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Ghibli's Arrietty to Have Different Dub Casts in U.S., U.K.
posted on by Andrew Osmond
Arrietty, Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Studio Ghibli's film based on Mary Norton's British novel The Borrowers, will have different dub casts in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The British dub, which is due in theaters on July 29, will feature Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones/Atonement) and Tom Holland (one of the boy actors who took the lead role in the stage musical version of Billy Elliott). The cast also includes Mark Strong (Green Lantern/Sherlock Holmes), Olivia Colman (Peep Show), Phyllida Law (The Time Machine), and Geraldine McEwan (Marple).
The American dub, meanwhile, will feature Bridgit Mendler (Wizards of Waverly Place) as Arrietty and Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live, Parks and Recreation). The rest of the American cast includes Will Arnett (Arrested Development, Running Wilde), David Henrie (Wizards of Waverly Place), and Carol Burnett (The Carol Burnett Show). The film will open in American theaters on February 17, 2012.
As usual for a Ghibli film, Arrietty is being distributed in Britain by Optimum Releasing. However, this is the first Ghibli film to be released with different dub casts in the United Kingdom and the United States. (Two Ghibli projects — Ocean Waves and Only Yesterday — were released on DVD in the United Kingdom but not in the United States, but both releases had English subtitles only.)
Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki supervised and wrote the film, which updates the 1952 novel by moving the story to a modern Tokyo suburb. The story follows the "little people" who live under the floorboards of a regular human family.
[Via Bleeding Cool]
Image © 2010 GNDHDDTW
