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Hayao Miyazaki is a man who tells things as they are. He does not sugarcoat his words and has often criticized the anime industry at large. The talented director has produced many acclaimed anime movies. Two of them,Spirited AwayandThe Boy and the Heronhave also won the Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature.
Miyazaki is close friends with John Lasseter, the director ofToy Story, Cars, A Bugs Life, and other Pixar films. He was deeply moved by Miyazaki’s works and went on to serve as the executive producer for Ghibli movies and oversaw their translation and English dubbing, including that of Spirited Away.
Hayao Miyazaki’s Blunt Solution to MakeSpirited AwayMake Sense to the US Audience
Inan interview, John Lasseter was asked what it was like bringing foreign animated films to the US market. Lasseter explained hisprocedure forSpirited Awayas it is set in a ‘very very Japanese sensibility.’ While the Japanese audience would instantly know what the big building with Japanese writing and a flag on it, no one in the USA would understand that it’s a bathhouse.
“The Japanese people must not forget this”: Hayao Miyazaki Is Ready to Be Hated in Japan for His Stance That Has Influenced Studio Ghibli Deeply
He explained that he absolutely doesn’t want to change Miyazaki’s vision because they are so deep and unique. So, he cannot tolerate sitting there and clarifying or adding elements to the story. Lasseter talks about the witch inSpirited Awaywho took away the names of people and changed their names to the tasks at the bathhouse. He found it a clever detail, but they couldn’t figure out if they should change the names or keep the original Japanese ones.
Thus, Hayao Miyazaki was called to the rescue, and the Ghibli director had a very straight answer, which might not be liked by many:
I think that for people to understand, the audiences to truly understand my movies is that they should all learn Japanese.’ And I go, ‘Miyazaki-san, that won’t do.
Despite his blunt response,Hayao Miyazaki trusted John Lasseterto do what he wanted to do. In the end, the Japanese names were kept intact, but as soon as a character was introduced, a dialogue like “Oh, the boiler man!” was added. Lasseter explained that he likes to keep the original names of characters as much as possible.
Hayao Miyazaki Thinks His Movies Will be Distorted Whether You Watch Them in Subbed or Dubbed Version
This is not the first time that Miyazaki has shared his opinion on the translation of his films into foreign languages. After Disney acquired the sole rights to distribute Miyazaki films in the US, they released the movies in both subbed and dubbed formats.Howl’s Moving Castlewas no exception.
In a2005 interview,Miyazaki presented his viewpointon the decades-old subs vs. dubs debate.
When you watch the subtitled version you are probably missing just as many things. There is a layer and a nuance you’re not going to get. Film crosses so many borders these days. Of course it is going to be distorted.
Miyazaki’s views reflect John Lasseter’s as they both understand some of the nuances in the movies are bound to get lost in translation. Lasseter acknowledges that the stuff that people don’t understand in the films is just how he intended them to be. Thus, he only explains the extremely ambiguous elements before getting out of the way.
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Both Ghibli and Disney have made great efforts to decrease the language barrier by investing in good-quality dubs. Lasseter’s precariousness with Miyazaki films is a great example of how the Japanese sentiments in the work are tried to be preserved as much as possible. Despite there beinga battle of wills between Disney and Miyazaki,the director is adamant about keeping his movies intact, as he should be.
Spirited Awayis available to stream on Max, Hulu and Disney+.
Aaheli Pradhan
Anime Content Writer
Articles Published :1556
Aaheli is an Anime Content Writer at FandomWire with 1300+ published articles. With five years of experience under her belt, she is a living, breathing encyclopedia for anime and manga. From Shonen and Shojo to the most niche anime, nothing escapes her radar. Her poisons of choice are Assassination Classroom, Gintama, Ouran High School Host Club and every Ghibli movie ever. She believes in living a slow life, surrounded by incomplete art projects and her beloved cats.
