New Ponyo Trailer!

Hey! A new trailer for Ponyo went online last week!



I've already blogged about it quite a bit.... Ponyo is the latest work from Hayao Miyazaki, the Oscar-winning director of such animated fare as Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke. His movies are awesome and you should watch them all...like I did last year.

It finally comes out here in North America on August 14. I managed to catch his last film, Howl's Moving Castle in the theatres, and dude, Miyazaki's animation is made to be seen on a big screen, so go see it when it hits your town. They say it's opening on 800 screens...the biggest opening ever in North America for a Miyazaki film. I just hope that one of those 800 screens will be in Edmonton so I can go see it opening weekend.

Now, I know there are some anime purists out there who are like, "NO! I refuse to see it in the theatre! Because in the theatre, it will be dubbed. Only subtitled anime is the proper way to watch anime!"

Yes the whole "dubbed vs. subbed" debate is one that has torn anime conventions asunder. It seemed to have been rendered moot with the advent of DVD, where you can switch between the two with a push of a button. But it rears its ugly head now and then when you get a major theatrical release like this.

So, in this case, let's talk to the director himself, Hayao Miyazaki. Several years ago, in an interview, he was asked if he prefers that English-speaking people watched the dubbed or subtitled versions. His answer? He wants you to watch the dubbed versions. His logic is he wants your eyes to be on the animation, not on the subtitles on the bottom of the screen.

So, there you go! You have the director's blessing to watch the dubbed version. So everyone head out on August 14 to see Ponyo!