is Disney planning on releasing any Studio Ghibli movies

[dajaga]

just wondering if there has been news on any of the studio ghibli films being released on blu yet

[Propellarhead9]

the only thing I've seen so far is Ponyo

[OrlandoEastwood]

Ponyo is due out in March. My guess is that we'll have to wait as soon as Ghibli starts releasing their titles on Blu-ray in Japan. So, that might be some time. There's upconverted versions of Howl's Moving Castle available in Mexico and Spirited Away in the Netherlands on Blu-ray. Ponyo is also out in Japan and France on Blu-ray.

[Jeff Kleist]

Looking at at least fall right now. There has to be a Japanese release and then a buffer zone. They are being worked on

[vveksuvarna]

the new snow white, up & monsters inc releases carry a trailer for ponyo, for those who are interested in seeing what it looks like in HD.

the colours on the ghibli-disney dvds have always seem boosted compared to the original japanese releases. i still havent figured why.

[Jeff Kleist]

the colours on the ghibli-disney dvds have always seem boosted compared to the original japanese releases. i still havent figured why.

Interesting you say that, because they're used the same authoring facility in LA for both, though I don't know if the source tape was the same

[Rik1138]

Originally Posted by dajaga

just wondering if there has been news on any of the studio ghibli films being released on blu yet

Miyazaki himself as stated that he has no plans to release any films other than Ponyo on Blu-ray. I'm not really sure why though.

I would suspect that, with the popularity of his films in Japan, the Japanese market would get them on Blu eventually, and then Disney could release them here... But I'm not sure what the Blu-ray market is like in Japan.

Of course, 'no plans' could mean simply that... No current plans. They may start making plans next week though...

[Jeff Kleist]

Oh there are plans. There have been a few titles put on the schedule and then taken off

Personally I don't expect to see any of them on US store shelves this year besides Ponyo. If Miyazaki is hesitant about doing his classics up on Blu-ray, I'm sure John Lassetter can help massage things

[Rik1138]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Oh there are plans. There have been a few titles put on the schedule and then taken off

Personally I don't expect to see any of them on US store shelves this year besides Ponyo. If Miyazaki is hesitant about doing his classics up on Blu-ray, I'm sure John Lassetter can help massage things

I thought about that too... Surely Disney can persuade him! But then, you have to consider that when compared to almost any other title Disney releases here, his films just don't sell that well. He doesn't have the popularity here that he does in Japan. They are trying to change that with Ponyo (lots more advertising, etc...), but they still don't bring in 'Disney dollars'. Not that they wouldn't be willing to do it anyway... I could see his latest films like Howl's or Spirited Away being released eventually, maybe 2011, but so far he's said no...

I can't imagine he'd ignore the format completely, and I can only assume they have original film elements of all of his films still, so that shouldn't be an issue... I'd bet they are waiting see how well Ponyo does once it's released.

Rik

[Jeff Kleist]

I thought about that too... Surely Disney can persuade him! But then, you have to consider that when compared to almost any other title Disney releases here, his films just don't sell that well. He doesn't have the popularity here that he does in Japan. They are trying to change that with Ponyo (lots more advertising, etc...), but they still don't bring in 'Disney dollars'. Not that they wouldn't be willing to do it anyway... I could see his latest films like Howl's or Spirited Away being released eventually, maybe 2011, but so far he's said no...

Kiki's Delivery Service ran a million copies. His films sell gangbusters all over East Asia, that's a reason why Disney went after him in the first place. I'm pretty sure that Miyazaki didn't specifically say "I don't want to release my films on Blu-ray" as much as "We haven't settled on a date yet"

Miyazaki is very much into the theatrical/film experience, and Blu-ray gets about as close as we're getting at home.

I hope I'll have more news in a few months

[Rik1138]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Kiki's Delivery Service ran a million copies. His films sell gangbusters all over East Asia, that's a reason why Disney went after him in the first place. I'm pretty sure that Miyazaki didn't specifically say "I don't want to release my films on Blu-ray" as much as "We haven't settled on a date yet"

Well, I have to trust what the translator said since Miyazaki doesn't speak English (or very well), but when asked specifically what other films would be released on Blu-ray, his response was that he doesn't have any plans to do anything other than Ponyo... Not that he doesn't want to, just that nothing is being worked on at this time...