The films of Studio Ghibli have become instant classics around the world, but that wasn't always the case. Back in the 1990s, when many anime were first being looked at by overseas companies, Princess Mononoke narrowly avoided a disappointing translation and dub--a fate it dodged thanks largely to the efforts of famed author Neil Gaiman.
Neil Gaiman is best known in the comics world for his run on Sandman, as well as in broader contexts with books like American Gods and those works of his which have been adapted for film, like Coraline. While many of those works still lay before him back during Princess Mononoke's development, he still wasn't exactly a standard pick for bringing a translated anime film to American audiences. So how exactly did Gaiman get involved in the translation of Princess Mononoke?
Ghibli and Disney had worked out a deal for the localization of their films in the US going forward, with Princess Mononoke the first film to be released under this agreement. However, there were still disagreements, as Disney and distributor Miramax wanted to make all kinds of changes which the Ghibli representatives did not like. Gaiman was chosen by Miramax to write the English script, and given a translated version of the Japanese, along with a rough version of the subtitled film to study up on. He was also given a list of things that Miyazaki did not want to see changed, such as the film's title (which he didn't even want them to attempt to translate). Unfortunately, the first meeting about the film suggested that the Miramax executives really weren't understanding the film at all.
Gaiman's Contributions to Princess Mononoke
A common criticism of studio executives is that they underestimate audiences' ability to understand, and that was a major problem here, with some arguing that viewers wouldn't understand how Ashitaka was a prince since he was poor. In a memoir by American representative for Princess Mononoke's English dub script approval. The resulting film was a critical success, and while it didn't do well at the (American) box office, excellent home video sales proved there was a market for Miyazaki's films in the US.
Had someone else been given the job of writing Princess Mononoke's script, it's likely the movie would've been butchered in translation, bowing to pressure from executives. The film not being a critical success might have even damaged Studio Ghibli's reputation in the US and had an impact on later film translations, so Gaiman definitely deserves some credit for bringing a version of Princess Mononoke to American audiences that would kickstart a love for Miyazaki's films among millions.
