Duckielover151 said:That makes a lot more sense-- her being 16 at the time. I also liked Paquin's performance as Sheeta, her confrontation with Muska especially. (It was just a really good scene in general, after spending the rest of the movie running away from her pursuers.) Honestly, I was surprised when I started going through reviews and forum posts on this site and found so many people who disliked her in the role.
No problem. I like to research movies and/or dubs I love (in this case, this film). But don't worry, there aren't as many people who dislike Paquin's turn as Sheeta. When you look online it might seem that way, but in real life, there are plenty of people who think she did a fine job. They're just a silent majority. You can't always use the internet to gauge whether a dub is universally reviled or not. In real life it may not be the case.
That said, yes, it DOES bother me whenever I hear people talk smack about dubs I love, even performances I am fond of. For some reason, the Ghibli dubs really seem to get it bad. I've seen a bit of a bias against some of the actors chosen for these roles, and one of the most outrageous insults I have heard is "this actor is an awful actor and an even worse voice actor". Honestly, that's no way to evaluate a performance. While I can agree that some of the choices were less ideal than others, I could never say anything legitimately bad about the Ghibli dubs. (I only had issues with the lead in THE WIND RISES, which I wasn't fond of as a film, and the rap song in the closing credits of PONYO.) But I've never been bothered by the occasional extra sprinkling of dialogue in KIKI and CASTLE and I especially love Joe Hisaishi's glorious restore in the latter film. And yet, purists decried both as "crimes against all humanity." Yet removing both has caused fans of both dubs in their original forms to speak up.
It's because of attitudes like this that I've decided to forge my own path about being an Anime fan, especially as a dub watcher. I prefer to evaluate dubs on their own terms, not in comparison to the Japanese. For the record I DID see this film one time in Japanese, but I don't consider it any better or worse than Disney's dub, only different. At the risk of blasphemy, I'm not a particularly huge fan of Pazu or Sheeta's Japanese counterparts. Although I recognize Miyazaki had his reasons for choosing them, I did find both to be a tad too shrill for my tastes. James, while perhaps a bit more teenage-sounding, is at least pleasant on the ears and puts a lot more energy into his performance than given credit. Paquin, too, does bring a lot of warmth to her role, the occasional missed line notwithstanding. And her accent actually isn't fake; she DOES switch accents from New Zealander to American in real life, especially when she talks with friends she grew up with in NZ. I always thought the accent was a nice touch to the role.
Sorry if I sound long-winded, but I am pretty passionate about this. |
