Studio Ghiblihas a reputation for producing some of the greatest films of all time. The movies of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata are frequently cited as not only some of the best animated films you could watch, but in some cases some of the bestmoviesyou could ever watch! While it took many years for Americans to be able to watch them, they finally got a chance to watch most of them when Disney made a historic deal to acquire the entire catalog and produce new English dubs of the films.
While there has been much discussion over whether or not Disney did a good job at releasing these movies, one of the few aspects of their deal that wasn’t contested by many people was the fact that the dubs Disney paid for were some of the highest quality dubs in the industry (it helps when you have Mickey Mouse money behind you). For the most part, Disney released the entire catalog except for two films. When GKids acquired the Studio Ghibli catalog, they released those two films. That said, one of them wasn’t given a new English dub, and there is some confusion as to why.
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What is the Undubbed Film?
The movie in question that was not released by Disney isOcean Waves. The story revolves around two teenagers who meet at school and form an unlikely friendship. The boy is named Taku, who is introduced to a new female student named Rikako. Rikako is an attractive girl who is good at sports and instantly popular.
Though she is popular, she is unhappy with her life as she was forced to leave Tokyo, and makes plans to try and go back there. As the two discuss a plan to go to Tokyo, they start to develop a strong connection with each other.
What is the History of Ocean Waves
Ocean Wavesis unique in the sense that it is a rare Studio Ghibli film that wasnot released in theaters. The movie was planned as a television movie for Nippon Television, with the idea being for the studio to make a smaller film that would be cheaper to produce as opposed to a full theatrical movie. The higher ups felt it would be a great way to test out a new director and give the younger animators a chance to practice their skills and cut their teeth on a TV movie before moving on to the main features.
This was the idea but, well…you know what they say about the best-laid plans. Instead of being a cheap film that would be made in a shorter amount of time, the film went over-budget and over-schedule. This is due to the fact that Studio Ghibli has high standards for their films, and even a TV movie was given extra attention. It was a kind of attention that most studios wouldn’t give a “practice film,” but Studio Ghibli’s name means something, and they wanted to ensure that it still did even if it was on TV.
Why Was No Dub Produced?
While Disneydid obtain the rightsto release the movie if they wanted to, they decided to pass due to the slow pace and more mature content compared to the rest of the catalog. When GKids acquired the catalog they also acquiredOcean Waves, and the studio took a hard look at the film. The people in charge watched the film and felt a pit in their stomach: the movie was going to be a tough sell. It was slow. Miyazaki’s name wasn’t attached to it. While the animation was pretty good, due to the TV nature of the project the quality of the animation was of much lower quality than you would expect from a Studio Ghibli film.
The movie was also mature and would not appeal to families. In fact, the worst part ofOcean Waveswas that the target audience was primarily teenagers. While times may be changing, an animated film geared towards a teenage audience is one of theworst things you could have, as most teenagers wouldn’t be caught dead watching a cartoon. Taking everything into account, GKids decided that the film would not be embraced the same way other Studio Ghibli films were, and decided to cut costs by not producing a dub.
Ironically, theywouldgive it one thing that the movie didn’t receive in Japan: a theatrical release. It was an extremely limited one though, and basically was done to promote the upcoming BluRay. So unpopular is this film in America that it has yet to appear in any of the yearlyGhibli Feststhat take place in theaters every year. While it’s hard to watchOcean Wavesand not feel that it pales in comparison to many of their other films from the studio, maybe the best way to approach it is to compare it to movies on Lifetime and the Hallmark Channel, and then the film becomes a LOT better (just be prepared to read subtitles)!
