This is the 2008 movie poster for Panda Kopanda, as part of the Ghibli Museum Library series. This is Ghibli's showcase for international animation that is beloved by the studio, especially the founding directors. In addition to other's works, Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki's earlier films are included. Panda Kopanda was the first, followed by Lupin III: Series One in 2009. Anne of Green Gables is the newest inclusion, and will be released on July 17, 2010.
These films are given a very limited release - a single theatre screen, in fact. DVD and Blu-Ray releases soon follow, except for Lupin III, which is available in Japan on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Panda Kopanda was once available in the US by Pioneer under the title, "Panda Go Panda." The DVD has been out of print for a number of years, and there doesn't seem to be much interest in bringing it back. Not sexy or violent or modern enough for today's anime crowd, I suppose. Sigh. Here is another no-brainer for Disney and Pixar.
I really dig this poster. It's taken from Miyazaki's original layout drawings for the movie, which were, in turn, based heavily on the doomed Pipi Longstockings project.
6 comments:
Panda Go Panda actually got a recent release in the UK
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panda-Go-DVD-Hayao-Miyazaki/dp/B001U3EOMG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1275769579&sr=8-1
Manga produced it instead of Optimum who release the Ghibli film DVD's here. Which suggests to me Disney-Pixar doesn't have rights to this film
Yes, you are correct about Panda Kopanda. It would never be a part of the Ghibli-Disney distribution deal, since the two movies were created at A Pro in the early '70s.
If Manga released Panda in the UK, I wonder if they'd be interested in North America? Did Pioneer's rights expire? That's worth investigating.
You wouldn't want Manga doing a US release believe me they have HORRIBLE DVD/BDs rep. They pretty much screwed up the End Of Evangelion release beyond repair and it's nearly unwatchable compared to the Japanese release.
But it's been forever since I've seen Panda Kopanda a couple of years ago and remember liking it quite alot certainly an pre-ghibli gem.
Believe me, I'm still cross at Manga for the way they mangled Castle of Cagliostro. Why US distributors think anime fans will pay for chopped-up and edited product is a mystery. But this is the mindset of all middlemen - they know better than you, even when they don't.
a very sweet poster for an adorable movie. awww.
hey, could you advise on whether it's necessary to buy the new disney release of totoro? any interesting changes to the english dub (cf. the new R1 versions of laputa and kiki)? any improvement in any way over the previous R1 release?
i haven't got the cash to buy it just for the new cover, but if the contents are in any way different from what's been available before...
help me, please! ^^
I would assume the US rights expired sometime ago after the Pioneer/Geneon company went under.
The current owners of Panda Kopanda is TMS Entertainment, Ltd. who would be the guys someone would have to go to in re-licensing this here.
They seem to want to call it "The Adventures of Panda & Friends" as an English title on their site (let alone renaming Mimiko as "Pamela"), though I assume they still have the English dub as was produced by Pioneer before...
http://www.tms-e.com/english/search/index.php?pdt_no=232
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