Almost any avid fan of animation knows the name Studio Ghibli, the Japanese equivalent of Disney, so to speak. It's kind of funny, seeing as how Studio Ghibli's films are released in North America by Disney thanks to head of Disney Animation, John Lasseter, and his professed love for the studios marvelous out-of-the-box works. Studio Ghibli is the studio that brought audiences the Academy Award-winning film Spirited Away alongside a great many other animated classics, as well they house the two finest directors of animation to ever live, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and the question I have at the moment, is what is up next for Studio Ghibli?
I've been working on this post for quite some time, trying to gather as much information as possible, and it wasn't easy, cause even though Studio Ghibli is a household name in Japan, in America, it's only a niche property. Finally, though, I think I have enough to warrant an entire post devoted to my favorite of all animation studios, Studio Ghibli.
Studio Ghibli is extremely busy at the moment. They're currently putting the finishing touches on their latest film Karigurashi no Arrietty, which is an adaptation of the classic children's book, The Borrowers, set for a Japanese theatrical release this summer. The film is being spearheaded by new director Yonebayashi Hiromasa under the watchful eye of the legend, Hayao Miyazaki. While I've never been a huge fan of The Borrowers, I can only imagine that The Borrowers by Studio Ghibli will be something worth seeing, even if I'm not a fan of the book, and I think it goes to say that whenever Studio Ghibli adapts a book into a film they tend to make many creative liberties to make it fit better into their vision as a studio.
Not only this, but Studio Ghibli lent its animated talents to the realm of video games for the first time, doing artwork and cut scenes for the new videogame Ni no Kuni, which is supposed to hit Japanese shelves this Spring. No news yet as to whether it will come stateside, but I love that Ghibli is really expanding its horizons. Though, what about the big guns at the studio, Takahata-san and Miyazaki-san?
Currently Miyazaki is at work directing a new short film for potential internet distribution, which would be a first for the studio. Not to mention, according to producer Toshio Suzuki, Miyazaki is at work on directing a new feature film that is tentatively scheduled to be released in Japan in 2012, and seeing as how Miyazaki is one of my favorite filmmakers of all-time, I can't control my excitement. As for Takahata, the word is that he is also returning to the director's chair for the first time since 1999 when he directed My Neighbors the Yamadas. Takahata is often known for being the more artistic of the two, so the expectations are extremely high on his return to directing. Of course, what has me most excited at this current moment in time is what Disney is doing with the works of Studio Ghibli.
Disney has been releasing the films of Studio Ghibli for American audiences since the late '90s. While the dubs were always handled with excellent care, the DVDs had very scant special features, but not anymore. Starting March 2nd, coinciding with Disney's release of Hayao Miyazaki's latest masterpiece, Ponyo, on DVD, Disney is going to release two-disc special edition DVDs of three other Miyazaki-Ghibli classics, with more special features included. These re-releases include My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Castle in the Sky.
Now, I'm extremely excited about this, but at the same time I have spent almost two years trying to build up my Studio Ghibli-DVD collection, for Disney just to re-release them. At the moment, the only Miyazaki film I do not own is Castle in the Sky, so if I want to get the special features for the other two, I'll have to re-buy them. Though, there could be worse things, after all, since Disney released most of these films on DVD so long ago, your average retailer like Best Buy doesn't carry them, so with Disney doing a massive re-release of the films, they should be much easier to find and should attract more fans to such masterful works.
So excitement abounds at the moment when it comes to Studio Ghibli. Keep your eyes open for Ponyo as it hits store shelves March 2nd, alongside those other Studio Ghibli classics.
No comments:
Post a Comment