Gkids is partnering with Studio Ghibli to handle the Japanese animation studio’s catalog in North America, including Hayao Miyazaki’s 2002 Academy Award winner “Spirited Away.”
The alliance was announced Monday and will start with the Oct. 17 reissue of new Blu-ray and DVD editions of six titles from Miyazaki: “Spirited Away” and Oscar-nominated film “Howl’s Moving Castle” along with “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Ponyo” and “Princess Mononoke,” followed on Oct. 31 with “Castle in the Sky” and “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.”
The Studio Ghibli library is led by directors and studio co-founders Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Gkids has handled theatrical rights for the Studio Ghibli catalogue since 2010, and released “From Up on Poppy Hill,” “Only Yesterday,” “Ocean Waves” and the Academy Award-nominated titles “The Tale of The Princess Kaguya” and “When Marnie Was There.”
Gkids previously announced a partnership with Fathom Events to bring six Ghibli titles back to theaters nationwide this year including “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” which will play on July 23 and 24 in both dubbed and subtitled versions at approximately 600 theaters.
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Other animation covered by the new agreement include “Porco Rosso,” directed by Hayao Miyazaki; “Pom Poko,” directed by Isao Takahata; “Whisper of the Heart,” directed by Yoshifumi Kondo; “My Neighbor the Yamadas,” directed by Isao Takahata; “The Cat Returns,” directed by Hiroyuki Morita; “Tales From Earthsea,” directed by Goro Miyazaki; and “The Secret World of Arrietty,” directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi.
