Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 15:06:33 -0700
Sender: Hayao Miyazaki Discussion Group
From: Michael S. Johnson
Subject: BVHE on PM DVD: no Japanese, but...
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(You may post this to any newsgroups or web sites, subject to the
condition that http://Nausicaa.Net is attributed as the source).
Seattle, Washington, 2:15pm Pacific Time.
I just got off the phone with Mr. David Jessen, VP of Special
Acquisitions, Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Due to a schedule
change on his part, he will only be attending Anime Expo on Friday,
and we have made arrangements to meet Friday morning at 10am for
breakfast. This will coincide with AX 2000's Opening Ceremonies in
Live Programming room 1, however.
To answer your most burning questions:
Q. Is the August 29th day-and-date release official?
A. Yes.
Q. What will be available on August 29th?
A. The English-dubbed DVD with a bonus French language track will be
available for purchase. The English-dubbed VHS will be available
for rental. The DVD will not carry a Japanese language track.
Q. Why will the English DVD not include a Japanese language track?
A. Because the Japanese office of BUENA VISTA (not Studio Ghibli)
requested it. There has been no DVD release of _Mononoke_ yet, and
sales of a Region 1 version DVD could still threaten sales of a
Region 2 version in Japan. DVD piracy and importation are
significant enough problems, regardless of the benefits of
region-encoding.
Q. Will an English DVD with Japanese language and subtitles be
available after the Japanese DVD release of _Mononoke_?
A. No. However, *if there is sufficient interest*, when the VHS
rental copies run out and have to be reprinted/remastered, he will
request that two versions be made: the original VHS dub
sell-through and a new VHS widescreen subtitled sell-through.
Q. How may fans let Disney know there is "sufficient interest" in a
subtitled version of _Mononoke_ on VHS?
A. Mr. Jessen and I will discuss this when we meet at AX 2000 on
Friday. Meanwhile, please write to me with your vote, so that I
can surprise him with your enthusiasm!
In an e-mail message sent DIRECTLY to me (michj@nausicaa.net),
please provide the following information:
* the words "I will buy subtitled MONONOKE" in the subject line
* your real name (no nicknames, please)
* your city and state (or province and country for non-US residents)
* the statement (or some reasonable variation)
"If it is made available, I fully intend to purchase at least ___
copy/ies of the film _Princess Mononoke_ in the Japanese language
with English subtitles, in widescreen (letterboxed) format, even
if this means it will be more expensive than the English-only
version."
(Fill in the blank ("___") with the number of copies you'd buy.)
* OPTIONAL: add the statement
"I would prefer a DVD/VHS release with these features over the
English-only releases currently scheduled for August 29, 2000."
(Erase the choice, DVD or VHS, that you don't want.)
Please note that I will print out all of these messages and present
them to Mr. Jessen on Friday morning, June 30th, 2000, so get your
mail to me ASAP!
Privacy warning: If you would prefer not to have your name, e-mail
address, or other personal information given to Buena Vista Home
Entertainment, please do not send me this piece of e-mail.
As always, please check http://Nausicaa.net periodically for more
information about Studio Ghibli releases worldwide.
--
Michael S. Johnson Miyazaki Web and Mailing List Owner
michj@nausicaa.net www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/mailing-list
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