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I'm aware of the ANN policy that titles have to be official, no matter how well they represent the original. And I strongly disagree with it.

I say the title of a production is as much a part of the artwork as the depicted characters and events or the music used. As much as it was the artist's decision to make a film about war or one about love, to focus on a single character or bombard us with hundreds, it was their artistic decision to give us a specific glimpse into their creation by way of its carefully chosen title. Mistranslating that title and presenting the work (with the new, distorted title) as the original author's work is almost as bad as editing a scene or changing the music - it's an insult to the artist and to the creative act. I'd almost say it should be seen as an author's rights infringement. Of course, I'm only referring to those cases where a better translation can actually be found without too much effort.

In the case of "Princess Mononoke" (not a very serious error - just a partial translation - but still an error), a complete translation would be "Spirit Princess" (better than "Princess of Spirits", because the original is also a simple association of two terms: "mononoke" and "hime"). Though not a perfect translation ("mononoke" is literally a vengeful or angry ghost, for which there is no English equivalent), it's still better than the partial one that has so far been promoted, the one unjustifiedly making "Mononoke" into a name or title.

So in the case of this production as well as others in its situation, my proposition is this: the (mistranslated) official title should be kept as the main article title allowing site visitors to find the product by the title on its label/package or the title popularised by all media, but at the same time, in order to make a true presentation of the artist's work as they intended it, the corrected English title should be added to the article right under the official one.

Just because someone didn't fully understand the original title or didn't have the competence or will to make a faithful translation when they were appointed to write the official translation, it doesn't mean we should be content with this misrepresentation of the artist's intent and just leave it at that.

"Mononoke-hime" = "Spirit Princess".

You can just add "Spirit Princess" to the "alternative title" area or put the translation of "Mononoke" in the "trivia" section.

donjoe wrote:

So in the case of this production as well as others in its situation, my proposition is this: the (mistranslated) official title should be kept as the main article title allowing site visitors to find the product by the title on its label/package or the title popularised by all media, but at the same time, in order to make a true presentation of the artist's work as they intended it, the corrected English title should be added to the article right under the official one.

More often then not (and I definately would see it being done with a title this big) the English name is "okayed" by the original Japanese creators. So I'm guessing it actually is what they intended it to be called in English. Also, "Mononoke" is a name, and names are usually never translated in all languages, they're universal.

If it's approved by the artist himself, I rest my case. But for cases when there's no such approval, my suggestion stands. Like I said, the artist's original intention is what I would like to see correctly represented.

So, if you think it's such a big problem, what's stopping you from adding an alternate title to its Encyclopedia entry? And you really don't have a very good argument for why ANN shouldn't use the OFFICIAL English title as the main title. Whether the official title is poorly translated or not is irrelevant. But, as I said, ANN does allow for alternate titles.

donjoe wrote:

I'm aware of the ANN policy that titles have to be official, no matter how well they represent the original. And I strongly disagree with it.

Two options:

1. Sue Disney.
2. Start your own Encyclopedia.

donjoe wrote:

If it's approved by the artist himself, I rest my case. But for cases when there's no such approval, my suggestion stands. Like I said, the artist's original intention is what I would like to see correctly represented.

ANN has no obligation (nor is appropriate) to acquire the official agreement between Ghibli and Disney (or any written and/or mutual agreements between any production studio and licensor) then display it here.

There were worse translations, and so were examples of retracting the proposed translations after receiving numerous protests ("Hollywood Mew Mew"), but I can assure you that neither Disney nor most ANN users would bother to read your rants, let alone supporting your ideas.

one3rd wrote:

So, if you think it's such a big problem, what's stopping you from adding an alternate title to its Encyclopedia entry?

Sorry, but I won't allow it, especially with licensed titles. Otherwise anyone who thinks he's the best translator of the world would add a title using his way of translation.

I can spend a day debating whether Mononoke = Spirit; in my opinion, the concept of "spirit" in Western culture refers to apparitions and more etherial beings, so the word "Mononoke" lies between "spirits" and "daemon," and I'd say it sides more to "daemon." Should I call her "Daemon Princess," "Daemonic Princess," or, better yet, "Princess of the consortium-of-sentient-animals-posessed-by-materialized-evil-spiritual-power?"

Get over with it.