Le Guin's disappointment in Gedo Senki

Paul

Paul

Ghost of Animes
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While Studio Ghibli's Gedo Senki (Tales from Earthsea) continues its impressive reign at the top of the Japanese box office for a third successive week (staving off challenges from the likes of Pirates of the Caribbean), Ursula K. Le Guin (author of the original Earthsea novels) has posted up her own some-what disappointed review of the movie in which she communicates her regret that Gedo Senki wasn't directed by Hayao Miyazaki, along the way highlighting her fascinating experiences and interactions with the world famous anime studio.
 
she didnt like the live action previous adaption either. then again this one's done by ghibli and is actually successful. dont know which is worse. having your book translated 'supposively' badly and it being a success, or it sucking majorly and only being repeated on sci fi when they run out of dean cain movies to show.
 
You only get one chance with Hayao Miyazaki, Mrs Le Guin :)

I loved how this article is written in such a matter of fact way considering she is talking about one of the worlds most loved directors.
 
Paul said:
You only get one chance with Hayao Miyazaki, Mrs Le Guin :)

I loved how this article is written in such a matter of fact way considering she is talking about one of the worlds most loved directors.
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I was thinking that. She's annoyed at him being unable to direct this one, fair enough, she's annoyed that after supposedly retiring being the reason for him not doing it, and him now coming back after that, fair enough. But she rejected him when HE asked, and that is entirely her own fault so she should only blame herself.
 
I think most authors are disappointed with any adaptation of their work,unless they're the ones doing the adaptation.

It's a control thing,even if Hayao did do it,she'll probably not like it.
 
jonesy90 said:
It's a control thing,even if Hayao did do it,she'll probably not like it.
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Yeah, you got it in one. It's somebody else's version of her work, she should respect their creativity instead of whinging about it.
 
Yet an other disgruntled author. Diana Wynne Jones didn't appear to be to enamoured with Studio Ghibli's adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle, as said, the authors are just being protective of their work.
 
Is it just me or is there no direct link?

Before I track it down for myself, my initial thoughts are that it's a very rare occasion when an adaptation meets the expectations of its original creator - unless they have an active part in the production, it's very unlikely to happen. Philip Pullman has taken the approach of being very 'hands off' with the HDM films, and as a result has little to say about the production other than saying he's being informed of the progress. At the otehr end of the scale, Tom Clancy is given the role of executive producer in all of his books' adaptations so he plays an active part and they keep the feel of the original.

I can sympathise with Ms leGuin's disappointment but it isn't much of a surprise to hear she feels that way.

EDIT: Found it.

It's an interesting read, but only confirms my general impressions on how she feels about the whole thing. The process of adapting someone else's work, especially under the circumstances that this film was, certainly make for interesting reading!
 
Mr B said:
Yet an other disgruntled author. Diana Wynne Jones didn't appear to be to enamoured with Studio Ghibli's adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle, as said, the authors are just being protective of their work.
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Actually, Diana Wynne Jones always sounded pretty positive about the movie to me.

I think Hayao Miyazaki's reaction was more damning anyway. He walked out halfway through the premier and gave some lukewarm "you did ok" type "congratulation". To be honest, I would have been rather ticked off if my property had been given to the stop-gap newcomer, though yes, I dare say she would have moaned regardless who ended up doing it :p
 
Diana Wynne, also mentioned that Howls moving castle was alot different from the book so she felt she couldn't judge it entirely as it was a completely different animal
 
An interesting if frustrating detail that many news sites have brushed over btw:
When can we see "Gedo Senki" or "Tales of Earthsea" in America?

When the contract with the TV people for their film and rights runs out: not before 2009. Alas! There are dogs in the manger.
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Whether this effects the UK release isn't clear, but at the very least it will mean that there will be no Disney dub of the film until that year.

Both the American and the Japanese film-makers treated these books as mines for names and a few concepts, taking bits and pieces out of context, and replacing the story/ies with an entirely different plot, lacking in coherence and consistency. I wonder at the disrespect shown not only to the books but to their readers.
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OUCH. Also, Le Guin's initial rejection of Hayao Miyazaki's proposal was made 20 years ago, and she didn't know of his work (in fact, I believe we're talking pre-Totoro even).
 
I don't know the film or the novels, but the deja vu of film rights being sold and something completely different being the result is something I've seen plenty of.

What gets me with cases like this is the mention (or complete lack of) of the exchange of small pieces of folding green paper. Were the film rights a gift, wrapped with a bow? Or are numbers on a bank sheet not good enough for what is a commercial enterprise?

Creators who are THAT bothered about what happens to their material shouldn't sign away or sell the rights to it in the first place.

Same with the Resident Evil films, all I ever hear is foaming fanboys wailing about how Paul Anderson violated their precious series and left Capcom sobbing over the RE films. Despite the fact that Capcom chose Anderson to direct, despite the fact that Capcom kinda.. got paid. All this 'fan' talk is just smoke and mirrors, Capcom did not have to sign over rights to make the films, the game programmers didn't have to work for Capcom to make the games in the first place.

Any company, group or individual THAT bothered about the results would have an active role in the film production or would finance the darned thing themselves. Julius Caesar makes a fine bust for a pedestal, but injured egos and faceless companies do not.
 
2009 before the licence for America becomes available, so can only surmise that an officail UK/European release will fall beyond that as well :(

Fansub?!
 
kupoartist said:
An interesting if frustrating detail that many news sites have brushed over btw:
When can we see "Gedo Senki" or "Tales of Earthsea" in America?

When the contract with the TV people for their film and rights runs out: not before 2009. Alas! There are dogs in the manger.
Click to expand...
Whether this effects the UK release isn't clear, but at the very least it will mean that there will be no Disney dub of the film until that year.
Click to expand...

Hmm, some good news then, if only temporary.
 
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