Part Five: The Rise of The Bear:
“It was Doctor Who that saved us. Odd now, to look back on it, but there you go. They first had John Denver's episodes up on PBS, the light hearted ones. But then they showed episodes from the other guys in the role, the weird looking one with the scarf and the tall guy. Elements of horror and thriller were starting to show through these Sci-Fi shows and we managed to turn it to our advantage. With Doctor Who being such a hit, we managed to push the executives into actually putting effort into advertising and its release with our own 'Sci-Fi' project. It wasn't what we wanted, but we at least managed to make profit for when the limited release hit the country and the money from the soundtrack really helped.”
- Extract from an interview with Michael Hirsh, 1997
Rock & Rule:
Released: August 12th, 1983
Studio: Nelvana
Budget: 8.1 Million US Dollars
Box Office: 10 Million US Dollars
- Run down of Rock & Rule's information and performance (1)
Controversy had helped somewhat with Rock & Rule's performance, it's notoriety improving ticket sales in the limited release it saw in major cities. It had also made Nelvana stand out from the likes of Disney, succeeding in helping establishing a separate identity for them as a film studio. This came at a cost however, MGM wasn't willing to fund a similar project at such a risk. Executives made it clear that, while they would continue to fund any potential projects, it would not be the same as Rock & Rule, they wanted something for more general audiences. Several ideas were given throughout late 1983, only for all to be shot down. It would take an unexpected turn at a meeting between Nelvana's directors as an answer came to them from an old source.
- Extract from The Mouse & The Bear: The Two Giants of Western Animation, 2012
“Well, it sounds silly now but it was simply because someone was humming the theme tune to Speed Racer. It just started off by one of the janitors I think, and it just then spread around the building. Had about two people in the creative meeting just keep at it and soon about six of us were singing along to it. After that, it was Patrick Loubert who actually brought up the idea of us distributing Japanese animated films. It would keep the suits happy on costs, lets us build up a name for ourselves as an alternative to Disney and let our animators work on our TV shows while we get round to building up a division for animated movies that the studio would be happy to take a chance on. It went down really well with MGM executives, seeing it as low risk compared to our earlier project and then the time came to look into which films we could use. We got into contact with studios in Japan when we came across Castle of Cagliostro. It had action, comedy and some faint romance and superb animation, something for everyone. TMS and Toho were happy to let us handle the distribution, turned out it'd been a failure in its original release in Japan, we were hoping for some better luck.”
- Extract from an interview with Clive Smith, 1999 (2)
“Really? Nelvana? Dan put you up to this?”
“Hey, you lost the bet didn't you? I get to choose a movie for you, I choose this one.”
“Alright, but if this leads to me doing a music number with Lou Reed... You're not invited.”
- Alleged conversation between Robin Williams and John Belushi, late 1983 (3)
“We were amazed that Robin Williams accepted the part really. I think the offer was wired to him by accident. But he rang up and accepted, looking for whatever role we'd give to him. It was only later on I'd find out about the bet he made with John Belushi but he'd fallen in love with the Ghibli stuff by then and become a staple of our voice actors. I still think naming his daughter 'Nausicaa' was a bit much though.”
- Extract from an interview with Clive Smith, 1999
Rupan III – Paul Le Mat
Lady Clarisse d'Cagliostro – Susan Sheridan
Count Cagliostro – Kevin Conroy
Daisuke Jigen – Robert Loggia
Fujiko Mine – Sheryl Lee Ralph
Goemon Ishikawa – Don Francks
Inspector Zenigata – Robin Williams
- Some of the English voice cast for Nelvana's dub of 'Castle of Cagliostro' (4)
“A fun adventure for kids and parents alike, Castle of Cagliostro makes for great summer time viewing. The adventures of Rupan and his gang provides a hugely entertaining escapade that still leaves you wanting more. A great export from Japan that leaves me hoping for more.”
- Extract from a review of the 'Castle of Cagliostro' from the Chicago Tribune, 1984
“Can we get lunchboxes with these guys or not?”
- MGM executive asking about merchandising potential for the movie and TV series based off Lupin III, 1986
Released in July 1984, The Castle of Cagliostro was a modest hit for Nelvana studios and allowed TMS to make back their losses on the film from its release in Japan. While executives were happy with the money made, Rock & Rule came back to haunt them though as potential viewers were concerned with Castle of Cagliostro having the same adult themes that their previous film had. Realising that this needed to change, the responsibilities between their films and television properties were split to help build up separate brands with their own identity. The Nelvana name kept with properties such as Care Bears while the newly formed Studio Elven would handle the new properties and films. Named after how many people were at the board meeting that decided the changes (Although conspiracy theorists say it was a Biblical reference), the first order of business for Clive A. Smith, the man put in charge of Studio Eleven, was to enter negotiations with Japanese studios to continue dubbing and distributing their films. Although creating their own properties was something Studio Eleven wanted to aim for, MGM executives continued to hold the purse strings, limiting their ambitions until more successes were found. For this, Smith contacted the director of Castle of Cagliostro, Hayao Miyazaki, for further negotiations over his newest project.”
