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Spirited Away vs. Princess Mononoke in the U.S.


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AnbuItachi



Joined: 04 Oct 2005
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 9:36 pm Reply with quote
Hi, I have a few questions today. I hope someone knows something about it.

Both films are written by the same person and both are very famous and highly rated. However in the United States, Spirited Away was much more popular than Princess Mononoke, earning about 5 times the amount that Princess did. Disney reported they were not happy with the box office sales for Princess Mononoke.

So why is Spirited Away so much more popular than Princess Mononoke? Is it related to American culture because both did very well in Japan. Is there something in Spirited Away that attracted the US viewers that was somewhat absent from Princess?

Thanks
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gasteropod



Joined: 12 Sep 2008
Posts: 16
Location: England
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 9:44 pm Reply with quote
I'd say it's related to Miyazaki's raising popularity by the time that Spirited Away came out.
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Kelly



Joined: 17 Nov 2003
Posts: 868
Location: New York City
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 10:15 pm Reply with quote
Without in depth analysis, I would venture to say that it probably has alot to do with content. Among other things, Mononoke is considerably more violent than Spirited Away, although nothing is shown and it's not harped upon it's mentioned that quite a few members of the supporting female cast are ex-prostitutes, and on whole the movie is intended for an older audience than the typical Miyazaki movie. That's exactly why, if you notice, it's distributed under the auspices of Miramax instead of Disney. It's a great gateway anime for older teens and adults who are fantasy-oriented, but I wouldn't let my niece or younger cousins touch it with a ten foot pole.

Not kid-friendly=much fewer sales.
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Kimiko_0



Joined: 31 Aug 2008
Posts: 1796
Location: Leiden, NL, EU
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 10:26 pm Reply with quote
Yes, I think you're both right. Mononoke Hime is older than Spirited Away, so Miyazaki's name wasn't as well-known yet when it came out. Mononoke Hime has a darker, more violent theme, both environmental and anti-war. Spirited Away is mostly light-hearted fantasy that if it weren't for its Japanese cultural origins would fit right in with Disney's fairy tale movies. It'll be interesting to see how well Miyazaki's latest, Ponyo, will do when it is translated.
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TheVok



Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 613
Location: North York, Ontario, Canada
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 10:28 pm Reply with quote
Miramax never quite got the hang of importing Asian movies (animated or live action) for theatrical release in North America. But Disney has done a much more supportive job marketing Studio Ghibli films ... mainly on DVD, but they did manage to get a little traction for Spirited Away's theatrical release. Not much, but a little.
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TheTheory



Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Posts: 1029
Location: Central PA
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2008 11:01 pm Reply with quote
I'm just going to come right out and say that it is because Spirited Away is just a much, much better film than Princess Mononoke. I have repeatedly tried to see the genius in Mononoke, but can't. The characters lean towards bland (and the few exceptions aren't around enough to really make a difference), and the message is overbearing. Even when I agree with a film's message, I have trouble with movies (or music or books) that feel like there is an agenda behind them. Spirited Away, on the other hand, does have great characters and they're easy to root for. Despite a few awkward messages, the overall thrust of the film is not focused on that.

Well, if you're not comfortable with calling Spirited Away better (although I am quite comfortable with the assessment), perhaps substitute the phrase "fantastic, epic adventure" or "colorful delight" or whatever.
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AnbuItachi



Joined: 04 Oct 2005
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 12:23 am Reply with quote
The thoughts are very interesting. I didn't think of the different studios. It makes sense I guess since they are from different places. Anyone else have thoughts? Especially about culture/content differences that might have contributed to the lack of popularity etc
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Koji98



Joined: 13 Jun 2008
Posts: 112
PostPosted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 12:30 am Reply with quote
TheTheory wrote:
I'm just going to come right out and say that it is because Spirited Away is just a much, much better film than Princess Mononoke. I have repeatedly tried to see the genius in Mononoke, but can't. The characters lean towards bland (and the few exceptions aren't around enough to really make a difference), and the message is overbearing. Even when I agree with a film's message, I have trouble with movies (or music or books) that feel like there is an agenda behind them. Spirited Away, on the other hand, does have great characters and they're easy to root for. Despite a few awkward messages, the overall thrust of the film is not focused on that.

Well, if you're not comfortable with calling Spirited Away better (although I am quite comfortable with the assessment), perhaps substitute the phrase "fantastic, epic adventure" or "colorful delight" or whatever.

I tend to see Princess Mononoke a better film than Spirited Away. The story flowed pretty smooth for Mononoke, meanwhile with Spirited Away it felt chopped up and going from point to point in a awkward pace. I also liked the characters more in Mononoke, but that's just my opinion. Now, I am in no way saying Spirited Away is a bad movie, but it's lower in the list for me. Then again, I think my favorite Miyazaki movie is either Castle of Caglisotro or Castle in the Sky, but that's for another topic.

