steve@kontron.UUCP (Steve McIntosh) (07/15/85)
Nausicaa in the Valley of the Winds is an animated feature length movie that was Very Popular in Japan. A company in America got the rights to it, and hired another company to "Americanize" it. When they showed it to distributers (cobbled up and edited to death) they were laughed out of the theatre. Being unable to understand how something that popular in Japan could be such a flop in America, they hired a different company to merely "translate" it instead of "Americanize" it. This second version is being test-marketed in Florida, and people who have seen it and the Japanese version say it is quite faithful to the original, and Very Good.
mike@genat.UUCP (Mike Stephenson) (07/19/85)
> Nausicaa in the Valley of the Winds is an animated feature length > movie that was Very Popular in Japan. A company in America got the > rights to it, and hired another company to "Americanize" it. > > When they showed it to distributers (cobbled up and edited to death) > they were laughed out of the theatre. Being unable to understand how > something that popular in Japan could be such a flop in America, they > hired a different company to merely "translate" it instead of > "Americanize" it. > By George, I think they are finally learning! As an ardent fan of Japanimation, I have suffered for years (literally) with the incredibly stupid approach to animated films and TV series engendered by the theory that "Oh well, it's animated, it must be for the kiddies" AARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGG! A case in point: About a year ago, I happened to see a cassette in a video store, containing about four episodes of the series "Captain Harlock, Space Pirate". Now, this is one of my favorite shows (in Japanese, that is). The first two episodes, number 1 and number 9 of the series, were translated "straight" and were quite acceptable. Then, all of a sudden, in the last two episodes on the tape, (6 and 7 I think), the entire flavour changed. Yes, they had been "Americanized". Regi Matsumoto did not write this series to be a kiddie show. He wrote it as a serious adventure story, suitable to anyone in the teenage to young adult age group. The same goes for a large percentage of the Japanese animation produced today. If only the distributers could get it through their thick skulls that grown adults (at least in the same age groups) would gladly watch the stuff. On a positive note, I have heard that one distributer, Harmony Gold, who have the rights to the Robotech series, originally Macross, Southern Cross and Mospeda, have acquired the rights to Harlock, and are proceeding with a straight translation. Does anyone know which group has the rights to Nausicaa, and if there are any other Japanese shows being picked up in the States? Mike Stephenson