I apologize for bumping this thread up in advance, but when I saw that there was a Studio Ghibli thread, I wanted to give my personal opinions.
1) For me, my top favorites are CASTLE IN THE SKY, PRINCESS MONONOKE, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE, and WHISPER OF THE HEART, although really, any of the Ghibli movies are fine. The only ones I didn't really care for were TALES FROM EARTHSEA, THE WIND RISES, and WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE. All three just didn't do it for me. However, your mileage may vary on that.
2) This is going to be a very touchy subject, because I'm aware that there are people who feel otherwise, but the dubs for all these movies are very well done. C'mon, they're dubbed by Disney, and they select a good cast for their movies. Although I may be in the minority, I actually liked the Disney dubs for both TOTORO and CASTLE IN THE SKY. Don't get me wrong, the FOX/Streamline dub of TOTORO was a classic of its time, but the newer dub is not by any means bad -- it's just a different interpretation, and I do think the Fannings do a good job. With CASTLE I found the Disney dub to be the stronger of the two, even though it has its occasional drawbacks -- Anna Paquin (the occasional missed line notwithstanding) and James van der Beek are solid as Pazu and Sheeta overall, but just a bit too mature sounding, and some of the added in dialogue -- dialed back in some recent rereleases -- is a bit overdone (although I did like the pirates' dialogue) -- its assets outweigh them by far. Cloris Leachman and Mark Hamill are both wonderful in their roles as Dola and Muska, and the rest of the cast in general is excellent. The new score by Joe Hisaishi is also a treat. I was told that a previous dub distributed by Streamline was the superior dub, but I didn't particularly like the '80s dub at all. To me it sounded very stale and robotic, with a lot of stale-sounding dialogue and lifeless performances. I get that Pazu and Sheeta sound younger in this older version, but both of their actresses have done better work in other dubs. Everyone else sounded lame as well. So I'm sorry, but I prefer the Disney dub for this movie.
3) I can't answer this question, sorry to say.
Again, my apologies for bumping up the thread, just wanted to share my thoughts.
1) For me, my top favorites are CASTLE IN THE SKY, PRINCESS MONONOKE, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE, and WHISPER OF THE HEART, although really, any of the Ghibli movies are fine. The only ones I didn't really care for were TALES FROM EARTHSEA, THE WIND RISES, and WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE. All three just didn't do it for me. However, your mileage may vary on that.
2) This is going to be a very touchy subject, because I'm aware that there are people who feel otherwise, but the dubs for all these movies are very well done. C'mon, they're dubbed by Disney, and they select a good cast for their movies. Although I may be in the minority, I actually liked the Disney dubs for both TOTORO and CASTLE IN THE SKY. Don't get me wrong, the FOX/Streamline dub of TOTORO was a classic of its time, but the newer dub is not by any means bad -- it's just a different interpretation, and I do think the Fannings do a good job. With CASTLE I found the Disney dub to be the stronger of the two, even though it has its occasional drawbacks -- Anna Paquin (the occasional missed line notwithstanding) and James van der Beek are solid as Pazu and Sheeta overall, but just a bit too mature sounding, and some of the added in dialogue -- dialed back in some recent rereleases -- is a bit overdone (although I did like the pirates' dialogue) -- its assets outweigh them by far. Cloris Leachman and Mark Hamill are both wonderful in their roles as Dola and Muska, and the rest of the cast in general is excellent. The new score by Joe Hisaishi is also a treat. I was told that a previous dub distributed by Streamline was the superior dub, but I didn't particularly like the '80s dub at all. To me it sounded very stale and robotic, with a lot of stale-sounding dialogue and lifeless performances. I get that Pazu and Sheeta sound younger in this older version, but both of their actresses have done better work in other dubs. Everyone else sounded lame as well. So I'm sorry, but I prefer the Disney dub for this movie.
3) I can't answer this question, sorry to say.
Again, my apologies for bumping up the thread, just wanted to share my thoughts.
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