This is extraordinary news! According to pre-order listings 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 Yamadas.
You might recall that Yamadas was long rumoured to be the first Ghibli Blu-ray disc release, following Ponyo. However, the less-popular title was temporarily shelved in favour of bringing the studio’s first film to Blu-ray - Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, released to great success in Japan on July 14th (read our follow up story here.) While none of these titles have yet to be announced for domestic release here in North America, we can expect to hear something soon, seeing as how plans are afoot for UK and Aussie releases before the end of the year.
Both Laputa and Yamadas will be in Japanese shops on December 22nd.
LAPUTA, CASTLE IN THE SKY
(December 22, 2010 – MSRP ￥ 7,140)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: Japanese 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio (French, German, Korean, Cantonese, Mandarin DD 2.0 audio)
Subs: Japanese, English, French, Korean, Chinese (simplified and traditional) and Finnish
Special Features:
- North American edition of the movie with DD 5.1 English audio and Japanese subs
- Picture in Picture content (Storyboards)
- “Screenplay” (Afureko daihon)
- Isolated opening and ending (without credits text)
- Trailers and TV Spots
MY NEIGHBORS THE YAMADAS
(December 22, 2010 – MSRP ￥ 7,140)
Video: 1.85:1 1080p
Audio: Japanese 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (English, German in 5.1 DD and Korean, Mandarin in 2.0 DD)
Subs: Japanese, English, French, Korean, Chinese and German
Special Features:
- Nippon TV “Making Of” special (45min)
- Storyboards
- “Screenplay” (Afureko daihon)
- Trailers
- TV Spot
[...] Tales From Earthsea will debut on Blu with package art that matches the style of the previous Japanese Ghibli Blu-ray discs. Both titles will feature English language dubs and subtitles and cost 7140yen each [...]