AnbuItachi wrote:
The thoughts are very interesting. I didn't think of the different studios. It makes sense I guess since they are from different places. Anyone else have thoughts? Especially about culture/content differences that might have contributed to the lack of popularity etc


Both movies came from the same studio: Studio Ghibli, and from the same director: Miyazaki. If you mean the US publisher, once again, it was one company: Disney. Miramax is owned by Disney, so you can's say Miramax handled it weird without saying Disney handled it weird.
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marie-antoinette



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 8:28 am Reply with quote
Having not seen Spirited Away, it's hard for me to say that it's better than Princess Mononoke (though I certainly hope it is, because I greatly dislike Mononoke, I found it boring and preachy and I agree the characters are bland and uninteresting). But I do think the fact that the Oscar win really helped promote Spirited Away.

I wasn't an anime fan when this happened, but I knew what Spirited Away was. But I had never heard of Princess Mononoke until I started getting into anime. Spirited Away did a much better job at breaking into the mainstream animated feature world.
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TheVok



Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 613
Location: North York, Ontario, Canada
PostPosted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:48 am Reply with quote
Koji98 wrote:
Miramax is owned by Disney, so you can's say Miramax handled it weird without saying Disney handled it weird.


Yes, Disney handled Princess Mononoke weird by distributing it through Miramax. I never said otherwise. But Miramax's team seemed at the time a better fit for the material, whereas Disney's broader marketing machine was better geared for Spirited Away.
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AnbuItachi



Joined: 04 Oct 2005
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:30 am Reply with quote
Whats the difference between those 2 anyway? I noticed that Howl's Moving Castle is distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution which is also part of Disney. It also came out after Spirited Away yet it's a lot less popular than Spirited Away. So I guess the publisher doesn't contribute as much and the fact that Miyazaki gained popularity doesn't work either?

So there's something in Spirited Away that beat the other 2 films that was released around it. I noticed that Howl's was also PG targeted for kids and it still did so bad compared to Spirited Away.

It must be something within the film. What did make the character so much more interesting? (if they are).
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sk1199



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 162
PostPosted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:52 am Reply with quote
I would think that winning an Oscar has something to do with popularity. While Mononke was nominated, Spirited Away actually won. I think that it's been proven, in the US anyway, that winning an Oscar=$$.
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Murasakisuishou



Joined: 22 Jun 2006
Posts: 1469
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 12:00 pm Reply with quote
I think it's largely because Spirited Away is a fun, enchanting story that appeals to all ages, where as Princess Mononoke is dark, violent, and quite frankly boring. I'm not a particularly big fan of Miyazaki (the only other works by him that I've enjoyed are Kiki's Delivery Service and the Nausicaa manga), but I loved Spirited Away because it's so accessible. It's just a story about a little girl growing up without any of that awful crammed-down-your-throat let-nature do-whatever-it-wants-at-the-expense-of-humans environmentalist crap.

The fact that Spirited Away won an Oscar probably helped a lot too.
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TheVok



Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 613
Location: North York, Ontario, Canada
PostPosted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 12:56 pm Reply with quote
AnbuItachi wrote:
Whats the difference between those 2 anyway?


Between Disney and Miramax?

Miramax was a longstanding 'indie' film distribution company run by the Weinsteins, who eventually began to also get into the business of actually producing movies, not just releasing movies that already existed. But for the most part, Miramax was just a distributor.

Disney bought Miramax as a way of establishing a 'prestige' arm of its business. Good way to keep winning Oscars and all that.

However, there were disagreements between the Disney execs and the Weinsteins with regard to how best to run Miramax. Eventually, the Weinsteins left and started up another company bearing their name, which continues to operate now.

Since then, there seem to be fewer high-profile Miramax releases, suggesting that if anything, Disney has turned it into even more of a niche player than it was before, rather than boosting it to a bigger level.

Quote:
So I guess the publisher doesn't contribute as much and the fact that Miyazaki gained popularity doesn't work either?


What do you mean? Movies don't have publishers. And while Miyazaki routinely breaks box office records in Japan, there's no reason to expect him to do so in North America.
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Himi-chan



Joined: 14 Sep 2008
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 1:05 pm Reply with quote
I think that the reason is because there are a lot of hidden cultural inferences that the average American can't get from Princess Mononoke, whereas Spirited Away is much easier to relate to and understand.
I also agree that Spirited Away is much more kid-friendly, whereas Princess Mononoke contains a lot more blood and gore.
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