STUDIO GHIBLI CLASSICS TO BE RELEASED ON NETFLIX IN FEBRUARY
TWENTY-ONE titles from Studio Ghibli including classic favorites Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) and Spirited Away (2001) will be available on Netflix globally starting Feb. 1.
“In this day and age, there are various great ways a film can reach audiences. We’ve listened to our fans and have made the definitive decision to stream our film catalog. We hope people around the world will discover the world of Studio Ghibli through this experience,” producer Toshio Suzuki at Studio Ghibli said in a press release.
Films from the Japanese production company will be subtitled in 28 languages and “dubbed in up to 20 languages,” according to the release.
The titles will be available in all Netflix markets except the US, Canada, and Japan by virtue of the agreement with distributor Wild Bunch Entertainment.
Films arriving at the service starting Feb. 1 include the production house’s first animated feature Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) and well-loved Studio Ghibli classics like My Neighbor Totoro (1988) and Castle in the Sky (1988).
Studio Ghibli’s latest film, When Marnie Was There (2014), will be on the service starting April 1.
Studio Ghibli was founded by director Hayao Miyazaki and his colleagues in 1985 after the success of Nausicaa the year before. Known for its whimsical, animated fantasy features, several of Studio Ghibli’s works are among the top-grossing Japanese animated feature films in the world. It’s most successful release, Spirited Away, earned over $360 million worldwide and was named Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards in 2003. The same film also won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2002.
“Studio Ghibli is worldrenowned for creating visually stunning, original animated films that have enthralled fans for over 35 years. We are excited and humbled to help make this catalogue of films easier to discover and access, and believe that these masterpieces will resonate with even more fans around the world now that they are available in more languages. We look forward to welcoming a new generation of fans into the whimsical worlds and wonderful protagonists created by the amazing artists of Studio Ghibli,” Aram Yacoubian, director of original animation at Netflix, said in the release. —