Tales from Earthsea (film)

• 1. Origins And Development History

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  In 1985, Ursula K. Le Guin received a call from Hayao Miyazaki through the bookseller Iwanami Shoten. She turned him down because she had not seen his films and associated animation with Disney output. Two decades passed before she changed her mind after watching My Neighbor Totoro in 1988. By 2003, Le Guin relayed her desire to have Earthsea animated through translator Hayao Miyazaki's son, Gorō. The senior Miyazaki initially opposed the idea, stating that his son lacked experience and could not even draw properly. Producer Toshio Suzuki worked behind the scenes to present a storyboard drawn by Gorō as rebuttal. Hayao eventually signed the deal but only agreed to be "held entirely responsible for the script." He never looked at his son's storyboard during production and remained on non-speaking terms until the film's first preview.

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• 2. Narrative Structure And Plot Deviations

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  A war galley sails through a storm while two dragons fight above the clouds, ending in one's death. In the kingdom of Enlad, royal wizard Root proclaims this event a sign of lost balance. Prince Arren kills his father, steals his sword, and flees the castle without explanation. He travels through the desert and is rescued from wolves by archmage Sparrowhawk. They reach Hort Town where Arren rescues Therru from slaver Hare before being captured himself. His sword gets dumped into the sea. Cob manipulates Arren into revealing his true name, Prince Lebannen, to control him. Tenar captures Hare as bait to lure Sparrowhawk into the castle. Therru frees herself and gives Arren back his sword. Cob opens the door between life and death to gain eternal life. The final battle sees Cob strangle Therru to death, yet she reveals her true form as a dragon with everlasting life. She kills Cob and rescues Arren before changing back into human form.

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• 3. Character Dynamics And Thematic Shifts

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  Prince Arren follows a shadow due to fear of death and darkness in his heart caused by collapsing world balance. Therru originally viewed Arren as immoral after he saved her from Hare because he seemed to lack respect for life. Their friendship developed when she saw his genuine compassion during their journey together. Cob acts as a maniacal androgynous warlock who escaped banishment to the Wastelands years ago. He upset the world's Balance to try gaining eternal life through killing people. Le Guin wrote that evil had been comfortably externalized in villain Kumo/Cob who can simply be killed. This solved all problems but contradicted her books which offered no simple answers to simplistic questions. Her books were not conceived in terms of such a war between good and evil. The film focused excitement too much around scenes of violence rather than moral complexity. Cob rapidly begins aging after losing his staff-holding hand. He uses last magic to strangle Therru to death instead of dying immediately.

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• 4. Production Challenges And Creative Choices

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  Hayao Miyazaki walked out for a smoke break during a screening of the film. He commented, "You shouldn't make a picture based on your emotions." When asked his thoughts, he said, "I was looking at my kid. He's not an adult yet. That is all." He later wrote a message stating it was made honestly so it was good. Producer Suzuki devised a plan to let Gorō direct since Hayao felt he lacked enthusiasm for animating Earthsea again. Hayao never once looked at his son's storyboard for the anime project. The original idea laying foundation for the film came from Hayao's graphic novel Shuna's Journey with many direct references especially character development. One drastic and gruesome deviation from the original novel involved killing father king by Arren at opening. This specific plot point was producer Suzuki's idea rather than Le Guin's vision. The senior Miyazaki only acknowledged his son's work upon its first preview in June or August 2005 when meeting Le Guin and her managing son in person.

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• 5. International Release And Distribution Barriers

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  Tales from Earthsea premiered in Japan on the 29th of July 2006. A three-minute Japanese trailer appeared in cinemas starting Saturday the 24th of February 2006. It aired on NTV on the 23rd of February 2006 the day the trailer completed. Theo Le Guin viewed the trailer saying images were beautiful and song felt like Ghibli not Hollywood. In Australia the film premiered in Brisbane on the 15th of April 2007. It began single print tour of major cities on the 25th of April 2007 ending play locations in Brisbane Sydney Melbourne Adelaide and Perth over following months. Unlike previous Studio Ghibli releases only subtitled version seen in Australian cinemas. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures released film in United States on the 13th of August 2010 under Walt Disney Studios banner. Disney opted to give limited release in only five theaters unlike their release of Ponyo the previous year. Reason for longer-than-usual North American release was existing non-compete arrangement with RHI Entertainment who held rights at time. They produced 2004 miniseries Legend of Earthsea later simply titled Earthsea. RHI granted specific rights reversion for Studio Ghibli in 2004 allowing them produce animated movie.

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• 6. Critical Reception And Author Disapproval

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  The film reached number one at Japanese box office opening week with gross over 900 million yen or 7.7 million USD. It pushed Pirates of Caribbean Dead Man's Chest to second place becoming number one movie country for five weeks. Gorō received Raspberry Award for Worst Director while Tales from Earthsea won Worst Movie award end 2006. It nominated 2007 Japan Academy Prize Animation Year losing Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Selected Out Competition section 63rd Venice Film Festival. Rotten Tomatoes reported 37% critics gave positive review based 41 critics average rating 5.4/10. Lowest-rated film produced Studio Ghibli website until Earwig Witch 2020 also directed by Gorō. Stephen Holden New York Times gave score 2.5/5 writing starchy nearly two-hour allegory about human hubris bluntly addresses historical moment global warming threatens planet pollution fouling seas. Chilly formal tone keeps emotional distance according to his review. Le Guin stated plot departed so greatly she was watching entirely different story confusingly enacted people same names as her story. She took great issue reimagining books moral sense greater focus physical violence. Her initial response to Gorō was "It is not my book. It is your movie. It is good movie." Later comment disclosed movie public blog did not portray true feelings vast departure original stories.

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