Saturday, June 18, 2005
To Dub or Not to Dub
In honor of the up coming ASIFA screening of Howl`s Moving Castle
Friday, June 24, 2005 - 7:30pm
Harmony Gold Preview House
7655 Sunset Boulevard
Hollywood, CA
RSVP to (818) 295-5213
I thought I would take a look at Anime. Anime is here to stay. Something is going on here. Japanese animation is filling a need that is going unaddressed by Hollywood studios. I would guess that 60% to 70% of the students in my animation classes are trying to draw in an Anime style. That is huge, like the 60`s British Invasion in rock music.
But it is foreign film and needs to be made accessible in the English language. Howl`s Moving Castle and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence , the two big Japanese animation of this season, deal with this in different ways.
Howl`s was lovingly dubbed into English with an all star cast. Ghost in the Shell was subtitled. I am ambivalent here. If the dub is well done with a lot of care then it can translate the film into a form that American audiences can understand. There is a lot to be said for this approach since it means a wider audience and therefore more Anime in the U.S. market. A good thing as far as fans are concerned.
On the other hand, something is always lost in translation. Among the diehard Anime freaks the preferred style of watching Japanese animation is with subtitles. No one is trying to rewrite the script for U.S. markets they are just trying to translate it as closely as they can. But then with an English dub you can always put the subtitles back on and change to the Japanese soundtrack or even the English soundtrack with English subtitles for a deeper understanding there by getting closer to the true meaning.
But on the other hand subtitles are cheaper and means that a wider area of Japanese animation can be brought over. Since it is mostly the fans that are going to the movies so if they want to read subtitles then that is a way to get a movie in theaters with a low enough cost that the distributor can turn a profit with a smaller total box office.
I very much enjoyed both Ghost in the Shell and Howl`s Moving Castle. So I am up in the air about good quality English dubbing. I think it is a case by case situation. But one thing I can tell you is that I hate poor and shoddy English dubs. Or even good dubs that aren`t thought out.
Throwing star power at a dub without thought is never the answer either. Thinking back a number of years to a movie that no one knew what to do with, he may be a great, but weird actor. He may have an Oscar. I may have liked him in a lot of things but I will watch the movie in Japanese without subtitles every time before I will watch it with his out of place voice. ¶ 5:40 PM
Friday, June 24, 2005 - 7:30pm
Harmony Gold Preview House
7655 Sunset Boulevard
Hollywood, CA
RSVP to (818) 295-5213
I thought I would take a look at Anime. Anime is here to stay. Something is going on here. Japanese animation is filling a need that is going unaddressed by Hollywood studios. I would guess that 60% to 70% of the students in my animation classes are trying to draw in an Anime style. That is huge, like the 60`s British Invasion in rock music.
But it is foreign film and needs to be made accessible in the English language. Howl`s Moving Castle and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence , the two big Japanese animation of this season, deal with this in different ways.
Howl`s was lovingly dubbed into English with an all star cast. Ghost in the Shell was subtitled. I am ambivalent here. If the dub is well done with a lot of care then it can translate the film into a form that American audiences can understand. There is a lot to be said for this approach since it means a wider audience and therefore more Anime in the U.S. market. A good thing as far as fans are concerned.
On the other hand, something is always lost in translation. Among the diehard Anime freaks the preferred style of watching Japanese animation is with subtitles. No one is trying to rewrite the script for U.S. markets they are just trying to translate it as closely as they can. But then with an English dub you can always put the subtitles back on and change to the Japanese soundtrack or even the English soundtrack with English subtitles for a deeper understanding there by getting closer to the true meaning.
But on the other hand subtitles are cheaper and means that a wider area of Japanese animation can be brought over. Since it is mostly the fans that are going to the movies so if they want to read subtitles then that is a way to get a movie in theaters with a low enough cost that the distributor can turn a profit with a smaller total box office.
I very much enjoyed both Ghost in the Shell and Howl`s Moving Castle. So I am up in the air about good quality English dubbing. I think it is a case by case situation. But one thing I can tell you is that I hate poor and shoddy English dubs. Or even good dubs that aren`t thought out.
Throwing star power at a dub without thought is never the answer either. Thinking back a number of years to a movie that no one knew what to do with, he may be a great, but weird actor. He may have an Oscar. I may have liked him in a lot of things but I will watch the movie in Japanese without subtitles every time before I will watch it with his out of place voice. ¶ 5:40 PM
