Hayao Miyazaki

Mondo to Release MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO Posters by Olly Moss

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 14th, 2011 at 2:34 pm

On Friday, Mondo will release two prints for Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro by Olly Moss because of course they are.  They already have licenses for Pixar, DC Comics, Star Trek, and eventually everything else you love or will ever love.  The Totoro poster coincides with the start of the IFC Center’s Studio Ghibli retrospective.  Mondo is also planning to release a poster for Miyazaki’s Porco Rosso.

The folks who pick up some Totoro greatness should know that their money will go to a good cause (an actual good cause, not getting an awesome poster for yourself).  Mondo and Studio Ghibli will donate all profits to Ghetto Film School, a non-profit organization of educators and students who share of storytelling and filmmaking.  Hit the jump for the press release and more details on the poster and its variant.  The posters will go on sale at a random time on Friday.  Be sure you’re following @MondoNews for the announcement.

IFC Center to Run Complete Studio Ghibli Retrospective Beginning December 16th; Limited Theatrical Debuts Planned for 2012

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 14th, 2011 at 11:26 am

Earlier this year I was able to do a Hayao Miyazaki retrospective through Netflix DVD rentals, but his films lose their cinematic scope on the small screen.  Characters in My Neighbor Totoro (tied with Spirited Away as my favorite Miyazaki film), Castle in the Sky, and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind soar through the air through massive landscapes and it would be wonderful to see these movies in theaters.  Thankfully, that opportunity will come to New York’s IFC Center beginning December 16th when Studio Ghibli and distributor GKIDS do a 15-film retrospective, which will include Miyazaki’s films.  The retrospective will run until January 12th, feature new 35mm prints, and will run both subtitled and English-dubbed versions.

But it gets even better.  GKIDS plans to bring the retrospective to Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., Toronto, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, and other major markets in early 2012.  Fingers crossed one of those markets is Atlanta.  And even if it isn’t, GKIDS is also planning limited releases of select Studio Ghibli titles, many of which have never been released theatrically in the US.  If these movies swing by your city, make sure you check them out.  Hit the jump for the full press release and list of movies playing in the retrospective.  Advance tickets can be purchased at gkids.com.

Studio Ghibli Announces New Films from Co-Founders Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: September 5th, 2011 at 9:27 am

Not every film from Studio Ghibli is a home run but they’re always worthy of attention, especially when they come from co-founders Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away) and Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies).  Miyazaki has announced that he’s preparing a new film that’s an “autobiography” although he did not specify if it’s his autobiography or someone else’s.  It’s worth noting that last year Miyazaki said he’s considering a sequel to his 1992 film, Porco Rosso.  Whatever he chooses, don’t expect it any time soon since there’s usually a four-year wait between Miyazaki’s films (such is the nature of animation).

As for Takahata, he hasn’t directed a film since 1999′s My Neighbors the Yamadas but according to Twitch, he’s “reportedly working on a new film based on the classic Japanese tale about a princess who was discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a bamboo plant.”  That’s what makes bamboo so great: food for pandas, material for chairs, princess producer.  It’s a versatile plant.

Goro Miyazaki to Adapt Manga KOKURIKO-ZAKA KARA for Studio Ghibli

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 15th, 2010 at 9:04 am

Goro Miyazaki, son of legendary director Hayao Miyazaki, plans to adapt the 1980s manga Kokuriko-Zaka Kara for Studio Ghibli.  Collider reader Ettore alerted us to an article on the Anime News Network that the project was in development and set for release in Japan next summer.  Here’s the synopsis per ANN:

The story is set in Showa 38 (1963, a year before the Tokyo Olympics) and follows the coming of age of an ordinary, pigtailed high school girl named Komatsuzaki in Yokohama, a harbor city near Tokyo. Her sailor father went missing after an accident, and her photographer mother is frequently going abroad for work. The manga recounts Komatsuzaki’s everyday life of “laughter and tears” with a school newspaper member, the student council president, and other schoolmates.

Click here to check out the official website.  Hit the jump to learn about the reaction to Goro Miyazaki’s previous film, Tales from Earthsea.

Studio Ghibli Announcing New Project December 15

by Tiffany Peng    Posted: November 5th, 2010 at 9:43 am

Yesterday at the Rome International Film Festival, Koji Hoshino, president of the beloved Studio Ghibli, stated that that the company “will announce Ghibli’s new work on December 15,” but did not add any more details beyond that. There is speculation on whether Hoshino was referring to the possible Porco Rosso sequel that animation godfather and studio co-founder Hayao Miyazaki mentioned to Cut magazine back in August. An article in Cinema Today expressed that it is still unknown whether this project will be something helmed by Miyazaki or a different director. Hit the jump to get my opinion on what this new project could be.

