New York, New York — November 14, 2011 — GKIDS, a distributor of award winning animation for both adults and family audiences, is bringing a complete retrospective of films from Japan’s renowned Studio Ghibli to the IFC Center in New York from Friday, December 16 to Thursday, January 12.  The run will include US premiere theatrical engagements for several titles.

All fifteen Studio Ghibli feature films produced between 1984 and 2008 will be presented, including Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award® winning Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, Ponyo, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Kiki’s Delivery Service.  Films will be shown in both the subtitled and English dubbed versions.  (see below for complete list)

GKIDS recently entered into agreement with Studio Ghibli to handle North American theatrical distribution for their library of animated features.  As the first engagements announced under the agreement, New York Film Festival presented a 25 year anniversary screening of Castle in the Sky and 10 year anniversary screenings of Spirited Away.  LA County Museum of Art and Film Independent will be presenting these same anniversary titles in a special preview screening on November 26.

Following the IFC Center engagement, the retrospective will tour to major US and Canadian markets, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, Toronto, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, and other cities, throughout the first half of 2012.  GKIDS is also planning limited releases of select Studio Ghibli titles, many of which have never been released theatrically in the US, beginning late 2012.

Eric Beckman, GKIDS president, said, “I am both excited and deeply honored to be working with Studio Ghibli to bring this amazing slate of films to theaters across North America. I am in continual awe of the brilliance of the animation, the depth and humanity of the storytelling, and of the filmmakers’ understanding that even the youngest audiences are capable of appreciating all the subtlety and nuance that cinema has to offer.  As Miyazaki has said ‘Children understand the complexity and uncertainty of things almost with their skin. They cannot be underestimated.’ ”

STUDIO GHIBLI FILMS — IFC CENTER — DEC 16 TO JAN 12

Title Director (Producer) Versions Year RT
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Hayao Miyazaki (Isao Takahata) Subtitled and dubbed (Uma Thurman, Shia LeBouf, Edward James Olmos, Mark Hamill) 1984 116 min
Castle in the Sky Hayao Miyazaki (Isao Takahata) Subtitled only 1986 126 min
My Neighbor Totoro Hayao Miyazaki (Toru Hara) Subtitled and dubbed (Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Tim Daly, Frank Welker) 1988 86 min
Kiki’s Delivery Service Hayao Miyazaki (Hayao Miyazaki) Subtitled and dubbed (Kirsten Dunst, Phil Hartman, Janeane Garofalo, Debbie Reynolds) 1989 102 min
Only Yesterday Isao Takahata (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled only 1991 118 min
The Ocean Waves Tomomi Mochizuki (Nozomu Takahashi) Subtitled only, digital only 1993 72 min
Porco Rosso Hayao Miyazaki (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled and dubbed (Michael Keaton, Cary Elwes, Brad Garrett, David Ogden Stiers) 1992 94 min
Pom Poko Isao Takahata (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled and dubbed (J.K. Simmons, Brian Posehn, Tress MacNeille, John DiMaggio) 1994 119 min
Whisper of the Heart Yoshifumi Kondo (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled and dubbed (Ashley Tisdale, Cary Elwes, Harold Gould, Brittany Snow) 1995 111 min
Princess Mononoke Hayao Miyazaki (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled and dubbed (Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Gillian Anderson, Minnie Driver, Billy Bob Thornton, Jada Pinkett Smith, John DiMaggio) 1997 134 min
My Neighbors the Yamadas Isao Takahata (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled and dubbed (James Belushi, Molly Shannon, Tress MacNeille) 1999 111 min
Spirited Away Hayao Miyazaki (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled and dubbed (Daveigh Chase, Jason Marsden, Michael Chiklis, Susan Egan) 2001 125 min
The Cat Returns Hiroyuki Morita (Toshio Suzuki) Subtitled and dubbed (Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, Peter Boyle, Elliott Gould, Tim Curry, Andy Richter, Kristen Bell, Avril Lavigne) 2002 75 min
Howl’s Moving Castle Hayao Miyazaki (Toshio Suzuki) Dubbed (Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall, Billy Crystal) 2004 119 min
Ponyo Hiroyuki Morita (Toshio Suzuki) Dubbed (Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Liam Neeson, Tina Fey) 2008 101 min

Chris Arrant

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