Fletcher does tend to make unusual casting decisions for his dubs, but he does make an effort to make sure each voice is directed well enough to not be detracting from the visuals or out of sync with the lip flaps (although there is one place where some of the lines are slightly off by about a hair, but not gratingly enough to detract). (It should also be noted, too, that every new line, adlibbed or altered, is not out of context with Miyazaki's signature and the actual plot is unchanged.) It is an admittingly liberal translation (with some omissisons such as the "Gulliver's Travels"] and "Treasure Island" references), but it's a well-written one.Īs far as the voices go, Disney's dub has an eclectic selection of ideally chosen (and occasionally eccentric) performers to lend their voices.
But John Semper's overall script gives the movie a fresh, lively appeal for American audiences that still retains the adventurous tone of the original, with witty lines and smooth, natural writing. It is true that the script adaptation sometimes verges on the loose side in places and goes overboard in inserting extra dialogue. Castle in the Sky is my favorite of the three Fletcher dubs, and one that I enjoy listening to repeatedly. Although there are those who argue that the more recent tracks by Lasseter are more faithful, I find myself drawn to the Fletcher dubs more for their interesting mixture of Anime voice over artists, traditional voice actors/actresses, and big-name talent, resulting in something of a unique, multicultural mix that I somehow miss from these new dubs.
Prior to Spirited Away, Disney's dubs for Ghibli works were handled by Jack Fletcher, which included Kiki's Delivery Service and Princess Mononoke, both of which, like this dub, were high quality but received divided reactions. In fact, viewing it today, one wonders if these detractors saw the same dub. Such faults aside, the Castle in the Sky dub is a first-rate English track when taken on its own. Two more realistic criticisms are that the lead characters sound older than their intended ages and that the script is talkier than necessary. The most outrageous of naysayers have claimed that the voice actors in the dub have no enthusiasm and that Disney was just setting out to descerate a masterpiece, both of which are subjective (and some might argue ridiculous) in the extreme. (In case you haven't figured it out by now, I am one of the latter.) To this day, the debate about the dub rages on, with a significant amount of detractors and admirers. On the other hand, there have been just as many who actually enjoyed the dub as a fun and interesting reinterpretation of a classic masterpiece with clever casting choices and a fully spruced up (and extended from the original by the composer) musical score. Hardcore fans of the original Japanese were especially harsh, condemining it as a travesty to the original and that it is a dub to avoid. Recorded in 1998 but delayed until 2003, reactions to Disney's Castle in the Sky dub have been divided. (Note that I will also compare it to the older dub that Streamline distributed years ago, not the Japanese version, as I am of the very opinion that a dub should stand on its own, and not simply be a carbon copy.) This is a totally subjective review, and is totally my opinion only. Of all the dubs, this one is one of the most hotly debated, but I think it's an awesome dub, as you will see in my review. Without further ado, tonight's first post about dub reviews is one of my personal favorite movies of all time, Hayao Miyazaki's 1986 action-adventure epic, Castle in the Sky, aka Laputa: The Castle in the Sky. So that's what my newest posts will be to this site. Why? Because there are dubs out there which have been undeservedly passed over, and they deserve a far better fate than being dismissed.
Most of these could be read on places like 's English track forums, but I'm gladly gonna share them with you guys.
To add some variety to this community I have decided to post some in-depth reviews to some of my favorite dubs of all-time. But any posts that come across as attacking and negative I will instantly delete. I will stand firmly behind this view, and if you disagree with it, that's fine. Nor am I biased against any of the actors involved in the older dub, nor for the VAs in the newer dub. I am not biased against older dubbing in general. However, I will not put up with disrespectful, hostile posts, like accusing me of seeing what someone perceives as an "inferior" version first and being biased for it. WORD OF NOTE: I realize there are people who will disagree with my post and I respect that.