On Tuesday, February 3, Disney released three Studio Ghibli Blu-Ray discs: Porco Rosso, Pom Poko, and Tales From Earthsea. Amazon should be your retailer of choice; my recent visits to Target and Barnes & Noble were unsuccessful, and I'm guessing these titles won't be heavily stocked on physical shelves.
This release falls under the category of "contractual obligation." Disney has slowly edged away from Studio Ghibli for the past couple years, as New York distributors GKids Films has taken on the load. With these three movies, most of the Studio Ghibli BDs are now available in North America. The only remaining titles in Disney's possession: The Cat Returns, Spirited Away, My Neighbors the Yamadas. I would expect one final home video release.
As for Omohide Poro Poro, the Studio Ghibli movie Disney wouldn't touch, I remain hopeful that GKids would release the BD on their own. Umi ga Kikoeru has yet to see a high-definition release in Japan, much less the West, and nobody knows its fate (the DVD, thankfully, is still available).
2 comments:
I also couldn't find Porco Rosso on store shelves, so it looks like I'll order online (maybe through Disney Movie Club again).
Oh yeah, I wonder why in the world "Only Yesterday" is still up in the air. It's not exactly controversial as far as I know; was it not included in whatever deal Disney struck to get the rest of the back catalog?
More dubtitles on Pom Poko. Another one to add to the list to import from Japan.
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