!) and a couple things didn't really make sense... Probably what they are trying to dub and change suttlely, like they did with Spirited Away?

I think it's the Japanese DVD that's being released in July, not the American release. The Japanese release will have English subtitles, but there aren't THAT many people in the US willing to pay Japanese DVD prices ;p

No, this trailer is nothing really like being on LSD. Unless you were watching the trailer while on LSD, that's the only way I can imagine really experiencing the images in this trailer. With or without LSD honestly.

@Topless Robot,

"I will be shocked if Ponyo is released in more than 100 studios."

Did you mean 100 Theaters?

...wow.

My daughter has a few Chris Van Allsburg books, plus some other books that are like Chris Van Allsburg books, and many of them are silent, featuring page after page of impossibly colorful, impossibly beautiful, impossibly detailed, totally enchanting illustrations of Weird Awesome Shit happening.

That trailer was like one of those books come to life.

I had no idea this existed, so thanks for posting it. I hope it hits theaters here before I move to Africa, though I don't have much hope that it'll play here in Idaho, regardless.

I have to say I loved Ponyo when I streamed it with subtitles, it's a bit like My Neighbour Totoro in that it doesn't really have a story but it's totally SUPER CUTE, watch with girlfriends people, they will let you put it in them.

Ponyo > UP easily
sucks that it takes so long for Ghibli movies to get here :(
thank Buddha for camcorders and the internet ;)

While I am sad that disney continues to screw up the releases of Studio Ghibli movies in general I've always been happy with the english voice acing which is welll above and beyond what other anime dubbing companies achieve. The Disney dubbed anime movies are the only ones I EVER watch in English.

Disney announced that Ponyo is opening on 800 screens.

Now...I'm not denying that Miyazaki is severely underrated in the US...And I'm not denying that Disney makes questionable business decisions, particularly in regards to Miyazaki...HOWEVER, let's remember that there IS a distinction between Disney and Pixar, that even though Disney now owns Pixar, Pixar remains its own separate entity, and it's unfair to blame or badmouth Up because of what's going on with Ponyo. (Or even to blame a lot of the lower level people at Disney; a lot of the animators revere Miyazaki like a god--it's apparently the CEOs who can't appreciate it.) Personally, Up is one of my favorite Pixar films. I completely disagree with every word manobon said. Up is one of the most emotionally engrossing and fun Pixar offerings--unless, of course, you lack enough human decency that you're actually annoyed by the idea of a young child with a deadbeat dad.

@Rob, FYI - Disney never released Tales of Earthsea in theaters, nor have they released it to DVD yet, and that movie was released from Ghibli between Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo.

So I'm not sure what Disney's contractual obligations are concerning his films, outside of items such as they can't release certain things until so much time has passed since that release in it's origination market, Japan. But still I'm left wondering, where is Gedo Senki. Even if it didn't measure up to usual critical acclaim, I'm a Ghibli fan and still want that DVD.

As a person who actually saw Ponyo over a year ago, subtitled and all, the trailer actually looks better.

Seriously, its not that good. Ghibli's other films are better. Ponyo is only good to see for the animation, which i'm lucky to see in theaters i'll just be as stoned as I can be.

Tales of earthsea legally cant be released in the USA until I believe next year. SCI-FI channel bought the rights to the brand in the usa a few years back and put out a mini-series of the first book. The rights end next year and then disney would be able to release it on DVD and in theatres.

Awesome! I didn't know another Miyazaki film was coming out. I can't wait to not watch Disney's release of it and instead watch the Japanese version with subtitles!

Disney should be counting it's stars that it has someone like Miyazaki on board. Hell, they're pretty damn lucky to have Pixar too. Outside of Studio Ghibli and Pixar, Disney hasn't been involved with anything good in nearly 2 decades. Arguably longer!

Actually, I saw Ponyo in a theater in Tokyo last summer, and even though I only knew enough Japanese to follow about 30-40% of the dialogue, I was able to follow the story fairly well. And I really liked it, it was pretty much on par with the other big Miyazaki films. (I'll never get the bloody song out of my head though, it was playing in every damn mall and store everywhere, the same way Disney songs like Beauty and the Beast used to here)

I was actually really disappointed when I saw Up that there was no trailer for Ponyo. It seems like such a no-brainer, with the Pixar guys being so into Miyazaki and Disney running the whole show. It's even more disappointing to hear them saying, "Based on the Little Mermaid" as though Disney's so creatively bankrupt that the only way they could think of to advertise it was by likening it to a story they've already animated -- even though the two really have nothing in common besides an underwater creature that wants legs.

I actually kind of really h8 Disney at this point, with a capital 8. They're a Big Disappointment.

ponyo looks like a water bender to me...

Disney clearly doesn't give a shit about respecting Miyazaki, which is why they're flashing their name so big in the beginning slash practically taking all the credit. Miyazaki is amazing and American audiences can't handle his creativity. The Hollywood formula works for America, and the end result is the same boring cartoons.

Wow, first time commenting...and it's on this topic?!

But I just had to say. I love Japanese culture and I am a big fan of all things Japanese. However, I've only seen one Miyazaki film and it was the "acclaimed" Howl's Moving Castle...and it kind of sucked. I even got my wife to watch it, and we were both like "really, that was it?" about it.