- Extract from The Mouse & The Bear: The Two Giants of Western Animation, 2012
“It almost never happened. Me and several others, including an executive from MGM travelled to Japan to talk with Hayao Miyazaki regarding his newest film in April. 1984. It'd been a really big hit in Japan and with the executives feeling confident over Castle of Cagliostro, dubbing was seen as the way to go. The meeting started off fairly cordial, Miyazaki liking the idea of his work going into wider audiences while Topcraft executives were eager for the money from it. Everything almost collapsed once our executive mentioned the fact they'd want cuts for American audiences, changing elements that we'd find 'unsuitable'. The look on Myazaki's face told me instantly that this wasn't going to fly. His work was encouraging and we at Studio Eleven felt that there was a lot of potential in a partnership with Topcraft so to hear this guy ramble on about how we were going to cut and slice the movie to suit American audiences, I could see the project go down the drain right there and then. Even Miyazaki interrupted him at one point to bluntly say “We don't want any cuts.” I had to take the man aside at one point and told him that we didn't want to risk this partnership. MGM were still reluctant to give the greenlight to our own projects so we needed this. It took some arguing, but we were allowed to get our way and agree with Miyazaki and Topcraft over this. It was a gamble, when we got home, MGM told us that if Valley of The Wind didn't do well, we wouldn't get another movie project like this. Thankfully, it was a gamble that paid off.”
- Extract from an interview with Clive Smith, 1999
“From a bumbling detective to a kick-ass sword master, I'm moving up baby!”
- Robin Williams on being cast as Master Yupa in Nausicaa of The Valley of The Wind
“This isn't your standard Disney fare, and for that, Valley of The Wind is all the stronger for it. A tale of hardship and overcoming the mistakes of the past, Nelvana's latest import from Japan in a modern day animated masterpiece. With strong environmental themes that are never overly preaching, the film shows that animation can be used for more than a standard fairy tale in movies. With excellent performances from its voice actors, including a Robin Williams performance with a surprising level of gravitas, Valley of The Wind is something that should be watched and be looked upon as a film that will change perceptions of how animated films can be seen.”
- Extract from Roger Ebert's review of 'Nausicaa of The Valley of The Wind', August 1985
Releasing Nausicaa just a week after Disney's own release of the Black Cauldron was a direct challenge to Disney as the two films went head to head. It was an outstanding victory for Studio Eleven as Valley of The Windwent on to reach the top of the box office while Black Cauldron floundered. A strong advertising campaign that highlighted Nausicaa's differences from standard Disney films, showing it to be an epic tale that took its audience seriously, was a direct contrast to the more standard and clichéd work Disney was perceived to be producing. Studio Eleven had the major success it had hoped for and a strong relationship with Topcraft as more movies were soon to be created by Miyazaki and others working at Topcraft. The first shot in the war between Studio Eleven and Disney, Studio Eleven taking on the role as the 'anti-Disney' establishing it, although it would later turn out to be a double edged sword.
- Extract from The Mouse & The Bear: The Two Giants of Western Animation, 2012
The contrast between the female protagonists in Disney films and the output of Studio Eleven couldn't be more clear. The demure and submissive Princess role exemplified by the type in Disney films was overshadowed by the female protagonist that Studio Eleven was showing young girls a role model that would be strong, one that gave them an alternate to the weaker figures of Disney movies. Tales of parents marching out of cinemas after Nausicaa takes vengeance on her father's killers were matched by their children begging to be let back in. The Princess archetype Disney loved was being undermined as young girls found new characters to look up to, ones that would emphasise strength of their own personality.
- Extract from essay 'Feminist Icons in Animation', 2006
“1985 was a really good year for Studio Eleven and Nelvana, Care Bears was a success for us as well, one that was overshadowed by Nausicaa though. We had managed to score one against Disney and we were looking for ideas for our own project and even had a few talents come over from Japan to help animate our shows. Hideaki Anno proved to be a huge coup when he decided to stay on to help work on the Doctor Who (5) show we managed to get the rights for.”
- Extract from interview with Clive Smith, 1999
1: Rock & Rule didn't get any advertising at all and only a limited run in Boston. Knock on effects help rectify this.
2: A similar story goes behind why the Addams Family movies were made. A bunch of executives were in a car and started singing along to the theme. Not sure if true but a fun story nonetheless.
3: Close friends in OTL, Robin Williams was one of the last people to visit John Belushi before his death. ITTL, things go differently.
4: Went for actors/actresses who'd done voice acting around this period. The list seems plausible to me but I'm always up for being corrected.
5: An OTL project that never got beyond the ideas and sketches phase. Not quite so here...