Tenkuu no Shiro Rapyuta (Laputa: The Castle in the Sky)

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Laputa was dubbed into English by Carl Macek.  It was shown at a few art house theaters in the US and has also been shown at least twice on TV in Britain.  It is said to be a OK dub.  The dub is included in the Ghibli LD Box Set (See below) with English available on the right analogue track.

Disney has redubbed it for the global release.  It has been renamed "Castle in the Sky" (since "Laputa" is a rather offensive word in Spanish).  Disney is now considering to release "Castle" in theaters, not just on video, but nothing has been decided yet.  Joe Hisaishi is redoing the music to make it more suitable for theatrical release and the American market.  He started recording new pieces in March, 1999 and wrapped up on May 10, 1999.  The trailer available in "Kiki's Delivery Service" video (English dub) says that "Castle" is coming out in 1999, but the official web site of Joe Hisaishi says that he was told by Disney that it is coming out in year 2000.

Anna Paquin ("The Piano") plays the role of Sheeta, James Van Der Beek ("Dawson's Creek") plays Pazu (now called "Patzu"), Mark Hamill ("Star Wars") plays Muska, and Cloris Leachman plays Dola. Mandy Patinkin and Michael McShane are also in the voice cast.

Video: ¥4,500 Letterboxed, Hi Fi Stereo, Digitally remastered. From Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Japan) Order number: VWSZ-8014 Released on September 18, 1998.

Laserdisc: ¥12,463 (2 discs) Letterboxed, Stereo, Dolby Surround Encoded From Tokuma Japan Communications Order number: 128LX-8~9

It is also included in "Ghibli ga Ippai" LD Box set (13 disc set, TKLO 50180, from Tokuma Japan Communications). The box set costs about 1,000 dollars.

You can buy them from Anime importers such as:

• Nikaku Animart http://www.nikaku.com/
• The Place in Fremont http://www.the-place.com/
• Planet Anime in Houston >http://www.planetanime.com/
• Mikado Laserdisc in San Francisco http://www.mikadosf.com/

Please see Matt Francis's page http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/asbel/main.htm

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