Collider Goes to the STUDIO GHIBLI Museum in Tokyo! Images and Recap Here

by David Corbin    Posted: September 7th, 2010 at 1:42 pm

Along with attending Comic-con and E3, visiting the Studio Ghibli Museum in Japan completes the Holy Trinity of Geek Pilgrimages. The interactive museum, only nine years old, is a testament to Studio Ghibli’s popularity in Japan and around the world. The museum, designed by Ghibli head Hayao Miyazaki, is a bit on the small side—only two hours to fully explore—but since it is such a popular attraction tickets are often sold out for as much as a month in advance. After waiting said month I was finally able to go to Inokashira Park in Tokyo and experience it for myself. Hit the jump for more.

Hayao Miyazaki on the Future of Studio Ghibli and Possible PORCO ROSSO Sequel

by Ti Alan Chase    Posted: August 24th, 2010 at 7:50 am

Master animator Hayao Miyazaki gave an interview to the Japanese magazine Cut recently in which he discussed Studio Ghibli’s possible future.  He talked about his own involvement in Ghibli’s upcoming films – which he hopes will include a sequel to his 1992 feature Porco Rosso – and the possible dissolution of the Oscar winning studio.

The proposed sequel, entitled Porco Rosso: The Last Sortie would put the pig-faced fighter pilot in the middle of the Spanish Civil War.  The chance that this will end up being Miyazaki’s next film are probably pretty slim, though, since the director is notorious for getting excited about projects and then moving onto something else before they come to fruition.  He personally courted Ursula K. LeGuin for years for the rights to make an Earthsea film, but when she finally signed them over to him, he passed the job on to son Goro (with less than spectacular results).  Even Miyazaki himself admitted in the Cut interview that a Porco sequel might not be worth seriously considering, dismissing it as “an old man’s hobby.” Hit the jump to read the full scoop on what’s coming up at Studio Ghibli and my own thoughts on the chances of us every seeing Porco fly again.

Studio Ghibli’s THE BORROWERS Review

by David Corbin    Posted: August 20th, 2010 at 12:35 pm

The release of a Studio Ghibli animated film is always a hotly anticipated event in Japan. The animation studio, whose head Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away) is regarded as the “Walt Disney of Japan,” has been enchanting audiences worldwide since the premiere of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind in 1984. Its latest film, The Borrowers, the work of long-time animator/first-time director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, bowed recently in Japan. Released over a holiday weekend, the film racked up approximately $15.5 million in ticket sales out of 447 screens and secured 1st place at the box office. The movie is based on Mary Norton’s book The Borrowers, the first in her five-book series chronicling the adventures of a diminutive family who make their life underneath the floorboards of a large house by borrowing small items from the big people. The film is a breezy, fanciful work which lives up to the Studio Ghibli banner. For the full review, hit the jump.

Poster Premiere for the Domestic Release of Goro Miyazaki’s TALES FROM EARTHSEA

by Ti Alan Chase    Posted: July 12th, 2010 at 9:12 am

Four years after its Japanese release, Tales from Earthsea is finally coming to America.  Back in 2006 and 2007 most of the world got to see Studio Ghibli’s “Gedo Senki”, an adaptation of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea novels.  The film could not be released in the US, however, because SyFy owned the screen rights to the Earthsea property.  Now that those rights have expired, Disney is giving the film a limited release in the U.S. on August 13th. We are proud to premiere the gorgeous poster for the film.

Tales from Earthsea was directed by Goro Miyazaki, son of the legendary Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Ponyo).  The elder Miyazaki is the greatest director of animated films the world has ever seen and it will be very interesting to see how much of his brilliance was passed on to his son.  To find showtimes and to see the amazing poster for Tales from Earthsea hit the jump.

