Takahata's Norse Prince

[Michael McCaskey]

Thank you very much for the review. My copy arrived recently, and it seems quite fine.

I wish that someone would come up with an English subtitled version of the 1978 anime Conan, 未来少年コナン、"Conan, The Boy in Future (sic)," vol. 1, 58 minutes, put out by Bandai Visual. It seems excellent visually, and helps students develop a better idea of how Miyazaki developed some of his character prototypes. I only have vol. 1, and I'm not sure if 2 is available.

I've tried showing anime DVD excerpts in class without English subtitles, and narrating them as we go along, but my students do not really find this appealing. Perhaps there is a copyright-compliant version with English subtitles I'm not aware of.

Thanks again for the very helpful Norse Prince information, both earlier and now.

Michael McCaskey
EALC Georgetown 



----- Original Message -----
From: Stefan Nutz <nuzumaki at gmx.net>
Date: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 6:41 am
Subject: Takahata's little prince

> Hi,
> 
> Some will rememeber that i posted a few months ago English 
> subtitles for Takahata Isao's 
> Prince of the Sun: The Great Adventures of Horus (aka. Little 
> Norse Prince). The delicately beautiful Taiyo No Oji, to use its 
> original Japanese title, was the first movie where now legendary 
> animators Miyazaki Hayao and Takahata Isao worked together (as far 
> as i know).
> Now this film was released on DVD in England by Optimum Home 
> Entertainment. 
> 
> You can find a cover here:
> http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000B9PWEO.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
> 
> Here is a part of the review of the disc i found at dvdtimes.co.uk:
> 
> Another in Optimum's range of Region 2 Ghibli releases, The Little 
> Norse Prince arrives in acceptable, if not perfect form. Most 
> prominent is the fact that this is an NTSC to PAL transfer, 
> resulting in some highly noticeable ghosting especially during the 
> more hectic scenes (which is generally more often than not). Also 
> worth pointing out is the aspect ratio as this is not quite a 
> match for its original. We get the film framed at 2.10:1 and is 
> therefore slightly cropped on the right hand side from the 
> intended 2.35:1. Admittedly, some will see this as a minor flaw, 
> but it's nonetheless worth noting. Otherwise, the print is 
> generally clean (very minor damage does reveal itself at times) 
> and we are also treated to an anamorphic transfer. It's ultimately 
> never less than watchable despite not being as good as it could 
> have been. 
> 
> As for the soundtrack, here we find original Japanese mono in 
> pleasing form. It remains crisp and clear throughout and comes 
> with optional English subtitles of the white variety unlike those 
> found on some of the other Ghibli titles released thus far from 
> Optimum. 
> 
> Extras, however, remain neglible, amounting solely to a handful of 
> trailers: for the film itself plus The Castle of Cagliostro and 
> Grave of the Fireflies.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Stefan Nutz