My Neighbour Totoro. Castle in the Sky. Kiki’s Delivery Service. These are among my favourite films of all time. And they are all newly re-released on DVD this week from Disney.
I think writer/director/animator Hayao Miyazaki is an absolute genius and, after years and years of having to import his films through dubious channels we’re very lucky to finally have them available to us on home video. But I think it goes without saying that, while I’m pleased to have them in my home on DVD, I’d much rather have nice, new HD transfers on Blu-ray. Especially after seeing what Studio Ghibli‘s films can look like in high-def thanks to the brilliant Ponyo disc (read my full, gushing review here!)
All three of these Studio Ghibli films were previously released on DVD by Disney between 2003 – 2006. I compared the old discs with the new and discovered that all films are derived from the same transfers. Nothing new in that department. The feature discs themselves in each 2-disc set aren’t identical however, as there have been slight changes in trailers and menus. The greatest change you’ll find in these three new DVD sets is in the bonus feature department.
The second disc in each set features the bonus content and let me tell you, it’s a relative wealth of extras! Where the previous sets simply offered a storyboard-version of the film, these re-releases give you that and so much more. Utilizing the same design as the Ponyo disc, each bonus disc menu ushers you into “The World of Ghibli” which contains both the useless (but potentially fun for the under-5 set) interactive The World of Ghibli – Enter the Lands nonsense as well as The World of Ghibli – Behind the Studio – a series of short, candid interviews with Miyazaki, his composer Joe Hisaishi and producer Toshio Suzuki. The Hisaishi piece is, sadly, identical on each disc but aside from that, each little featurette is quite wonderful and almost worth the price of the upgrade for die-hard fans like myself.
Each bonus disc also features a film-related English subtitled sequence from The Scenery In Ghibli : Japan in Miyazaki’s Work / European Journey To Meet Miyazaki’s Work Blu-ray, which is an incredible addition to these US/Canadian DVDs!
All of the bonus features from the old DVDs have been carried forward, save for the inclusion of the credit-less opening and closing animation of Totoro.
Watching the Totoro, Kiki and Castle DVDs on my new Samsung LN40B750 made it quite clear that these films are not yet ready for Blu-ray. A lot of work is going to have to be done to get the films in shape for HD. Especially since we’ve now seen Ponyo on Blu-ray and know how brilliant these films can look in 1080p. If the rumours are to be believed, Miyazaki’s Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind will be making its way to Blu-ray this summer in Japan. I’ve got my fingers crossed that a North American release will follow quickly on its heels.
[...] available today: 3 more films by Hayao Miyazaki on DVD – My Neighbour Totoro, Castle in the Sky and Kiki’s Delivery [...]
[...] on Amazon.jp, Studio Ghibli‘s next two Blu-ray releases will be Hayao Miyazaki‘s 1986 Laputa, Castle in the Sky and his partner, Isao Takahata‘s 1999 comedy, My Neighbors the [...]