7/10
The difference between Warriors of the Wind and Nausicaa
16 May 1999
Miyazaki's Nausicaa, of the Valley of the Wind, is deeply moving, but in the dubbed version (Warriors of the Wind) that poignancy is lost due to the extensive reinterpretation of the film. Over 20 minutes were cut, as that company wanted to make it more an animated action movie for its targeted market, rather than attempt to portray the subtleties of human nature. Thus, they edited the "slow" scenes that gave the film so much of its bittersweet feeling. Nausicaa is renamed as "Princess Zandra," and the sweet-sounding Japanese voice actress for Nausicaa is replaced with the voice of Rocky from Bullwinkle. Although the first time I saw Nausicaa was in the dubbed format, I still found that the cinematography and music were breathtaking. I only recently was able to see the uncut version in Japanese, and was shocked to see how much of it was butchered in Warriors of the Wind. It has been recorded that Miyazaki was horrified at what had been done to his beautiful film. Perhaps it was good that that happened, because (for those who are aware of Disney's plans to translate his creations) he will not allow his films to be touched in any way, allowing only for a direct translation. Therefore, should Disney change anything about his anime, it would be an illegal action.
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