UK PAL DVD
Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Japanese Mono 1.0
Subtitles: English
MOVIE: 9
VIDEO QUALITY: 8
AUDIO QUALITY: 8
ENGLISH SUBTITLES: 9
EXTRAS: 3
As a fan of Miyazaki and Takahata, I finally picked up THE LITTLE NORSE PRINCE. This movie is an animation masterpiece. For anyone that hasn’t picked this UK DVD up yet, you should consider seeing it – it’s a really good animated film, especially considering its age. I almost didn’t buy it since it came out in the 60s. And since I wasn’t that impressed with CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO, I assumed that one of Miyazaki’s films ten years earlier than CAGLIOSTRO may be inferior. But I was totally wrong. I can’t believe how it does not look dated for a 1968 film. Also, after just watching THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO, i’m confused with the quality of animation – THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO looks like it’s ten years behind THE LITTLE NORSE PRINCE. If I didn’t know the dates of those two movies, I would think that CAGLIOSTRO came out in the late 60s and THE LITTLE NORSE PRINCE in the late 1970s. But either way, the animation in THE LITTLE NORSE PRINCE is extremely impressive. It’s sort of a combination of the charming Japanese and Russian animation of the 1970s.
The UK DVD is excellent. The anamorphic video looks very solid for a late 1960s animated flick with some ghosting/combing if you really watch closely, but there is nothing that distracts the viewer. The Japanese mono audio and English subtitles were very good too. There aren’t any extras except for an anamorphic trailer of the film itself and also non-anamorphic trailers for GRAVEYARD OF FIREFLIES and CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO. I’m so used to not getting any extras on my Miyazaki DVDs (Disney ones), I don’t care anymore. His movies are so good, extras aren’t really needed to rationalize purchasing his films on DVDs. His movies are worth any price.
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