by Studio Ghibli’s ” When Marnie Was There” will be aired on Nippon Television’s “Friday Road Show” from 9:00 pm on January 13, 2018. Director Hayao Miyazaki and director Isao Takahata are known to be the first Ghibli films that have nothing to do with production. I want to look back on it.
” When Marnie Was There ” was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 88th Academy Awards. It is also known as a work of “firsts,” with an external art director ( Yohei Taneda ) invited and the setting set in Hokkaido. Still, the original is British writer Joan G. Robinson’s children’s literature of the same name.
It will be Anna, a 12-year-old girl who lost her parents when she was young and was raised by her adoptive parents. Anna, who has closed her heart to her surroundings because of her, decides to spend time in a seaside village where her adoptive mother Yoriko’s relatives live to treat her asthma.
In that village, an old mansion faces the cove, and Anna is drawn to the mansion, which the villagers call the “wetland mansion.” For some reason, there was always a mysterious blond girl in the swamp mansion that began to appear in her dreams. It spells out the mysterious “fateful encounter” of one summer that visits pure and dedicated girls.
[Voice Appearance]
Anna: Sara Takatsuki
Marnie: Kasumi Arimura Yoriko
: Nanako Matsushima
Kiyomasa Oiwa : Susumu Terajima
Setsu Oiwa : Tokii Negishi
Secret thoughts of Sara Takatsuki and Kasumi Arimura
Both of them participated in the audition of 300 people and won the big role. Let’s look at what kind of feelings they had from their comments.
Takatsuki: It would be a shame if I wasted this chance. I was devastated, thinking, You failed.'' Then Ghibli contacted me and said,Please come again,” Director Yonebayashi handed me the script, saying, “Thank you.” For a moment, I didn’t know what it meant I didn’t know, but when I heard that I had passed, I was so happy that I couldn’t tell if it was a dream or reality.”
Arimura: On the spot, I was handed Anna and Marnie’s character settings and excerpts of their lines, and from there, I was allowed to act out the characters as I imagined them for about 10 minutes. I have yet to gain experience as a voice actor. However, I remember expressing my emotions more than I usually do. I don’t want to be nervous because I overthink, so I enjoy it and do my best. I can’t say anything about whether or not I passed the exam. However, I thought, ‘I can pass the year with this’ as much as I did it (laughs).”
Director Yonebayashi and producer Yoshiaki Nishimura told Takatsuki at the time that they decided to use her because “there are problems with her voice.” The true meaning of these words is not that there is a problem with Takatsuki’s voice. It is said that the appointment has been decided. On the other hand, Arimura had auditioned for “The Tale of Princess Kaguya ” in 2011, not long after her debut, and said, “At that time, I didn’t have much experience, so I failed. There may have been,” he revealed at the time.
He refused once!?
Director Yonebayashi offered to shoot another film after ‘The Borrower Arrietty’ but revealed that he once declined the offer for this film at the time of its release in 2014.
The reason is that he had difficulty reading the original and drawing with animation. However, after that, when she tried to remove an image board, she gradually became motivated to create, and it seemed that her heart was moved.
The stage that Hayao Miyazaki imagined was the Seto Inland Sea.
This work is set in Hokkaido, but Setouchi was the stage that Hayao Miyazaki, who liked the original, had in mind.
Still, in the end, it was produced in Hokkaido’s Kushiro Marsh, Nemuro, and Akkeshi, in line with the image that Director Yonebayashi had.
TEAM NACS’ big success
TEAM NACS, a theater unit consisting of Hiroyuki Morisaki, Ken Yasuda, Shigeyuki Betsugi, Yo Oizumi, and Takuma Otoo, has shown a spectacular performance in this work.
Five people were in charge of post-recording for nearly 20 people. Morisaki is the art teacher, Yasuda is the taciturn eleven, Totsugi is Marnie’s father, Oizumi is the doctor Yamashita, and Otoo is the neighborhood association officer. I finished it with five people.
Two great masters are highly acclaimed.
It is said that Director Miyazaki often leaves midway through without watching until the end.
In addition, Director Takahata also sent a lengthy email on two A4 pages to Producer Nishimura, praising Yonebayashi’s work.
