Secret of the Magic Gourd (1st Disney Chinese Language Film)

[goofystitch]

Sky Syndrome wrote:

That's great! I had seriously doubted Disney making the original an option. Afterall, the Studio Ghibli movies didn't have the option on their DVDs to be watched in Japanese.

Which ones didn't have original Japanese? I just watched Kiki's Delivery Service in Japanese last night and I'm pretty sure that every Disney DVD release of a Ghibli film in the US has had both an English dub and original Japanese with optional subtitles.

[Luke]

All of Disney's Ghibli DVDs have both Japanese and English. The English plays by default, but the Japanese is there through the Set Up menu. <i>Magic Gourd</i> will apparently have both Cantonese and Mandarin tracks in addition to the English. Should be interesting.

[blackcauldron85]

http://www.animated-news.com/2009/the-s ... n-january/

DVDTimes reports that Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment have announced the DVD release of Disney’s first Chinese-language film The Secret of the Magic Gourd on 27th January. In addition to the English soundtrack, the DVD will also feature Mandarin and Cantonese language tracks. Extras will include “Too Many Toys” – Multi-level game, “Behind the Scenes” Featurette and “Bloopers”.

http://dvdtimes.co.uk/content/id/69722/ ... nuary.html

The Secret of the Magic Gourd is the story of Raymond, a young daydreamer whose vivid imagination has made him an outcast at school. On a solo fishing trip, Raymond reels in the mysterious Magic Gourd, who offers to make all his wishes come true. When each of Raymond’s seemingly simple wishes backfires, creating unintentionally hilarious consequences for the boy, he realizes that "there's no such thing as an unearned reward," but with a little hard work, he can create his own kind of magic and achieve his dreams.

Presented in anamorphic widescreen with DD5.1 audio (English, Mandarin and Cantonese), extras include:
Too Many Toys – Multi-level game
Featurette – Behind the scenes
Bloopers

[tlc38tlc38]

I've been debating on getting this movie since it came out. Honestly, is it any good? Please let me know what you think of this movie and if I should buy it or not.

Also, with the English dub, is it obvious that it's dubbed or is it seemless as far as mouth movement.

[Neal]

I'd like to know more about the plot of this film.

I know that the boy is named Raymond and the gourd is named Bailey. What is the name of the frog on the cover. What is the frog's role. What can Bailey do? Is Bailey a wizard and what are his powers?

Thanks.

[slave2moonlight]

I've never seen seamless dubbing from one language to another in terms of mouth movement. I don't think that'd even be possible.

Anyway, I'm wondering if no one else bought this one. I was offered it to review for Amazon.com through their Vine program (the first time I'd seen anything there from Disney, but apparently it had hardly any customer reviews), so I naturally jumped at the chance to get it free. I was curious about it but also not sure if it would be worth blind-buying with so many other titles higher on my list. Of course, if you want to find out about it, you should read the UltimateDisney.com review. Granted sometimes I strongly disagree with those reviewers overall opinions of the films, but you also have Amazon.com as a source of other people's opinions. Anyways, as for mine, to make it short, I found it to be an okay family film. Nothing special at all. Just watchable, direct to video family film quality. It's high points are the colorful visuals (though the CGI sometimes looks unfinished) and child wish fullfillment themes, and of course the "different culture" experience in a cutesy, Sailor Moon dub kinda way. The frog is just a friend of the gourd with not much presence in the film. The gourd is just that, a magic gourd, though I may have heard the director hint to something about him being an apprentice wizard or something like that in the behind the scenes stuff. But basically one of those magical spirit type creatures like you find in Anime sometimes. Just an oddball magical thing the boy comes across. Oh yeah, as for what can Bailey do, he basically tries to grant the boy's wishes or what he thinks are the boys wishes. Like I said, it's entertaining in a lazy day way. One of my favorite aspects was the musical video, because the Chinese singer is so beyond gorgeous. However, I was disappointed that the music video didn't have subtitles on it.

[disneyboy20022]

The Gourd being a Magician might be backed up by this link..

http://www.dmrpolls.com/magnanimous_mag ... esults.php

and this

http://recp.mkt41.net/servlet/MailView? ... jggS0&mt=1

Anyway I did buy the film...but honestly I still have not watched it....I will get to it eventually....there has just been a lot of movies out that I bought latley....that and I am trying to figure out what kind of Colitis like Crohn's Disease I have and me being in and out of the Hospital.....

[blackcauldron85]

I bought the DVD the day it came out, but the DVD player was just hooked up in the bedroom (where I prefer to watch TV and movies), so I am very behind in my movie watching! I pretty much only bought it because Corbin Bleu voices Bailey; otherwise, it'd be pretty low on my Disney-movies-to-buy list, I think. I think that it looks cute, though.

[Matt]

It is a cute little movie. I say watch it. It won't hurt ya lol. I made the English Music Video, well dubbed from the Chinese Music Video. It is on my youtube account so go check it out.

[slave2moonlight]

Oh, you made that? Good job.

[Matt]

Oh, you made that? Good job.

Well, I just changed the autio to the english version song lol. The video itself is on the DVD but not in english.

[Neal]

Would anyone consider 'Gourd' to be a hybrid film ala "Pete's Dragon"? I mean, in Pete's Dragon, Elliot is 2D over live-action, and people call it hybrid.

Here, Bailey is CGI over live-action.

Does that make this a live-action/animation hybrid?