skyjedi2005 said:
What i find damn near impossible is to find all the open matte versions of the studio ghibli films released on vhs or dvd worldwide is getting very difficult.
I think howl's moving castle may be the only movie of miyazaki's only available matted in wisdescreen and no pan and scan or open matte release.
The only full frame release of nausicaa was the badly butchered warriors of the wind.
The only Ghibli movies I know of being released in 4:3 are Princess Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro. And that was only in the US with only Totoro getting a 4:3 dvd release. I think even the Japanese vhs Hi-vision transfers were letterboxed. Even the 2003 US vhs releases of Laputa and Spirited Away are letterboxed.
Both Kiki and Laputa were dubbed by Disney in 1998. But only Kiki was released on a dubbed 4:3 vhs and a special letterboxed version with original Japanese and English subtitles. (Even though there was a preview trailer for Castle in the Sky on the Kiki tape.) In 2003, both movies were released to dvd and vhs. Rather than spend money on 2 different transfers, the Castle in the Sky vhs was letterboxed using (I assume) the same (crappy edge enhanced) widescreen master as the dvd. I would think this was to avoid spending money on pan & scan. I would think they would have made the vhs 4:3 if all it required was removing the mattes. I'm also pretty sure Kiki also got a vhs rerelease in '03 but I don't know if that was still 4:3 or widescreen like the dvd.
Someone could compare the 1998 4:3 Kiki vhs to the '98 letterbox to the '03 dvd. This only has dvd comparisons.
Kiki: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/kikisdelivery.htm
Or better yet, I have the book The Art of Kiki's Delivery Service. It includes many still pictures of frames and most appear to be 1.85:1 ratio. Some are different but those are either backgrounds or cel art. (Some of the backgrounds would be used to track across or up/down.) Watching the R1 dvd (on a computer with no overscan), in many scenes, the dvd frame was cropped compared to the cel art on all 4 sides. The last frame on the dvd beaver comparison can be seen on page 146 without credits. Interestingly, in the cel art, I can see the older woman's face while each dvd frame cuts her off. The cel art also shows more on both sides but the R3 dvd has more on the bottom.
Viz media also has released art books for Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle and Porco Rosso.
The US video trailer for Castle in the Sky is 4:3, you could always compare those parts. Does anybody know where that music is from? I've also heard it on ESPN promos for golf tournaments.
The only comparison with a 4:3 example I could find was for Totoro. Additional comparison of the opening and closing credits may be of interest since those are letterboxed on the fox release.
Totoro: http://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2498
Mononoke: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare7/princessmono5.htm
Nausicaa: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare9/nausica.htm
And because it's my favorite, Whisper of the Heart: http://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3822