From: gavigan@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (Ryan P. Gavigan)
Subject: Dubbed Totoro report from Miyazaki list
Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 93 03:02:18 GMT

Here is a report David Goldsmith wrote about the Dubbed Totoro put on the
Miyazaki Mailing list, and since i didn't see it here, I thought I'd put 
it up for others to see.

Following from David Goldsmith:

                      Dubbed Totoro report
My daughter Jane (3 1/2) and I went to see the dubbed Totoro at today's Foothill
 Anime meeting. Unfortunately, although the netnews schedule said it would start
 at 2, the posted schedule when we got there at 2 said it started at 1:30, and
 judging by the place in the movie, it had been over 40 minutes. So, we missed
 more than half the movie )8{. (I didn't get there early because I don't think a
 three year old would sit through "Record of Lodoss War", nor would I, for that
 matter ;-)).

Apparently, it was the Streamline dub of Totoro (at least, that's what someone
 said afterwards), and it look like it had been taped off a Hong Kong TV
 station, as there were commercial breaks edited out (brief flashes of a station
 logo) and it was subtitled in Chinese.

Although my daughter got a big kick out of hearing the dialogue in English (as
 well as providing running commentary despite my requests for quiet -- "It's not
 the normal bus!"), I have to say I was disappointed.

First of all, as usual, Streamline changed the dialogue around, although not too
 badly. Satsuki was renamed "Akimi" or something like that, and the Kusakabe
 family was changed to "Kitagawa" or something like that. Why is beyond me, but
 so is all the other stuff Macek has done. The rest of it was reasonable
 faithful to the movie, although there was an occasional awful change (Mom's
 line at the end, "When I get home, I'm really going to spoil them!" was changed
 to "When I get well I'm going to be a good mother!" to which dad replied "But
 you already are!". Gag.) I don't know why Streamline feels they have to make
 changes like this. However, it wasn't enough to spoil the movie as the flavor
 of the original was preserved for the most part.

By far the most disappointing part was the voice acting. Satsuki and Mei were
 both mediocre, coming across as adults trying (not very well) to sound like
 kids. Now of course, in the Japanese version the voice actors are adults as
 well, but they sound a lot more like kids to me (as a parent). They were both a
 little too whiny, and the actress for Satsuki seemed to have difficulty with
 the high voice, which reduced her emotional range (or maybe she was just a bad
 actor).

Mom had a British accent, which was quite interesting considering no one else in
 the family did (so did Kanta's mother). Other than that, Mom, Dad, Kanta, and
 Grannie all came across quite well. Totoro was so-so (his voice and that of the
 Catbus must have been on the dialogue track rather than sound effects, and so
 they had to be redone), sounding a little too human. I though the catbus was
 going to be left out entirely, as he was silent when he first showed up, but
 they had a reasonable voice at the end (it actually sounded more catlike than
 the Japanese version). The music and sound effects tracks were identical to the
 Japanese version, although it seemed the mixing was different (they seemed
 louder relative to the dialogue).

All in all, I felt like the voice acting and dialogue tinkering really reduced
 the quality of the movie. I was amazed at how different an impression came
 across. I actually think Streamline did a better job on Castle Cagliostro (only
 one really bad voice actor, Clarisse, although they messed up the dialogue far
 more). If this is the version that Tokuma brings to the U.S., I do not think
 Totoro will get the kind of reception it deserves. I happen to think it's one
 of the best children's films of all time, and I was saddened to see it spoiled
 to this extent. Not a terrible job, just second rate, and this movie deserves
 better than that. Maybe people who had not seen the original would feel
 differently.

David Goldsmith
david_goldsmith@taligent.com