From the New York Daily News
Dubbing an easy one
'Spirited Away'
To: Richard W. Cook, Chairman, Walt Disney Studios
From: An old golfing buddy, Jack Mathews
Dear Dick: Long time, no speak. The last time I saw you was at Lakeside C.C. I remember lining up a birdie putt on No. 6 while you were holding the flag and talking on your cell phone. I missed the putt. No hard feelings, pal, but I do have a big-time bone to pick with you. What's up with Disney's distribution of Hayao Miyazaki's animated "Spirited Away"?
This is not only the bestreviewed movie of the year, but the best-reviewed family movie, and you guys are rolling it out as if it were some experimental gruel from Cremoria.
When you picked up this Japanese masterpiece and international blockbuster and announced you were going to redub the script with an English-speaking cast, it did seem a little, shall we say, marginal? After all, Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke" made only $2.3 million in the U.S.
But when you started showing it with its English track and audiences went giddy, why didn't you treat it like any other Disney animated feature, with a wide release and a big-bucks ad campaign? Unlike "Mononoke," which was dark and complex, "Spirited Away" is pure family entertainment, at a time when families are breaking down the doors at their megaplexes.
The animation in "Spirited Away" is first-rate, the "Alice in Wonderland" story of a young girl lost in a strange place is totally child-friendly and there's more imagination on view than in any Disney release in years ? including "Monsters, Inc." and "Toy Story," which were also made off-campus, by the way.
As you well know, the Disney logo on animated films has long outgrown its hand-drawn, "Snow White" origins. It still does well by classically animated features, but it does equally well with computer-generated movies and even sells such crude Saturday-morning knockoffs as "The Tigger Movie."
Surely, "Spirited Away," which combines classical and computer animation to spectacular effect, is worthy of a full-court Disney press. Instead, it opened in 26 theaters on Sept. 20, and a month later is in just 151.
The reviews drew crowds initially, but business is starting to wane, and "Spirited Away" is threatening to become the lost gem of '02. I recommended it to a friend looking for a family picture the other day, and he walked away in disgust. He thought I was talking about the Madonna movie.
As far as I can tell (no one jumped on the horn to answer this question), there are no plans for a wide release during the holidays, and with "Treasure Planet," your big CGI film, coming out at Thanksgiving, you probably don't want to be competing against yourself.
So, if "Spirited Away" is on its way out, the question I have is why you bothered to put an English track on it in the first place? It seems you're missing a great opportunity to increase your animation base, which, let's face it, has been seriously eroded by competition from DreamWorks and others. Getting Hayao Miyazaki, the "Walt Disney of Japan," on your team ? the first team ? would have been a very smart move.
I hate to say it, Dick, but you had a tap-in putt here and you blew it.
Dubbing an easy one
'Spirited Away'
To: Richard W. Cook, Chairman, Walt Disney Studios
From: An old golfing buddy, Jack Mathews
Dear Dick: Long time, no speak. The last time I saw you was at Lakeside C.C. I remember lining up a birdie putt on No. 6 while you were holding the flag and talking on your cell phone. I missed the putt. No hard feelings, pal, but I do have a big-time bone to pick with you. What's up with Disney's distribution of Hayao Miyazaki's animated "Spirited Away"?
This is not only the bestreviewed movie of the year, but the best-reviewed family movie, and you guys are rolling it out as if it were some experimental gruel from Cremoria.
When you picked up this Japanese masterpiece and international blockbuster and announced you were going to redub the script with an English-speaking cast, it did seem a little, shall we say, marginal? After all, Miyazaki's "Princess Mononoke" made only $2.3 million in the U.S.
But when you started showing it with its English track and audiences went giddy, why didn't you treat it like any other Disney animated feature, with a wide release and a big-bucks ad campaign? Unlike "Mononoke," which was dark and complex, "Spirited Away" is pure family entertainment, at a time when families are breaking down the doors at their megaplexes.
The animation in "Spirited Away" is first-rate, the "Alice in Wonderland" story of a young girl lost in a strange place is totally child-friendly and there's more imagination on view than in any Disney release in years ? including "Monsters, Inc." and "Toy Story," which were also made off-campus, by the way.
As you well know, the Disney logo on animated films has long outgrown its hand-drawn, "Snow White" origins. It still does well by classically animated features, but it does equally well with computer-generated movies and even sells such crude Saturday-morning knockoffs as "The Tigger Movie."
Surely, "Spirited Away," which combines classical and computer animation to spectacular effect, is worthy of a full-court Disney press. Instead, it opened in 26 theaters on Sept. 20, and a month later is in just 151.
The reviews drew crowds initially, but business is starting to wane, and "Spirited Away" is threatening to become the lost gem of '02. I recommended it to a friend looking for a family picture the other day, and he walked away in disgust. He thought I was talking about the Madonna movie.
As far as I can tell (no one jumped on the horn to answer this question), there are no plans for a wide release during the holidays, and with "Treasure Planet," your big CGI film, coming out at Thanksgiving, you probably don't want to be competing against yourself.
So, if "Spirited Away" is on its way out, the question I have is why you bothered to put an English track on it in the first place? It seems you're missing a great opportunity to increase your animation base, which, let's face it, has been seriously eroded by competition from DreamWorks and others. Getting Hayao Miyazaki, the "Walt Disney of Japan," on your team ? the first team ? would have been a very smart move.
I hate to say it, Dick, but you had a tap-in putt here and you blew it.