Peter Laird Advocating Usagi Animated series....

[Fanfan]

Studio Ghibli do seem to be one of the more successful makers to gain success in the West.

Studio Ghibli was created in 1984, rights were managed by Tokuma, in 1996 during crisis in Japan and in particular of Tokuma financial crash, Disney through Buena Vista negociated with Tokuma an arrangement (Hayao Miyazaki was angry at this time...). Before Disney lost its entairtainement trust they did not exploited their new rights, and now large audience can watch movie that are old ones (except Castle of Howl, and Mononoke when it released).

anyway, here a little samurai animation film :
http://www.aantin.com/films/lepapillon.php

[Todd Shogun]

Robotech and Voltron were two of my favorite shows growing up as a kid. Tanzor Z, Macron 1, Battle of the Planets, and a few others were also on the list, but those first two really opened up my eyes to the world of Anime. And I knew they were Anime, thanks to certain asian friends at school as well as my local comic book store. It was the book Robotech Art 1 which fully educated me on this fascinating new world.

I see Akira too though, as a highly pivotal point in the history of Anime in America. Everything else before it was really somewhat butchered and converted to fit the American marketplace. Titles were changed, storylines re-written, dialog re-invented to what the licensees considered better suited for Americans. How wrong they were... Akira broke that mould by being presented as simply a dubbed version of the original, and while not 100% pure, was light years beyond what had been done previously. I also have to give major props to Appleseed and Bubblegum Crisis (presented subbed as opposed to dubbed), for solidifying the Anime revolution in America. After that, it was unthinkable to re-invent Anime series for an "American" audience, a least in my opinion. Thanks to fan-based organizations for their fan-subbed work, as well as Streamline, US Manga Corps, Animeigo, and AD Vision, we've been treated to Anime the way it was meant to be...true to the original Japanese versions.

[tayocham]

Personally, I've always resented the fact that most animation in this country falls into one of two catagories: kids shows or "Fritz the Cat." If it's not one extreme, it's the other. There really seems to be no middle ground to speak of which makes me wonder if an Usagi TV series would be successful.

If it were me, I'd like to see it done as a mini-series and, if that did well, a feature film. That's really the only way I can think of to get all the characters introduced.

[Cosmo]

There really seems to be no middle ground to speak of which makes me wonder if an Usagi TV series would be successful.

I guess it's because comic books and cartoons haven't been yet integrated among the "standard" media : written press, radio, television... Only in Japan they did find their own place.

On the French UY Dojo, we've been discussing of the place of comic books in French television. Here, we have eighteen brand-new free-to-air digital channels, including quite high-brow public networks... and yet, only one 15-minute show every two weeks about comic books, broadcasted on the equivalent of C-SPAN. Sad.

[Owens-san]

If resembling the comics, this UY project would possibly be on the high end of PG. It certainly wouldn't be any higher than PG-13 since there is no vulgarity involved. And, it seems the violence would have to be awfully extreme or frequent to warrant a PG-13! For this reason, I have to think you people are crazy for using the term "adult" in this way. All the anime shown on AdultSwim is only "big kid" animation. Anyone who believes different is deceiving themselves.

On the topic of an animated Usagi production, it would be great in a limited format. A regular series would be overexposure. Movies would be a great medium though, concise and easy to follow. With a series, the epic storylines lose their punch.

In all honesty, my first exposure to Usagi was the two TMNT episodes he appeared in back in '89. That particular portrayal of him was astounding. In what I saw as a comic franchise being increasingly mocked by its handlers, Usagi's character brought the toddler-humor under control for his stay. Usagi immediately became a hero to me. He was such an admirable character that I immediately set out to find more stories about Usagi. To this day, I still think of those episodes as two of the best.

My advice to Mr. Laird: "Quit pushing before we never get to see Usagi on screen again!" You guys (and girls?) can deliver the message for me. I'm gone.

[Cosmo]

Usagi immediately became a hero to me. He was such an admirable character that I immediately set out to find more stories about Usagi. To this day, I still think of those episodes as two of the best.

Well, you haven't heard the French dubbing. Ouch, poor Usagi, he had a sore throat.

Usually, the French dubbing wasn't that bad, we've got pretty good comedians here. Somebody in the dubbing crew may have thought a falsetto voice was appropriate for a cute little bunny, even one with a sword.

[Robweiller]

Somebody in the dubbing crew may have thought a falsetto voice was appropriate for a cute little bunny, even one with a sword.

That's the problem with the French voicing the cartoons in general. It seems to me that people responsible for casting the French-speaking voice actors judge the cartoon characters by their appearance only.