If I was like that after a Miyazaki film, I don't blame Disney for not releasing it to the general public.

I liked Howl's Moving Castle.

@SEXYTRON - One of my all time faves that my mom even liked! I also loved Castle In The Sky.

I did not like Spirited Away. I actually just bought it at Circuit City when they were closing just for the collection. I think in terms of story, it's a little overrated, but if it continues to get Miyazaki's films in the USA, I'm ok with that!

I'm so pumped about Ponyo. It's about time for another new anime movie that isn't crap. (I'm looking at you, Strait Jacket)

They didn't use the theme in the trailer?!

Fail, the Ponyo theme is the catchiest song mankind has ever recorded. Put that in the trailer and nobody will be able to forget this film ever.

And Ponyo, kind of is based on the little mermaid. It's a very different film to the Disney version but it does have a lot of story elements in common.

For the guy who didn't like Howl's Moving Castle may I recommend starting with Princess Mononoke. The plot is much easier to follow and it'll give you the "in" you need to appreciate Miyazaki's work.

Howl is one of my favourite ghibli films but it took my 3 or 4 watches to totally understand it. Most of the others are much easier (Spirited Away, which is the best one imho actually has the densest and most difficult plot sadly).

For the people who never watched Ghibli films: Nausicaa and Laputa (Castle in the Sky in the US) are some of the first movies. They still look amazing, start with those.

Ponyo is the reason the world is getting screwed up, so when I first watched this trailer I thought "are we talking about the same movie?". As far as dubs go, Disney disappointed me with Castle in the Sky and Mononoke. I'll stick to Japanese.

Maybe they know better, but I think kids need to watch a variety of animated (or not) movies besides the Disney collection. Disney has become stale and all the great movies they're releasing lately are done by Pixar, Disney just put the money but not the ideas (at least that's what I think, it's probably a lot more complicated than that).

Up til now Disney has done everything they could to bury Miyazaki's movies. The releases of his movies have gotten almost no publicity. I find it pretty damned amazing that Ponyo is going to be released in 800 theaters and trailers for it are already playing. I was hoping that things would change concerning Miyazaki when Lasseter and co. became part of Disney.

Disney destroyed Mononoke with their piss poor English translation of it. The story line was ruined because the dialog was "dumbed down" for Americans. Apparently they are tweaking the Ponyo dialog like that. I hope they do a much better job this time.

Feh.

Miyazaki's films has always and will be nothing but nonsensical, pretentious garbage, without construction or form, and merely a vapid excuse to pour lavishly beautiful animation into idiotic stories that make no logical sense, rhyme, or reason.

I get so tired of things like this cropping up all the time, to be a mindfuck of stupid, random imagery trying to make up for making decent coherent sense, or have the slightest bit of a decent plot, or even sensible narrative, and everyone acts like said pretentious mindfuck acid trips are somehow equated with "art".

I have been dragged to see several Miyazaki films. I despised both Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. They were stupid. They were pretentious. They made hardly a lick of sense. And they were absolutely boring as fossilized shit.

Why the hell anyone could possibly keep overhyping and overblowing him and his vapid work the way they do, is absolutely beyond me.

Oh wait, they are easily distracted by expensive animation and pretty colors making up for boring, pretentious incoherent gibberish.

I guess anything is "art" if they spend a shit-load of money to animate it, even if it's trash. Huh.

Anime needs to stick to what it's good for. Panty shots of catgirls, flashy martial arts fights, magical girl, countless genre clones and ripoffs of itself, random humor (rather than random pretentious seriousness) school girl comedies, giant robots and all the other satisfying junk-food entertainment cliches it's cornered the market on.

But I wish Anime would stop embarrassing itself, pretending to be high art. It never has been and never will be, no matter how loaded and stacked it's budget is. It just always comes off as gibbering, random, pretentious Miyazaki, shallow style-over-substance bullshit that people drool over because it looks pretty.

OK, first of all, the arguments that Disney is ruining Miyazaki are very much overrated and fatuous. True, their marketing decisions have been questionable, but as far as dubs go, these are some of the best ever made, and "Ponyo" is no exception.

For the record, I loved the dubs for "Princess Mononoke" and "Castle in the Sky", because, while neither dub is perfect, they're by no means unwatchable, and have their share of appealing qualities: Neil Gaiman worked very hard to provide a careful screenplay that not only retained the essence of the Japanese but was also understandable to audiences otherwise unfamiliar with the cultural aspects of the story. To say that his script is "piss-poor" and "dumbed down" is totally false, especially when you consider the research he put into it.

As for "Castle in the Sky", I actually liked the dub a bit more (not that I don't like the Japanese version, I do) mainly because of the gorgeous rescored music which, I felt, really added to the film (and it was one by Joe Hisaishi himself) and, even though the extra dialogue was sometimes overdone and the leads too mature sounding, the performances were lively and a lot of fun--Dola and Muska were the best performances in the dub, of course.

I'm not saying that these dubs are perfect, but to dismiss them altogether when Disney/Miramax/Pixar obviously put so much time and energy into them is totally unfair. Are they perfect? No. But comparing them to the Japanese unfavorable isn't very fair at all, especially when both have their pros and cons.

на самом деле удивили и порадовали :) Не поверил бы, что даже такое бывает :)