Mononoke Fans Making News

“Disney Blinks” is the title to a center front page article in the current Video Store Magazine industry mag. The article suggests that Buena Vista home video executives were not aware that there was interest and an actual demand for a Japanese language version of Princess Mononoke in the US before they were presented with the results of a fan organized letter-writing campaign and internet petition that garnered “4,500 signatures in the first week.” The article confirms that the Princess Mononoke DVD has been delayed, but not canceled. “‘We were pleasantly surprised by the interest in a Japanese soundtrack,’ [said] Buena Vista marketing senior v.p. Robert Chapek. ‘It’s a fairly recent development, and with an August 29th street date [for the dub-only VHS version], there was no way we could accommodate that [due to the inability to conclude soundtrack negotiations with the Japanese producer in time]. So we had to push it off. We’re fairly confident the [special edition] DVD will be out sometime before the holidays.'”