Update on Miyazaki's version of "Tales of Earthsea"

[gategrrl]

Here's the link to Ursula Le Guin's site, which has an English synopsis of Miyazaki's version of the last two books "The Farthest Shore" and "Tehanu" -- anyway -
http://www.ursulakleguin.com/GedoSenkiSynopsis.html

It's interesting to see how Miyazaki adapts Le Guin's story (as he did Wynne Davies' "Howl's Moving Castle") to the screen. I don't know how fans of the books feel about the new movie versions (I never got into the books when I was a kid).

**edited to correct the book title the movie is derived from)

Comments

Re: probably will at least be watchable, unlike the last adaptation.

[gategrrl.livejournal.com]

I did with Earthsea what I do with less-than-compelling Stargate episodes (and Atlantis eps) - I wander off, do chores, dishes, wander back in the room, etc. It was a piss-poor adaptation of Le Guin's books. I guess expecting the same level of thoughtfulness as PBS's 1972/3 version of "Lathe of Heaven" was to much to ask for: and they had a smaller budget, not to mention fewer special effects to afford.

I think my least favorite of Miyazaki's films so far is "Whisper of the Heart". There were elements I loved, such as the girl's family; they were very progressive, really, and *real*. But fortunately, I think his "messaging" tends to have a much lighter hand than say, Disney or Pixar. Animators tend to seem obligated to have a "message" in their stories, buried in there, or out in plain view.

And oh my: I already have the original translated version of Totoro - I'm wondering if the new Disney version is worth getting. I wonder if the dialogue is a copy of the earlier version, like much of the Disney's translated Kiki's Delivery Service was.