TOY STORY and TOY STORY 2 Blu-ray Reviews

by Andre Dellamorte    Posted: April 9th, 2010 at 8:39 am

It was less than fifteen years ago that Toy Story debuted for the Holiday season of 1995. At the time Disney was taking a chance with an entirely computer animated film, especially after their amazing resurgence and recent run of cel animated films – they were only a year off of The Lion King. Now, Pixar essentially runs Disney animation and cel animation is the experiment – completely out of fashion in part due to Disney ruining the brand name (and to some extent DreamWorks making equally mediocre films). But you can’t blame Pixar for being good, and it was the wild success of the Toy Story films that helped cement their legacy. They tell the story of Woody (Tom Hanks), a cowboy doll who is ousted from his position as the sole favorite toy by Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), and how the two go on an adventure in the real world. The sequel has the duo facing a toy kidnapper (Wayne Knight), who wants to send Woody to Japan with the toy line he originally came from while Woody confronts his own mortality. My review of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 on Blu-ray after the jump.

KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE 2-Disc Special Edition DVD Review

by Keith Demko    Posted: March 30th, 2010 at 6:01 pm

Deceptively simple and sweet, Hayao Miyazaki’s Kiki’s Delivery Service has still managed to linger in the hearts of movie lovers, and now it’s finally gotten the proper DVD treatment it deserves from Disney and Studio Ghibli.

Kiki, voiced by a young Kirsten Dunst in this Western version of the story, is a 13-year-old witch who – as is the custom – is sent to live away from her parents for a year to figure out what her talent is. Kiki eventually settles on  Koriko, which resembles a seaside European village in the 1950s, and sets up her titular delivery service.

Hit the jump to find out why I still think the first Ghibli/Disney collaboration is the best one, and what kind of extras make this special edition worth buying.

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO Two-Disc Special Edition DVD Review

by Keith Demko    Posted: March 27th, 2010 at 3:55 pm

In a movie world in which it seems like everything we see will be in 3-D (and I’m not exaggerating one bit there), there are really very few better reminders of how beautiful old-fashioned storytelling can be than in the still extremely charming films of Hayao Miyazaki.

Out now on DVD from Disney and Studio Ghibli are special editions of Kiki’s Delivery Service, Castle in the Sky and My Neighbor Totoro. Totoro, more than any Miyazaki movie, just perfectly captures his ability to view the world through the eyes of mischievous children, and Totoro himself gave the studio its signature mascot.

Hit the jump for a review of the special edition DVD release of My Neighbor Totoro.

Hayao Miyazaki’s PONYO Blu-ray Review

by Andre Dellamorte    Posted: March 25th, 2010 at 6:59 am

It’s hard not to describe Hayao Miyazaki’s films as anything but magical. To be critical (when you’re dealing with a master it’s going to skew positive), one can only compare his best work against his minor work. But then there’s minor like Princess Monoke, which is still an epic pro-environment film, or maybe Howl’s Moving Castle, which was slightly disappointing… still great, only suffering in comparison to Spirited Away. Ponyo is one of his better films, one of the best films of last year, and another in his chain of masterpieces. What Ponyo has over his other films right now is minor: it’s the only one of his films on Blu-ray. My review of Ponyo after the jump.

First Look at KARIGURASHI NO ARRIETTY, Studio Ghibli’s New Film

by David Corbin    Posted: February 8th, 2010 at 8:39 am

Studio Ghibli has long been synonymous with its co-founders, the famed Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away) and Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies).  Starting this summer, audiences will be introduced to Hiromasa Yonebayashi, a first time director, looking to make his own mark on the Ghibli name. His film, Karigurashi no Arrietty (lit. The Borrower Arrietty) is based off Mary Norton’s popular The Borrowers series of children’s books.  For more on the new project, as well as the first teaser trailer, hit the jump.

Studio Ghibli to Announce Next Project on December 16th

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 9th, 2009 at 12:02 pm

Studio Ghibli will announced their next project on December 16th, but some of you may not know why that’s a big deal.  For those who don’t know, Ghibli is the animation studio founded by Hayao Miyazaki and behind such classics as My Neighbor Totoro, Grave of the Fireflies (the saddest movie ever made), and Spirited Away, which is the only anime to ever win the Best Animated Feature Oscar.

On the Ghibli Asemamire radio program [via Anime News Network via Nausicaa.com], producer and former Studio Ghibli head Toshio Suzuki announced that they’ll be revealing their next film on the 16th.  Now before you go nuts and think this is Miyazaki’s next film, Suzuki explained that this project is from a new director and that they plan to debut the movie in theaters next year.  As for the brilliant Miyazaki, he’s already at work on a different film which might open in four years.  However, Miyazaki is currently animating a television commercial.  The TV commercial will most likely be the greatest one ever made.

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