The Cat Returns
Feb. 22nd, 2005 09:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tealinMy sister received this film for Christmas year before last and we all instantly fell in love with it. It's really a great movie. It's got everything anyone could want in a movie without feeling like it's "Everything Anyone Could Want In One Movie!!" Action, adventure, magic, cats, peril, romance, talking crows, tea, feasts, mazes... Very good.
I was thrilled to find out that The Cat Returns would be part of this year's Buena Vista releases of Studio Ghibli films. Studio Ghibli is the studio where Hayao Miyazaki makes his masterpieces – the story (as I've heard it) is that Cat was his idea but he passed it off to someone else so he could direct Spirited Away. (I may be wrong... please correct me.) On top of the anticipation of having a copy of my very own, I was also very curious to see what they'd do with the dub.
Well – I just finished watching it. And, for the most part, it was pretty good. To be fair, I watched it in the kitchen while making lunch for the rest of the week, so my perception may be a little skewed in that I was pretty much only hearing the voices with little or no visual context, but I am passingly familiar with the movie already (on account of obsessive watching with dear Kapooka) so I knew what was supposed to be going on.
Anne Hathaway does a very good job as Haru - very sincere, lots of personality, not too cloying, not too whiny (the latter being faults too common in dubbed anime females). The only thing I didn't like about her performance is likely not her fault but that of the English-track director: it was overdone. There are scenes which I know did not have a dialogue track which were filled either with little mutterings or random noises, as if the audience won't know what Haru is thinking or feeling without constant narration. Cary Elwes does a fairly good job of the Baron as well... His voice, objectively, fits the character better than the original Japanese one (in my opinion) though he doesn't really do much with the role. The Baron is by nature very impassive and businesslike, but some reflection of the situation or emotional tone of the scene should make its way into his voice, one would think ... or at least a slight variation in readings from one line to the next. By far the most jarring voice was that of the Cat King's PR Representative (I don't remember the character's name). In the original, this is a female character - or at least the voice, face, and mannerisms are very feminine, complete with blush on the cheeks - but the dub makes her male. Why? What is the point? Couldn't get enough female voice talent? Muta was a little unsettling as well, not so much that his voice didn't fit, but that he was voiced by someone who kept reminding me of a very un-Muta person, though I can't think who it might be. The Cat King himself was well-done, for the brief period of time he was onscreen. I didn't recognize the voice until right at the very end when he changed tone ever so slightly and a little bit of that distinct Curry flavour seeped in: Tim Curry, King of Voicework, at it again. The acting was good, but the translation of the lines... I don't remember him adding "babe" onto the end of every line in the original, though it is in character, I suppose.
Another gripe with the translation: they seemed to really overemphasize the "message." It could be that I just didn't pick up on it as much when watching the subtitles, or that because I was reading the lines instead of hearing them they sounded less corny, but it seemed like towards the end of the film, every other line was something about Being Yourself and Believing In Yourself. These are important things, but to be hit over the head with them makes the exciting closing sequence a little tiresome.
So ... it was an interesting experience, but I'll stick with the original now, thanks, even if it means I can't watch it while cooking.
I was thrilled to find out that The Cat Returns would be part of this year's Buena Vista releases of Studio Ghibli films. Studio Ghibli is the studio where Hayao Miyazaki makes his masterpieces – the story (as I've heard it) is that Cat was his idea but he passed it off to someone else so he could direct Spirited Away. (I may be wrong... please correct me.) On top of the anticipation of having a copy of my very own, I was also very curious to see what they'd do with the dub.
Well – I just finished watching it. And, for the most part, it was pretty good. To be fair, I watched it in the kitchen while making lunch for the rest of the week, so my perception may be a little skewed in that I was pretty much only hearing the voices with little or no visual context, but I am passingly familiar with the movie already (on account of obsessive watching with dear Kapooka) so I knew what was supposed to be going on.
The Baron of Infinite Coolness - I mean, Von Glikkingen - and Haru
Anne Hathaway does a very good job as Haru - very sincere, lots of personality, not too cloying, not too whiny (the latter being faults too common in dubbed anime females). The only thing I didn't like about her performance is likely not her fault but that of the English-track director: it was overdone. There are scenes which I know did not have a dialogue track which were filled either with little mutterings or random noises, as if the audience won't know what Haru is thinking or feeling without constant narration. Cary Elwes does a fairly good job of the Baron as well... His voice, objectively, fits the character better than the original Japanese one (in my opinion) though he doesn't really do much with the role. The Baron is by nature very impassive and businesslike, but some reflection of the situation or emotional tone of the scene should make its way into his voice, one would think ... or at least a slight variation in readings from one line to the next. By far the most jarring voice was that of the Cat King's PR Representative (I don't remember the character's name). In the original, this is a female character - or at least the voice, face, and mannerisms are very feminine, complete with blush on the cheeks - but the dub makes her male. Why? What is the point? Couldn't get enough female voice talent? Muta was a little unsettling as well, not so much that his voice didn't fit, but that he was voiced by someone who kept reminding me of a very un-Muta person, though I can't think who it might be. The Cat King himself was well-done, for the brief period of time he was onscreen. I didn't recognize the voice until right at the very end when he changed tone ever so slightly and a little bit of that distinct Curry flavour seeped in: Tim Curry, King of Voicework, at it again. The acting was good, but the translation of the lines... I don't remember him adding "babe" onto the end of every line in the original, though it is in character, I suppose.
Another gripe with the translation: they seemed to really overemphasize the "message." It could be that I just didn't pick up on it as much when watching the subtitles, or that because I was reading the lines instead of hearing them they sounded less corny, but it seemed like towards the end of the film, every other line was something about Being Yourself and Believing In Yourself. These are important things, but to be hit over the head with them makes the exciting closing sequence a little tiresome.
So ... it was an interesting experience, but I'll stick with the original now, thanks, even if it means I can't watch it while cooking.
For some reason, this character is really appealing...
