In most cases I prefer them. These dubs are unique given the efforts Disney put into these tracks vs. just your ordinary dub created on the cheap to satisfy that don't like movies with subtitles.

Lasseter is a huge fan of Miyazaki, and it's clear that he and his teams approach the dubs with great care and respect.

Howl's Moving Castle's dub is incredible, better than the native Japanese soundtrack. That isn't necessarily true in most cases but Disney takes their time dubbing Studio Ghibli's films.

I think Disney did a fine job with all of their Ghibli dubs. They love Miyasaki's movies and treated them with respect. Just my two cents.

good thing i have the original dvd that was released around the time of Spirited. Also has original subtitles

Meh. The Pixar dubs of Ghibli films suffer from too much celebrity stunt-casting.

The Howl's Moving Castle dub better than the Japanese? With Christian Bale grunting in his Batman voice the whole time and Billy Crystal doing his wildly inappropriate "New Yawker" schtick? No, just no. A million times no.

I remember reading that Miyasaki's personal favorite dub was the French language version of 'Porco Rosso' - he thought Jean Reno's voicing of the title character was perfect.

He should have been allowed to do the English dub as well. Keaton is great, Reno is better.

I forgot that Reno speaks English fluently too. I think that the Disney DVD actually does include the French dub as well as the English one.

It does.

Porco doesn't come out til next month - but I haven't seen any indication if the French dub is included.

Possibly incorrect, but Amazon on other listings state it will have English, Japanese, and French.

Hard to imagine them dumping the French given the same set is going to be released in Canada.

I know that this post was made more than a month ago but just in case you haven't bought it yet, the Blu-ray for Porco Rosso does contain a French dub in 2.0 DD.

I now have all of the Ghibli releases from Disney and although they are not perfect, I'm happy with them as the Japanese releases are too much for my budget.

I was so disappointed when I got Kiki's Delivery Service and saw they'd modified the English dub, removed Phil Hartman lines, and got rid of the American songs. Why not give us the option of listening to one or the other? Really glad I still have my DVD from 2003.

Why on Earth did they do that ?

This edit was originally done for the previous 2-disc DVD special edition. The blu-ray just maintains the same edit.

It's my understanding that the changes were made at the request of Studio Ghibli to make the english dub closer to the japanese release. The original version of the dub was done very early into Disney's contract and had additional lines of dialogue over shots that had no dialogue in the japanese version. These additional lines have now been removed. The english songs as well. The lack of an option may have to do with the contract or just to appease Studio Ghibli.

My complaint with this version though is that whenever anyone's voice raises too high in pitch, or they yell, the sound distorts some, like someone talking into a fan. I suspect that this was an unintentional byproduct of editing the dub and they don't care enough to fix it.

Costco coupon book for March 5-29 says $5 off Miyazaki DVD/BD. Pictured are Wind Rises, Totoro, Arietty, and Spirited Away.

I have them all as well. And as much as I appreciate the Japanese tracks, I usually end up watching these in English with my young daughter. When she is old enough to keep up with the subtitles, maybe the Japanese tracks will get more play.

How much would that come out to for each blu ray title?

Not sure since I don't shop very often at Costco.

do they include slipcover?

That all makes sense, but I've been watching my old DVD for over 10 years. I have no emotional connection to the original Japanese songs and don't associate them with this movie. Disney really should've given us that additional track and Ghibli should've allowed it. It also doesn't seem right to just erase one of Hartman's last performances.

Not all of Phil Hartman's part is removed. Just the extra lines that had no japanese equivalent.

I think it'll be $22.99 down to $17.99.

Any free passes for Costco out there, or do they do that kind of thing? We have one, but I've never been.