entertainment

'Frozen' on track to become second highest-grossing film in Japan

23 Comments

Disney's massive blockbuster animated film "Frozen" (released in Japan as "Anna and the Snow Queen") is on track to become the second highest-grossing film in Japan.

As of Aug 25, the film had surpassed 25.4 billion yen at the box office since its March release in Japan. It held the No. 1 position for 19 consecutive weeks and is still showing in theaters even though it has already been released on DVD.

Currently, "Frozen" is in 3rd place in the all-time high Japan box office rankings behind Studio Ghibli's 2001 film "Spirited Away" (30.4 billion yen) and 1997's "Titanic" (26.2 billion yen), according to the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan.

"Frozen" holds the No. 1 spot for most successful animated Disney film ever, not only in Japan, but across the globe, earning more than $1.2 billion in global ticket sales.

The dubbed Japanese version has also proven particularly popular. Sayaka Kanda, 27, who is the daughter of singer Seiko Matsuda, provides the voice for the protagonist in the Japanese version, while actress Takako Matsu voices the character of Elsa. Matsu's Japanese version of the hit song "Let It Go" ("Ari no Mama de") got nearly 100 million hits on YouTube, Sports Nippon reported.

In addition, the movie’s soundtrack has sold more than 500,000 copies -- the first time since "Titanic" that a movie soundtrack has sold over 500,000 copies. The highest-selling movie soundtrack in Japan is 1992′s "The Bodyguard," starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston, with 1.89 million CDs sold.

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23 Comments
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''Huuummmm.... I struggled to get through this movie. I seemed to be mishmash of all the other Disney fairy story movies. IMHO, it brought absolutely nothing new to the table and dragged on far too long,''

Good thing you are not married to a Japanese woman lest she thrust her mikudarihan at you, like so many of them do.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I think the success of Frozen in Japan surprised even Disney--and that's with the movie opening in Japanese theaters well after the rest of Asia got to see the movie.

A lot of people think Japanese audiences related to the Elsa character because it reminded them of the yuki-onna from Japanese folklore.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Snow_Queen#Story. Is the link to the plot of the real Snow Queen, I have no idea if 'frozen' resembles it.... Hans Christian Anderson's story was for ever a beloved tale...but because of its close ties with New Testament (bible)..is unlikely to be accurately reproduced as Anderson himself might have approved...however..the eternal plot about the triumph of love over cruelty and wickedness is likely to survive for ever.. My own hope might be that Japanese children have their own 'Snow Queen'...story...as I had Anderson's in my childhood. Perhaps Frozen is it...I dont know...I havnt got what it takes to watch whole movies as animations.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

It is a common trope in Japanese mythology since that of Izanami, legends, manga, and horror cinema for the monster to be female, and for the monster to seem to have the ability to come out of images, and to turn people into images or to freeze them.

Monsters used to come out of lamps and scrolls, Sadako comes out of a TV set and turns Ryūji Takayama (played by Hiroyuki Sanda) into a negative, A Juon/Grudge monster comes out of a developing photo and drags her victim back into it, and comes out of a mirror to drag her victim into it. Like the queen in this movie, the most famous Ultraman monster, Barutan Seijin (An alien from Barutan Star) freezes people. That the essence of horror is a hidden woman is shared with the oldest mythology in Japan. And yet in this movie, we have such a monster, who turns out to be loved, and lovable. This forgiving the hidden female monster trope is shared not only by this film but also by Yamanba fashion, the cutie horror of Kari Pamyupamyu, and the cute death metal of Babymetal

Things hidden since the foundation of the world, are coming out now in Japan, and in Frozen.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Make it stop...!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Apparently posting an opinion and trying to explain why I felt that way was a personal attack on some people: Sorry about that!

On Topic: I liked the movie fine, but I really hope that Disney works hard to put out some quality stuff like the Aladdin-Beauty and the Beast era of cartoons. Would like to see some big names get on board. Watching the older films like Lion King give me enjoyment as an adult in part because I actually know who's behind the voices (Mr. Bean, for example.. I had no idea when I was a kid!) It's fun to make these connections.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Never saw it and won't bother to, even if it is free on a plane. Kind of disappointed that a Disney Movie makes it to #2 all time.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

It was such a mediocre movie. I enjoy plenty of Disney and Pixar movies. I really really didn't see what was so special about this run of the mill movie.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Get over it, let it go. I am haunted by this crap.....everyday, everywhere please it's so old.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I hate the song. Everywhere you go at any given time you go, they are playing this song. EVERYWHERE in Japan. They first play it in English, then in Japanese, repeat. Seriously, just let it go already.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

C'mon Japan just let it gooooooooo

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Honestly, having watched both I think the Japanese dub was much better. I had heard all the hype about the song Let it Go and didn't catch the English version until very recently. The English version felt very repetitive to me, with several "rhymes" in the song just being the same exact word.

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

For any and all who've heard the song one time too many...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ud6B_NXoNc#t=48

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The movie was so so. But if you didn't use the song "Let it go" in your English classes, you missed out big time. Every class loved singing that!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

All readers back on topic please.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Can anyone tell me why movies get renamed in Japan?

Japanese and English do not come from a common root, and as such, do not have a one-to-one equivalency for words. Often words that exist in one language do not have a good equivalent in the other language. And even when there may be a similar translation, the world may have other meanings with different nuances, or have the same meaning but with a different nuance.

As for why they would translate it in the first place, would you be more likely to rent a movie called 'sekai no chuushin de ai wo yobu' or 'screaming for love from the center of the world'? (Not sure if that is the actual English translation of the movie title, I'm just using an example). So it's only natural to translate the title of movies, but for the reasons I mentioned in the first paragraph, sometimes those translations don't work so well.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Many countries rename movies that don't use their local language.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Can anyone tell me why movies get renamed in Japan?

Goes both ways. Japanese anime titles are licensed to companies in US that make new vid boxes with English titles and American graphics style and dubbing.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

"Because most Japanese don't understand English."

That's not correct, especially if the new title is, itself, in (Japanese) English.

The titles get changed for a variety of reasons:

http://blogd.com/wp/index.php/archives/3496
0 ( +1 / -1 )

Can anyone tell me why movies get renamed in Japan?

Because most Japanese don't understand English.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Can anyone tell me why movies get renamed in Japan?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

From the endless scenes replayed on TV shows, I found the "new" style of animation nothing short of creepy, and I'm sorry, but if anyone plays that song again in my presence, I'll have to throw something.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

Huuummmm.... I struggled to get through this movie. I seemed to be mishmash of all the other Disney fairy story movies. IMHO, it brought absolutely nothing new to the table and dragged on far too long,

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

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