Studio Ghibli Once Confronted Harvey Weinstein With A Sword For Threatening To Cut "Princess Mononoke" Movie
"It was a very convincing replica of a Japanese samurai sword"
Studio Ghibli has a reputation for making beautiful animated films, but one old Hollywood story gives the studio a much tougher edge. The tale centers on Harvey Weinstein, Miramax, and a fight over Princess Mononoke that reportedly pushed things way past normal movie-business tension.
Hayao Miyazaki’s comments helped fuel the legend, and later reporting from former Studio Ghibli executive Steve Alpert added more context to what really happened behind the scenes. The result is a story about a threatened cut, a very angry producer, and a sword that became part of the message.
And once the details start coming out, the whole thing gets even wilder.
In an interview, the icon of Studio Ghibli said that he once… threatened the executive, Harvey Weinstein, with a samurai sword
KCETWeinstein received the threat after he wanted to cut the studio’s movie titled Princess Mononoke
Studio Ghibli(In 1996, Disney and Studio Ghibli agreed to have their movies dubbed in English and distributed in the US. At the time, the executive was set to release Ghibli's "Princess Mononoke," and Harvey Weinstein’s Miramax was a Disney subsidiary.)
Steve Alpert wrote in his already released memoir "Sharing a House with the Never-Ending Man: 15 Years at Studio Ghibli" that Harvey Weinstein lost his cool when Hayao Miyazaki refused to reduce the length of "Princess Mononoke" from 135 minutes to 90 minutes. Harvey Weinstein allegedly stated,
"If you don’t get [Hayao Miyazaki] to cut the [damn] film, you will never work in this [damn] industry again! Do you <…> understand me? Never!"
Producer Toshiro Suzuki decided that this method of persuasion was his preferred choice
Wikipedia
"Mononoke Hime, NO CUT!" were the words Suzuki yelled in English and with a loud voice as he handed Harvey the sword.
Why would they want to cut a masterpiece?
AntiProtonBoy
He had to get his point across
bandanasplits
This commenter always thought this was fake
TarrkertheNewt
The Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique
MaadMaanMaatt
You got to cut to the chase
deputycartman
The first US release of Nausicaä
rfinclude
Using the sword to confront Weinstein for his real crimes
loosemoosejuice
Neil Gaiman had to fight on behalf of Ghibli
“Suzuki knew of a small, hard-to-find store in Tokyo hidden away underneath the train tracks between Shinbashi and Yurakucho. It was where Japanese film studios bought the realistic-looking weapons used in Japanese samurai movies.
Suzuki picked out a sword there and brought it with him to New York for our meeting with Harvey. It was a very convincing replica of a Japanese samurai sword. It was realistic in every detail except that the blade was not sharp, which you could not tell unless you got a good, close look at it,” Steve Alpert writes in his memoir.
goodisunpopular
Want another tense standoff, read how refusing to loan money for a risky investment wrecked a friendship.
