Ask John: When Will Miyazaki’s Films Be Released In The US?

Question:
Is it true that all of Miyazaki’s films are going to be released to the U.S sooner or later? I am looking forward to seeing such films as Crimson Pig, Castle of Cagliostro, and others.

Answer:
Well, this is sort of a tricky question. Disney purchased the worldwide (excluding Japan) distribution and translation rights to all of the major Studio Ghibli films, with the exception of My Neighbor Totoro, which is still licensed by Twentieth-Century Fox, and Graveyard of Fireflies, which is still licensed by Central Park Media. Whether or not Disney will release all of these films in the US remains to be seen. Current rumor, and let me emphasize that, from what I personally know right now, this is merely a rumor, is that Disney, upon actually watching their completed dub of Laputa: Castle in the Sky, were disappointed with it, and are currently re-dubbing the entire film for possible theatrical release.

While some of the Ghibli films, such as Laputa, Whisper of the Heart, and Porco Rosso- the Crimson Pig- will almost certianly come out in the US eventually, other Ghibli films like I Can Hear the Ocean, Pon Poko and My Neighbors The Yamadas are heavily steeped in Japanese cultural references and, for one reason or another, seem, at least to me, much less likely to be accessable to mainstream American audiences.

Lupin the Third: Cagilostro’s Castle is not a Ghibli film, and thus was not part of the Disney/Tokuma Shoten partnership. Currently Manga Entertainment owns the distribution rights to this wonderful film. Manga intends to release Cagliostro’s Castle to home video in the US sometime next year. While Streamline Pictures did dub and market the film in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Manga’s release will appear both dubbed, and for the first time in the US, subtitled.