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Since establishing Studio Ghibli in 1985, Hayao Miyazaki has continued to deliver some of the finest films the medium of animation has to offer. Unsurprisingly, the filmmaker once again hit it out of the park withThe Boy and the Heron, which earned the director his second Oscar win, 2-decades after winning the accolade back in 2002 forSpirited Away.
Neil Gaiman on What Makes Hayao Miyazaki Special
After learning that Genzaburo Yoshino’s 1937 novel was serving as the basis forHayao Miyazaki‘s 12th feature film,Neil Gaimanopted to read its English translationHow Do You Live.Gaiman, who himself once worked on the English translation for Studio Ghibli’sPrincess Mononoke, went into detail about what makesthe studio head so great.
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While raving about the director, theCoralineauthor recounted that he was astonished after learning that all of Miyazaki’s work revolved around the consequences of acts and actions.
Heexplained:
“Miyazaki makes films for whole people and makes films about consequences. When I worked on the English-language script of his film Princess Mononoke, I was astonished when I finally realized that everything in the film was about consequences of acts and actions: seemingly unrelated events are actually the consequences of other events or actions, and everyone in the film is acting according to what they believe to be their best interests without realising that what they do affects everyone else.”
Following his admiration for the filmmaker and his works, when it came to translating Studio Ghibli’sPrincess Mononoke, Gaiman made sure the dubbed version was authentic to the original.
Neil Gaiman Refused to Go against Hayao Miyazaki forPrincess Mononoke
While working on the script forPrincess Mononoke‘s English dub, Gaiman constantly walked the line between what Miramax wanted and staying true to the film’s essence. In his memoir (viaPolygon), Studio Ghibli executive Steve Alpert recounted that Miramax was adamant about making the English dub more accessible to the American audience. As a result, even though Miyazaki intended for Ashitaka to be referred to as the prince in the dub, one Miramax official wasn’t too thrilled by this idea, following the character’s reduced circumstances.
Americans Won’t be Happy to Know Why Hayao Miyazaki Boycotted the Oscars
However, Gaiman stuck to his guns and didn’t allow Miramax to go against Miyazaki, even though the official argued the American audience wouldn’t accept Ashitaka as a prince.
Gaiman said:
“Look, his being a prince is important to the story. It’s part of his character. I believe it’s what Mr. Miyazaki decided. We’re supposed to be adapting this film for an American audience, not changing it.”
But despite being faithful to the original, the English version failed to make it big at the American box office. On the bright side, time has been kind to the film, as it has grown in popularity in recent years, with more people tuning into the acclaimed gem,
“Those who don’t know that, yet say they love fantasy are idiots”: Hayao Miyazaki Absolutely Hates Lord of the Rings for a Reason That’ll Change How You See the Movies
Princess Mononokeis available to stream on Max.
Santanu Roy
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2540
Santanu Roy is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 2,000 articles under his belt. He has been pursuing a degree in Animation and possesses a deep love for the medium of animation. Having spent the better part of the last two years pumping out articles for FW, Santanu excels at covering movie analysis and news surrounding Pixar, DCU, DreamWorks, and Batman’s cinematic legacy.With psychological thrillers and intimate slice-of-life dramas ranking among his favorite genres, Santanu is a big admirer of Luca Guadagnino, Shane Black, Park Chan-wook, and Brad Bird.
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