A new memoir by Studio Ghibli’s Steve Alpert has spoken about being on the receiving end of threats from Harvey Weinstein over cuts to Hayao Miyazaki’s 1997 masterpiece “Princess Mononoke” reports Cartoon Brew.
Beyond his infamous sex crimes, Weinstein was also notorious for being a difficult business partner and someone who famously made major trims to acquired features.
Alpert worked in Studio Ghibli’s international division at the time and was in the firing line when Miyazaki refused Weinstein’s request to cut ‘Mononoke’ down from its 135 minute length to a truncated 90 minutes. The reported agreement between Miyazaki and Miramax stated the film would be released as it was without cuts or edits, so Miyazaki could happily say no.
Weinstein however was not happy and took it out on Alpert, theatening: “If you don’t get him to cut the f–king film you will NEVER WORK IN THIS F–KING INDUSTRY AGAIN! DO YOU F–KING UNDERSTAND ME?!! NEVER!!”
Miyazaki and Alpert didn’t listen, “Princess Mononoke” was released in full and the film went on to solid success in the United States. Weinstein would go on to try and strong arm or intimidate other filmmakers in his time including Bong Joon Ho over “Snowpiercer”.
“Princess Mononoke” is currently available for streaming on HBO Max.