[Cosmo]

Well, it's not always the case. Adult cartoons like The Simpsons or South Park are very nicely voiced here, I even remember Matt Groening saying the French version of the show was one of the best.

And, without offence, Robweiller : Polish dubbings are awful. Every time I see a US series dubbed in Polish (or any other Eastern Europe language), it's voiced by only ONE guy, who dubs every character with the same loud, monotonous voice...

Problems of budget, neh ?

[Robweiller]

Well, it's not always the case. Adult cartoons like The Simpsons or South Park are very nicely voiced here, I even remember Matt Groening saying the French version of the show was one of the best.

Yeah, I've heard that South Park in French is awesome and worth watching. Might want to watch it one of these days. Nevertheless, I hated "Decter's Laboratory" in French.

And, without offence, Robweiller : Polish dubbings are awful. Every time I see a US series dubbed in Polish (or any other Eastern Europe language), it's voiced by only ONE guy, who dubs every character with the same loud, monotonous voice...

Problems of budget, neh ?

Well, that wasn't dubbed at all. We have movies dubbed with different voices (mostly cartoons and kid's shows), with subtitles and with a lector (most of the foreign TV-shows, that stinks).

.. and how come you watch a US series dubbed in Polish?

[Cosmo]

We have some Eastern Europe channels by satellite (Hot Bird, or Astra in a lesser extent), I've always loved watching exotic channels. But things may have changed recently about Polish dubbing : the US series I'm particularly thinking of was The Little House on the Prairie, it's quite an old show. When was it first shown in Poland, I'm curious... (probably not before '89 or '90)

But I'm digressing. By the way, what language Usagi is supposed to talk in the TMNT crossovers ? Japanese, probably ? Unless he's got a Babel fish in his long ears ?

[Fanfan]

.. and how come you watch a US series dubbed in Polish? Shocked

i was wondering too...

We have the two extrems in France, French dubbing can be awesome, or the worst thing you can find (you know like those internationals bad dubbing of HK movies, about this Kung Pow was very funny)... and now for long metrage, they use some famous people to make voices, i cannot bear this...

Robweiller, quand t'inscris tu sur le dojo français ?

[Robweiller]

We have some Eastern Europe channels by satellite (Hot Bird, or Astra in a lesser extent), I've always loved watching exotic channels. But things may have changed recently about Polish dubbing : the US series I'm particularly thinking of was The Little House on the Prairie, it's quite an old show. When was it first shown in Poland, I'm curious... (probably not before '89 or '90)

The Little House on the Prairie with Michael Landon? Yuck, I remember that show from my early childhood. Well... the lector's voice was mediocre in fact, I agree. But hey, that show was aired here many many years ago... And to be honest, I don't remember it has ever re-run ever since.

And we had some American TV-series before 1989, don't worry - tho' I'm probably not the most competent guy to say anything about that, as I was only six in 1989. But that's true we receive helluva more of them after that year. Like the TMNT.
And that's how we returned on the right track of this topic.

Oh - and I'm basing my own experience with the French dubbing mostly on the shows aired on Club Dorothe, TF1 perhaps.

But I'm digressing. By the way, what language Usagi is supposed to talk in the TMNT crossovers ? Japanese, probably ? Unless he's got a Babel fish in his long ears ?

As Raphael of the TMNT wisely stated in "Usagi Yojimbo": He's not only from medieval Japan, but also from an alternate universe. So naturally, he speaks English.. Some of the TMNT fans claim that the turtles know Japanese in fact, as Splinter must have taught them this language. But I don't really share that point of view.

Robweiller, quand t'inscris tu sur le dojo français ?

Je l'ai fait aujourd'hui.

[Todd Shogun]

Good point... because in the first crossover, Rabbit Stew, they speak different languages... but in The Crossing and the following stories, they can understand each other. It hasn't been suggested if the TMNT are speaking Japanese or not, but most likely they are. In Shades, they were conjured up from actual living turtles by a Japanese wizard. Most likely something was done to make them understand each other. But what about the previous stories? Perhaps it was Kakera all along who brought Leonardo into Usagi's universe those first three times as "test runs" to what he planned to do for the village. Perhaps he could envision the future or something, did some test-crossovers to bring one of the TMNT close to Usagi's vicinity...

Personally, I think it best we just ignore the holes in the continuity for now... it's too difficult to come up with explanations for things which are obviously simple glitches associated with crossovers. These are comic books after all ...anything can happen... (That's not to say you shouldn't continue to come up with explanations, but I for one am done!)