Tales from Earthsea (film)

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Tales from Earthsea ゲド戦記
Image:Gedo6sn.jpg
Directed by	Gorō Miyazaki
Produced by	Toshio Suzuki Tomohiko Ishii
Written by	Ursula K. Le Guin (novel) Gorō Miyazaki Keiko Niwa
Music by	Tamiya Terashima
Release date(s)	Image:Flag of Japan (bordered).svg July 29, 2006 Image:Flag of South Korea (bordered).svg August 10, 2006 Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg September 2006 Image:Flag of Hong Kong.svg October 26 2006 Image:Flag of Spain.svg 2006 Image:Flag of France.svg 2007 Image:Flag of the United States.svg 2009
Language	Japanese
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Tales from Earthsea (ゲド戦記, Gedo Senki^?, loosely Ged's War Chronicles) is a feature anime film from Studio Ghibli, released in Japan on July 29, 2006,<ref name="ged_release">Studio Ghibli website (release date) (Japanese). Retrieved on 2006-06-02.</ref> to be distributed in the USA by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by first-timer Gorō Miyazaki, son of Hayao Miyazaki. The movie is based primarily on the third book of the Earthsea series, The Farthest Shore, by Ursula K. Le Guin. A manga adaption of the film has been published in Japan.

1 Plot Summary
2 History
3 Staff
4 Voice Cast
5 Trailer
6 Reaction and Box Office
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Plot Summary

Something bizarre has come over the land. The kingdom is deteriorating. People are beginning to act strangely... What's even more strange is that people are beginning to see dragons, which shouldn't enter the world of humans. Due to all these bizarre events, Ged, a wandering wizard, is investigating the cause. During his journey, he meets Prince Arren, a distraught teenage boy. While Arren may look like a shy young teen, he has a severe dark side, which grants him strength, hatred, ruthlessness and has no mercy, especially when it comes to protecting Teru. For the witch Kumo this is a perfect opportunity. She can use the boy's "fears" against the very one who would help him, Ged.

[edit] History

This feature film from Studio Ghibli is the first film adaptation of any part of the Earthsea series. In the past, numerous directors have attempted to adapt the Earthsea cycle for film only to be refused by the author herself.<ref>Sankei Sports (14). ジブリ新作は「ゲド戦記」！宮崎駿氏の長男・吾朗氏が初監督 (The Next Film from Ghibli is "Ged's War Chronicles": Son of Hayao Miyazaki, Gorō to Direct for the First Time) (Japanese). goo Anime. Retrieved on 2006-10-08.</ref>. Hayao Miyazaki had also desired to create an anime version of the cycle, before he made Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.<ref name="shuffle">Article about the anime by Shuffle Alliance, a Taiwan anime club. Retrieved on 2006-06-18.</ref> In 2003, after winning an Oscar for his film Spirited Away, he received approval but was busy directing Howl's Moving Castle. On behalf of Studio Ghibli, his son Gorō Miyazaki took charge of this film adaptation.

[edit] Staff

Producer: Toshio Suzuki
Assistant Producer: Tomohiko Ishii
Original Story: The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin
Original Concept: Journey of Shuna by Hayao Miyazaki
Screenplay: Goro Miyazaki and Keiko Niwa
Storyboard: Goro Miyazaki
Music: Tamiya Terashima
Art director: Youji Takeshige
Animation director: Takeshi Inamura
Assistant director: Akihiko Yamashita
Color Design: Michiyo Yasuda
Image Director: Atsushi Okui
Theme Song Composition: Akino Arai and Hisaaki Hogari
Theme Song Lyrics: Akino Arai and Goro Miyazaki
Theme Song Performance: Aoi Teshima
Animation Production: Studio Ghibli
Director: Goro Miyazaki
Distribution: Toho
Produced in cooperation with Tokuma Shoten, Studio Ghibli, NTV, Disney, Hakuhodo, Dentsu, d-rights and Toho

[edit] Voice Cast

The movie stars the following actors:

[edit] Trailer

Image:Gedo Senki trailer (NTV) - Theru.jpg

The three-minute Japanese trailer was first shown in Japanese cinemas starting Saturday 24 February 2006. It was aired on NTV on 23 February 2006 (the day the trailer was completed.<ref name="blog23">Translation of Gorō Miyazaki's Blog (page 23). Retrieved on 2006-05-30.</ref>)
The trailers were made by Keiichi Itagaki, who has been responsible for trailers for all the other Ghibli films up to now.
Theo Le Guin, Ursula K. Le Guin's son, viewed the Japanese trailer and said about it "The images are really beautiful. The song too, it's not like something from Hollywood, but felt really like Ghibli."<ref name="blog32">Translation of Gorō Miyazaki's Blog (page 32). Retrieved on 2006-05-30.</ref>

Studio Ghibli released the First Trailer and Second Trailer on their official web site.

1st Trailer, April 13, 2006
2nd Trailer, May 15, 2006

[edit] Reaction and Box Office

The film reached No.1 at the Japanese Box Office on its opening week with a gross of over 900 million yen, or approximately 7.7 million USD,<ref>Tales from Earthsea Tops Japanese Box Office</ref> pushing Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest to second place and became the number one movie in the country for five weeks,<ref>Ranking at Eiga.com from 2006-08-15 (Japanese)</ref> until it was pushed out of the top spot when X-Men: The Last Stand was released.<ref> Box Office Japan's Weekly Statistics</ref> This number is a large opening gross by Japanese moviegoing standards due to Japan having some of the highest admission prices in the world, which makes people shy away from theater trips. Toho (the Japanese distributor) is hoping this film makes 10 billion yen, trying to put it up as one of the highest grossing at the Japanese box office.

Ursula K. LeGuin, the author of the Earthsea Series, was disappointed in the film from her review on her website. LeGuin commended the visual animation in the film but complained that the plot and the content had been changed drastically. Her initial response to Goro Miyazaki was, "It is not my book. It is your movie. It is a good movie." Other information in LeGuin's review lends credence to rumor that the project was wrested from the elder Miyazaki's hands by a production board that was anxious to guard against his impending retirement by identifying a worthy successor.<ref name="GedoSenkiResponse">A First Response to Gedo Senki on Ursula K. Le Guin's official website. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.</ref>

[edit] References

v • d • e</span> Studio Ghibli Films
Pre Ghibli Films
Hols: Prince of the Sun (1968) • Panda! Go, Panda! (1972) • Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro (1977) • Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Ghibli Films
Castle in the Sky (1986) • My Neighbor Totoro (1988) • Grave of the Fireflies (1988) • Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) • Only Yesterday (1991) • Porco Rosso (1992) • Ocean Waves (1993) • Pom Poko (1994) • Whisper of the Heart (1995) • Princess Mononoke (1997) • My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999) • Spirited Away (2001) • The Cat Returns (2002) • Howl's Moving Castle (2004) • Tales from Earthsea (2006)
Studio Ghibli Shorts
Nandarou (1992) • On Your Mark (1995) • Ghiblies (2000) • Ghiblies Episode II (2002) • Mei and the Kittenbus (2003) • The Night of Taneyamagahara (2006)
See also...
Ghibli Museum • Katsuya Kondō • Yoshifumi Kondō • Gorō Miyazaki • Hayao Miyazaki • Kazuo Oga • Yasuo Ōtsuka • Toshio Suzuki • Isao Takahata •