Yes I watched it [Howl's Moving Castle] about a month ago. Great movie, but a lot of missing parts.
I know this is Miyazaki's first adaptation of a book (Nausicaa doesnt count),
and it seemed to me that there must have been a lot cut out of it.

Not sure if this is where I should post, but I happened to rent the R1 dvd of Princess Mononoke, and it does not even have the original Japanese audio track (!). Anyone think there is a chance of a re-release of this to match the 2-disc sets of the other Ghibli output?"

Also, do we know when if ever we will see "Only Yesterday" and "Whispers of the Heart?"

Last I heard, Disney (sadly) had no current plans for a US release of "Only Yesterday". Oh well, the HK DVD is (reportedly) reasonably priced and decently subbed. (The Japanese DVD is great -- but more expensive).

The Fanning Sisters in 'Totoro'
New Version Out in 2006

Dakota Fanning, who had a featured role in War of the Worlds and who will voice the title character in the stop motion-animated version of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, and her sister Elle have provided the voices for the two sisters in the new English dub of Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro. One of Miyazaki's best films, Totoro is the story of two sisters who accompany their father to a rural retreat while their mother is hospitalized with a serious illness. Miyazaki's film is infinitely sensitive to the vivid imaginations of inchoate fears of its two young protagonists -- and their roles are absolutely central to the film.

Buena Vista's deluxe two-disk DVD of My Neighbor Totoro, which is due out next spring, will include a behind-the-scenes featurette showing the Fanning sisters working on the voiceovers and highlighting the way Elle was able to learn from her older, more experienced sibling, who at the age of eleven has already amassed an impressive list of animated, as well as live action, credits.

Buena Vista's third wave of titles from acclaimed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki are on their way on March 7th. This shipment will include the long-delayed My Neighbor Totoro, Whisper of the Heart and Howl's Moving Castle. Each two-disc set will feature new anamorphic transfers and both English and original Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks ("Totoro" will feature Dakota Fanning, while "Howl's Moving Castle" will feature Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall, Blythe Danner and Billy Crystal). Extras will include behind the scenes footage, storyboards, featurettes and trailers. Retail is $29.99 apiece.

To call him the 'Japanese Disney' is a gross disservice, since Disney haven't produced anything of interest since... oh, the 60s at the latest ('The Jungle Book' was okay)?

Yes, I think I'll avoid the rest of the dubbed ones. However, of the two I saw, 'Kiki's Delivery Service' seemed to have had an above-average dubbing job, with Phil Hartman quite good as the wise-cracking cat.

The dub _sounds_ okay -- taken on its own -- but it really isn't a very accurate representation of the original film -- and the dub mucked around needlessly (and ineptly) with some of the original background music (in addition to having different -- but also good-- opening and closing songs).

Well, in Walt's defense, he has been dead since 1966.