Tales from Earthsea
Tales from Earthsea, by Goro Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, based on books by Ursula K LeGuin, is pre-ordering at CD Japan now.
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VWDZ-8104
(regular edition, $40 usd)
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VWDZ-8106
(special edition, $63 usd)
And it has an English dub! Here's to hoping that it is better than that shitty sci-fi special a couple years ago that was just terrible all the way around. It doesn't have to be the same as the books to be good, it just has to be internally consistent and interesting (and the characters engaging, etc). (I have read the first two books, fwiw)
This is also the debut of Goro Miyazaki, son of the famous Hayao Miyazaki, as an animation director at the helm of Studio Ghibli. It will be interesting to see how his style compares to his father's. I'm sure the last thing he wants is to be compared to his father, but really, what can you expect when he is basically doing what his father is famous for? They apparently feuded heavily over Goro's directorship of this movie, and are only finally making amends just recently, albeit in a very oblique way.
Anyway, I am undecided on which edition I should get. Right now I have the regular edition wishlisted in my account. But it is already so expensive that $23 more isn't really a big deal (note that shipping will be $20 for either version as well). I think I'll probably end up sticking with the Regular Edition (I will thank myself later if it turns out to suck).
I also have until July to decide anyway, assuming I even want it immediately after it is released. Well, I do want to see it and Disney has not made a peep about the movie at all here in the states. But the inclusion of an English dub makes me highly suspicious. Perhaps they are going to skip the whole Theater thing and just release it directly to video here in the US?
[EDIT] Ah, nausicaa.net clears up the mystery.
The US release won't happen before 2009 due to rights conflicts with the live-action version that aired on the SciFi Channel.
http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/earthsea/faq.html
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VWDZ-8104
(regular edition, $40 usd)
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VWDZ-8106
(special edition, $63 usd)
And it has an English dub! Here's to hoping that it is better than that shitty sci-fi special a couple years ago that was just terrible all the way around. It doesn't have to be the same as the books to be good, it just has to be internally consistent and interesting (and the characters engaging, etc). (I have read the first two books, fwiw)
This is also the debut of Goro Miyazaki, son of the famous Hayao Miyazaki, as an animation director at the helm of Studio Ghibli. It will be interesting to see how his style compares to his father's. I'm sure the last thing he wants is to be compared to his father, but really, what can you expect when he is basically doing what his father is famous for? They apparently feuded heavily over Goro's directorship of this movie, and are only finally making amends just recently, albeit in a very oblique way.
Anyway, I am undecided on which edition I should get. Right now I have the regular edition wishlisted in my account. But it is already so expensive that $23 more isn't really a big deal (note that shipping will be $20 for either version as well). I think I'll probably end up sticking with the Regular Edition (I will thank myself later if it turns out to suck).
I also have until July to decide anyway, assuming I even want it immediately after it is released. Well, I do want to see it and Disney has not made a peep about the movie at all here in the states. But the inclusion of an English dub makes me highly suspicious. Perhaps they are going to skip the whole Theater thing and just release it directly to video here in the US?
[EDIT] Ah, nausicaa.net clears up the mystery.
The US release won't happen before 2009 due to rights conflicts with the live-action version that aired on the SciFi Channel.
http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/earthsea/faq.html