Release News

Ponyo and Studio Ghibli films on Blu-ray

By brenden ⋅ July 12, 2009 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

My favourite movie on the planet, I mean the absolute best film ever made, in my eyes is Tonari No Totoro (My Neighbour Totoro) by Hayao Miyazaki. Damn near cinematic perfection in animation. And Miyazaki’s best work, by far. Even compared to his wonderful, most recent film, Ponyo, which has just been released on DVD in Japan.

How can you get Ponyo or Totoro on Blu-ray? Well, you can’t. Not yet anyway.

Studio Ghibli is Miyazaki and his partner Isao Takahata. They’ve each produced a ton of films since the studio’s debut in the mid 80s, with most having been released on DVD here in North America and in Europe since Ghibli’s distribution deal with Disney/Buena Vista some years back. To date, however none of these films have been released on Blu-ray. But don’t fret. There’s hope!

Gake no ue no Ponyo, though released on DVD last week in Japan (region coded to work in Japanese players only, of course) has been announced for a December release on Blu-ray! No details of the disc itself are available yet but this bodes well for those of us outside of the land of the rising sun. You see, with the film opening in theatres here on August 14, and North America sharing a region code with Japan, I think this is Disney’s sneaky little way of letting us know that we’ll be seeing Ponyo on Blu-ray in North America at the same time. No point releasing it in one place alone when the disc is programmed to work in the other. So, my best guess is that Ponyo will hit the USA and Canada on Blu-ray in December, to be followed slowly in the coming months by the rest of the Ghibli catalogue. Mark my words!

One thing we sadly won’t see on our shores is Ponyo wa Kousite Umareta (This Is How Ponyo Was Born), the recently delayed 2-disc, 12 hour long Making-of-Ponyo release (pushed back to December to clear music rights, according to Studio Ghibli executive producer Suzuki Toshio). Even when it does hit the shops, this Blu-ray won’t feature an English dub or any subtitles whatsoever. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we might see a fan-sub pop up on the internets.

In the meantime, to sate your Ghibli pallet, there are a handful of related releases on Blu (Hint - Snap up the Hisaishi in Budokan disc to see a bonus feature of music videos with Miyazaki’s animation set to music. The first Ghibli animation available for home video consumption in HD!):

Joe Hisaishi in Budokan - Miyazaki Anime to Tomo ni Ayunda 25 Nenkan: “To commemorate the release of Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, master composer and Miyazaki’s longtime collaborator Hisaishi Joe held special concerts at the Budokan on August 4 and 5, 2008. Joe Hisaishi in Budokan - Miyazaki Anime to Tomo ni Ayunda 25 Nenkan fondly revisits the award-winning composer’s 25 years of musical collaboration with Miyazaki. Featuring a 200-person orchestra, an 800-person choir, and guest appearances from vocalists Hirahara Ayaka, Masako Hayashi, Fujioka Fujimaki, and Ohashi Nozumi, this concert DVD captures a night filled with music from Ponyo, My Neighbor Totoro, Laputa, Princess Mononoke, and other beloved Ghibli classics. Comes with making of and screen animation footage.”

Oga Kazuo Exhibition: Ghibli No Eshokunin - The One Who Painted Totoro’s Forest (English Subs): “From July 21 through September 10th, 2007, the Museum for Contemporary Art Tokyo held an exhibition honoring Oga Kazuo, the art director and background artist for many famed works from Japan’s Studio Ghibli. Over 600 works from the artist were on display, and numerous fans flocked to the one-of-a-kind exhibition celebrating the lush, gorgeous background artwork typifying many a work from Miyazaki Hayao and other Ghibli filmmakers. International fans of Oga and Studio Ghibli have not been left out, however. The Oga Kazuo Exhibition: Ghibli No Eshokunin - The One Who Painted Totoro’s Forest (Blu-ray + DVD) allows fans the opportunity to attend the exhibition, as well as watch interviews and testimonials with Oga’s contemporaries and collaborators, all subtitled in English.”

The Scenery In Ghibli : Japan in Miyazaki’s Work / European Journey To Meet Miyazaki’s Work : “With the use of Miyazaki’s ekonte (storyboards) 3 travellers, actress Tsuruta Mayu, Natsukawa Yui and actor Sugimoto Tetsuta, visit the places and towns related to the images from Miyazaki’s animated works. BS-Nippon re-edited the European part that aired on their TV channel back in 2006, as well as the Japanese part which aired in 2008 on BS-Nittere. In The Japan Miyazaki depicted (95 minutes), Tsuruta Mayu visits the places of “good old Japan” and discovers profound attractions like Totoro and Spirited Away and also shows the charm of Ponyo. In A Trip of the Europe Encountered in Miyazaki’s Works (85 minutes) Natsukawa Yui visits Stockholm and Gotland to seek Koriko town from Kiki’s Delivery Service. Sugimoto Tetsuta visits Alsace region to seek the town where Sophie lives in in Howl’s Moving Castle.” (via GhibliWorld.com)

Hayao Miyazaki will be making a rare appearance and speaking at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 24, in Hollywood for the US premiere of Ponyo on the 27 and in Beverly Hills, Calif., to be honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences the following evening, July 28.

Tags: Animation, Anime, Hayao Miyazaki, Japan, Ponyo, Studio Ghibli, Totoro