Really? I thought it had a great dub! If you absolutely DETEST the voices of little girls, then maybe you won’t like it. But I thought it was perfectly fine.
I don’t mind little folks’ voices; it’s just that these girls scream practically every line. And I appreciate all the recommendations about the Japanese dubs, but knowing me, my ADD would have a really hard time with what to focus on.
It’s the English voice acting that bugged me, while the Japanese voice acting was perfect.
But Christian Bale…You couldn’t possibly have had a problem with that! 
Well I guess I was a bit weirded out when they cast Liam Neeson as Fujimoto. That was weeeeeeeeeeeeiiird.
Really? XD Maybe there’s something wrong with me then, because I was surprised by how well Liam Neeson’s voice worked for Fujimoto.
Even Mark Hamill was good for Muska!
Mark Hamill was perfect for Muska, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say otherwise.
I really want to see Totoro even more now! 
Go see it then! 
Mark Hamill’s always perfect. Catch him as Firelord Ozai in Avatar the Last Airbender. He kicks some serious butt there and apparently his specialty is now voicing cartoon bad guys. Guess Luke did go to the Dark Side after all.
I need my friend to loan it to me; my rental store doesn’t have it. 
Yeah, the Totoro English dub was a bit annoying. Mind you, so was the dub for Grave Of The Fireflies. The guy playing Seita sounded like every other stereotypical American male voice over like, ever, if you know what I mean. And the girl playing Setsuko sounded like a women who was putting on a breathy voice for every line, whereas in the Japanese language one though, the little girl playing Setsuko was perfect. 
More or less, you’re right! The fact that he generally sticks to his own ideas is one of the reasons that I think that comparing Ghibli to Disney is a bit silly, seeing as one mainly makes adaptations of fairy tales and the like, and the other mostly only looks to outside works for inspiration. It’s mostly Takahata and the other directors who adapt other works.
Nausicaa- Original idea based on Miyazaki’s (then) unfinished manga
Laputa- Original idea (inspired by Jules Verne)
Totoro- Original idea
Kiki’s Delivery Service- Based on the book series
Porco Rosso- Original idea, you can see prototype versions of the story in old Miyazaki comics
Princess Mononoke- Original idea, was intended to be a film version of a storybook Miyazaki once made about a girl and a monster-type thing
Spirited Away- Original story.
Howl’s Moving Castle- Based on a novel
Ponyo- Original story (inspired by the little mermaid)
Non-Miyazaki Films
Grave of the Fireflies- Based on an autobiography
Only Yesterday- Based on a manga
Pom Poko- Original story?
My Neighbours the Yamadas- Based on a comic stip, I think
Whisper of the Heart- Based on a manga
Ocean Waves- Original story?
The Cat Returns- Spin-off (sort-of) of Whisper of the Heart
Tales From Earthsea- Based on a novel series
Arrietty- Based on a novel
From Up on Poppy Hill- Based on a manga?
And to be honest, most of their “Adaptations” are pretty loose, expect for Takahata’s, perhaps.
I have to concur. In fact, I’d say it’s his best voice acting role ever; the Japanese VA was OK, but Hamill really fleshes him out and makes him very effective from the start. His performance is THE reason I love the Castle in the Sky dub so much. OK, not the ONLY reason: Cloris Leachman is also excellent as the voice of Dola the sky pirate, and her crew, the General, the coal miners, and Uncle Pom are all splendid as well. I’m probably in the minority, too, but I actually didn’t mind James van der Beek OR Anna Paquin as Pazu and Sheeta; true, they DO sound like teenagers, but I thought they did a pretty good job overall. Not as good as everyone else, but nowhere near unbearable. I’ve heard much worse. I also really liked most of the additional dialogue, I felt it really fleshed out various characters, and the new score by Joe Hisaishi is also fantastic. In fact, I’d say that this is my favorite Ghibli dub and film.
Granted I like all the Ghibli movies in English because Disney and Pixar do such splendid jobs on them, but Laputa, as well as Kiki, Mononoke, Totoro, Whisper of the Heart, and Nausicaa are all in my top ten favorite dubs ever.
So, I took a much-needed break from Miyzaki films (Howl’s Moving Castle was so good I needed some time to recover), but I’m about to dive right back in with… Princess Mononoke! Will post a review when I get a chance.
Oh that’s good, I hope you like it. I must admit, it wasn’t until the third time I saw Princess Mononoke that I really liked it. The first two times I saw it it felt rather long and dull to me… but for some reason it just clicked with me that third time
That’s my favorite one!! <3 Followed by Nausicaa.
Mononoke is probably my least favorite Miyazaki film (I’ve seen all of them post-Nausicaa). Its not a bad movie, but it didn’t really connect with my like all of his other films have. I’ll probably try watching it again in Japanese eventually, to see if I like it better that way.
Just got done watching MONONOKE. Visually, I put the animation in the same group as HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE; a beautiful film to look at all the way through. Sadly, I thought the story was very weak. For being the title character, there are big chunks of the movie where San doesn’t appear. I wouldn’t mind that ordinarily, except she was the only interesting character in my opinion. I thought Ashitaka was a very bland and unremarkable character, which is a bad thing for the protagonist of a film to be.
In comparison to San, it is true that Ashitaka was a bit boring (not unlikable though), and I do wish we could’ve seen more of San, but I otherwise don’t have an issue with it. I’m not sure I’d call it one of my favorite Miyazaki films, but they’re all so good, it’s like ranking exotic chocolates…
I understand that it was boring for you guys. It was dreadful for me the first time. But I’m really OCD in that I always give a movie a 2nd and 3rd chance. Personally, Princess Mononoke is my favorite Ghibli movie.