If you’re an animation fan – a SERIOUS animation fan – you’re
going to want to be in Beverly Hills on Tuesday, July 28th.
Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki
Why For? Because on that night – and for that night only –
two animation legends will be sharing a stage. John Lasseter will be hosting “A Tribute to
Hayao Miyazaki” at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Where – in a rare stateside
appearance — this Japanese animation master will be showing clips from his films
as well as answering Lasseter ‘s questions
in regards to his career.
This extra-special event – which, truth be told, is the second
edition of the Marc Davis Celebration of Animation for 2009 — kind of took
toon fans by surprise. No one knew that such an event was even in the works ‘til
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued a press release back on
June 15th.
“So why is Hayao coming to Hollywood next month?,” you ask.
Well, the folks at the Academy would like you to believe that he’s coming to
town to check out their “ANIME! High Art – Pop Culture” exhibit (Which will be
on display in the Grand Lobby & Fourth Floor gallery space at their Beverly Hills facility through August 23rd).
But – truth be told – Miyazaki’s actually flying in to LA to do some publicity
for the North American, English-speaking version of his newest film, “Ponyo on the
Cliff by the Sea.”
Copyright 2009 Disney Enterprises LLC. All Rights Reserved
You see, the US version of “Ponyo” is being released by Walt
Disney Pictures on August 14th. And while this traditionally
animated film has already proven to be a hit in Japan (“Ponyo” grossed $160
million when it was released there during the Summer of 2008) … Well, because
of John’s longstanding friendship with Hayao, Pixar’s Grand Pooh-Bah would like
“Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” to become as big a hit as possible during its
Northern American run. Which is why this feature length cartoon will be opening
on over 800 screens, which is the most ever for a Miyazaki film in this part of
the world.
At Lasseter’s insistence, Disney put together a top quality
team to produce the English-speaking version of “Ponyo.” Which is why the Mouse
tapped Frank Marshall & Kathleen Kennedy to head up this project. And they –
in turn – recruited “E.T.” screenwriter Melissa Mathison to handle the English translation
of this animated feature’s screenplay.
Then Marshall & Kennedy rounded up A-listers like Matt
Damon, Liam Neeson and Tina Fey to do voicework for the North American version
of “Ponyo.” Then – with an eye toward making this Japanese animated feature easier
to promote for the Disney Channel crowd – Frank & Kathleen recruited Noah
Cyrus (i.e. Miley’s younger sister) to voice the film’s title character and
Frankie Jonas (i.e. The Bonus Jonas; Joe, Nick & Kevin’s younger brother)
to voice Sōsuke.
John Lasseter (L) greets Hayao Miyazaki during a 2002 visit to Pixar’s Emeryville Campus
So with an increased number of theaters as well as
considerable star power behind the North American, English-speaking version of “Ponyo
on the Cliff by the Sea,” Miyazaki’s latest film seems poised for considerable
box office success in the U.S. But to really
seal the deal here, Lasseter insisted that the Mouse’s marketing staff pull out
the big guns. Which is why Hayao will be doing several high profile interviews
while he’s in town next month (Which is kind of a big deal. Given that this
Japanese animation master is notorious for not liking to do
press). Not to mention having “Ponyo” be
the closing night film at the LA Film Festival on July 28th.
And then there’s that rather persistent rumor that Miyazaki
will be making his first-ever appearance at Comic-Con International, where “Ponyo
on the Cliff by the Sea” will be screened at least once over the course of this
four-day-long pop culture fest. (Mind you, Hayao isn’t the only associate-of-John-Lasseter
who may be dropping by the San Diego Convention Center this year. There’s also
been a lot of talk lately that Tim Burton may be coming to Comic Con. Better
yet, Burton’s supposedly bringing his
frequent collaborator Johnny Depp along with him. So that these two of them can
then talk up Walt Disney Pictures’ big release for March of 2010, “Alice in
Wonderland.” Or so say some folks who are in the know at the Mouse House …)
Anyway … Long story short here: To help support the August
14th release of the North American, English-speaking version of “Ponyo
on the Cliff by the Sea,” Miyazaki (who rarely travels outside of Japan) is
coming to the United States. And for one night only, Hayao will be on stage at
the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Where he’ll then be interviewed by John Lasseter.
Copyright 2009 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All Rights Reserved
Okay. Now for the bad news: The Academy’s Beverly Hills facility has very limited capacity (just ask
all of the folks who got turned away from April’s “Milt Kahl: The Animation
Michelangelo” event). And once 1,012 tickets for those seats in the Samuel
Goldwyn Theater are gone … That’s it, folks. Game over.
So if you really, really REALLY want to attend this tribute
to animation master Hayao Miyazaki … Tickets go on sale today at 9:01 a.m Pacific Time. And they’re guaranteed to go fast. So you probably want to be online at the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ website right as these tickets become available. Otherwise, you’ll miss out on the chance to attend this truly
once-in-a-lifetime event.
FYI: The official trailer for the North American, English-speaking version of “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea” went live online yesterday. If you’d like to get some sense of how Walt Disney Pictures plans on marketing this Studio Ghibli film, you should check this trailer out.