![]() ![]() The Japanese cast is the usual mix of prolific voice actors familiar to anime fans and a few primarily live-action movie actors like Asao Koike, the longtime Daiei and Toei player seen in myriad yakuza and chanbara movies. ![]() Lucifer is a prince in the Japanese version, but a king in the American the princess is Rosa in Japan but Rose in America, and Pierre for a time assumes the identity of Duke Caraba in the Japanese dub, but Prince Carabas in the American version.) (It's interesting to note the subtle differences in the English and Japanese scripts, which include minor name changes. Pierre is presumably an older teenager or young man of about 17-18 years of age, but the Japanese version casts the very feminine Toshiko Fujita in the part the Japanese tend to like androgynous casting in these young leading man parts, but to American ears it sounds more than a little strange. The English voice actors, sadly uncredited here (though this reviewer heard what sounded like Corinne Orr and Billie Richards in various roles) give performances worthy of those found in the best Disney or Pixar films, and in at least one respect improves upon the Japanese version. The unusually good dubbing retains all the songs with new English lyrics which are often very different from but always in keeping with the spirit of the story and which remain true to the characters. Discotek's excellent DVD offers both the original Japanese soundtrack with English subtitles, as well as an English track apparently dating from what appears to have been a direct-to-TV syndication release courtesy AIP-TV. The film's strong suits are its charming songs by Seiichiro Uno, who scored many of Toei's animated features, and the basic appeal of the story and its tale of adventure, friendships, and romance. The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots borrows liberally not only from Cinderella but especially Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, with the articulate cat in the Cyranno part, and Pierre sitting in for Christian de Neuvillette. One of these would-be grooms, the appropriately-named Lucifer (Asao Koike) eventually kidnaps the princess, and it's up to Pero and Pierre to rescue her. Pero encourages Pierre to seek the hand of Princess Rose (Rumi Sakakibara) whose father, the King (Keaton Masuda), is in the process of screening potential suitors. Down but not out, Pero and Pierre decide to seek their fortune together. He eventually meets Pierre (Toshiko Fujita), a young lad who lives like Cinderella with two greedy siblings, Daniel and Lemone, who cheat Pierre out of his share of their father's estate. Needless to say, the film's budget can't compete with the deep pockets of Disney, but the film is quite entertaining on its own terms and though overlong is notably superior to Toei's later Animal Treasure Island (Dobutsu Takarajima, 1971), another Discotek release.Ĭondemned for having spared the life of a rat, the puss of the title, Pero (voiced in the Japanese version by Susumu Ishikawa), dressed like a kitty-cat musketeer, escapes execution, fleeing into the night. ![]() Their earliest ventures were based on Japanese and Chinese fairy and folk tales, but The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots, a free adaptation of Charles Perrault's classic story, is more overtly crafted in the Disney mold. Regarded as something of a high water mark in early Japanese feature animation, The Wonderful World of Puss 'n Boots (Nagagutsu o haita neko, also "Puss 'n Boots," 1969) was produced by Toei Studios' animation division, which from the late-1950s through the early-1970s was virtually the sole producer of feature animation in Japan, cranking out about one title per year. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |