If you are a fan of Hayao Miyazaki or Studio Ghibli in general, GKids is making your dreams come true. They announced via Twitter that they plan to re-release a large amount of Studio Ghibli’s catalog on DVD and Blu-ray starting on October 17. The initial releases will include the following titles:
- Spirited Away
- Howl’s Moving Castle
- Kiki’s Delivery Service
- Ponyo
- Princess Mononoke
Soon after, on October 31, GKids plans to release Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. While there are no release dates for the other films, GKids confirmed that future films will include Porco Rosso, Pom Poko, Whisper of the Heart, My Nighbors the Yamadas, The Cat Returns, Tales from Earthsea and The Secret World of Arrietty. Their goal is to start releasing the titles this fall and finish releasing them by the end of the first quarter of 2018.
GKids announced that all DVDs will have a Japanese audio track and an English dub track. English sub-titles will be included and will come from Studio Ghibli themselves. An English dubtitle track will be included as well as French subtitles. There was no mention if the Blu-ray editions would include special features unique to them or not.
GKids did stress that some of the newer films will not be re-released because they are too new and do not warrant such treatment. Titles such as The Wind Rises, Poppy, Ocean Waves, Only Yesterday, Kaguya, and Marnie were cited as examples of films that are still relatively new and won’t be seeing a re-release, but are still available to purchase. They also stated that Grave of the Fireflies will not be included because it is not being represented by Studio Ghibli here in the United States.
They also stated that Studio Ghibli is very strict about things they allow, such as dubbing. They want to make sure you get the best experience possible and so all re-releases will be Studio Ghibli approved before being released.
For those wondering about the possibility of a digital release, GKids has stated that there are only plans for DVD and Blu-ray at this time.
