Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫 - Mononoke Hime) is a Japanese animated film by Hayao Miyazaki and first released in Japan on 12 July, 1997).

Releases

Theatrical run

The film was massively successful in Japan and with both anime fans and "arthouse" moviegoers in English-speaking countries. In those countries, it was widely interpreted as a film about the environment, told in the form of Japanese mythology. The Walt Disney Company's Miramax subsidiary chose to put a lot of money into creating the English dub of the movie with famous actors and actresses, yet when they released it in theatres there was little or no advertising and it was given a very limited run, showing in only a few theatres and only for a very short time. Disney later complained about the fact that the movie didn't do so well at the box office. The DVD sales have, however, done far better in the US and elsewhere, there being no limited availability.

Related Topics:
Japan - English - The Walt Disney Company - Miramax - DVD

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Box office totals & admission numbers

Box office gross:

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• Japan: ¥18,650,000,000
• USA: $2,298,191
• Spain: ?598,040

Total admissions:

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• Japan: 13,530,000
• France: 500,380
• USA: 467,344
• Spain: 156,816
• Italy: 26,989

English translations

The United States and United Kingdom DVD releases have both the English and Japanese soundtracks, and the US release additionally includes two different sets of English subtitles (the dialogue used in the dub and a "literal translation").

Related Topics:
United States - United Kingdom - Soundtrack

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The English version of Princess Mononoke (with a script adaptation by Neil Gaiman, author of The Sandman) received mixed reviews from critics. Although most of the reaction was positive, others felt that some of the actors, notably Billy Bob Thornton as Jigo, detracted from the experience of the show. Despite this love-hate atmosphere, the dub has been hailed as one of the best ever done alongside Spirited Away. In fact, the English version might not properly be a dub at all; the normal procedure for an English dub is to write the dialogue to match the mouth movements of the characters, which can lead to the odd rushed sentence structures seen in many dubs. However, for Princess Mononoke the process was reversed: the script was written, and mouth movements were painstakingly re-filmed to match.

Related Topics:
Neil Gaiman - The Sandman - Billy Bob Thornton - Spirited Away - Dub

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The English title Princess Mononoke is somewhat misleading, being a translation of only half the Japanese title. It leaves the impression that mononoke is a proper name, yet the original title Mononoke Hime actually means something like "Princess of the Ghosts" or "Princess of the Avenging Spirits" (the concept embodied by the word "mononoke" is a complex one with no exact equivalent in English: hence the decision to leave it untranslated).

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