Delays, delays...

[bigsleepj]

Unfortunately Porco Rosso, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and My Neighbor Totoro double disc special editions for the US have been delayed for the second time. Last release date was scheduled for Feb 2005 but has been delayed once again by Disney.

D'oh!

[Mangafanatic]

AHHH!!! No! My gosh, when will this torment ever end!!!

[Rev. Doc]

And unfortunately no new release date has been given. Disney has gotten too caught up with internal corporate battles and focus upon sequels to their older titles it seems to focus in on their Ghibli licenses. I am totally surprised that Spirited Away and Castle In The Sky have yet to make it to Disney Channel. So far the only title they have aired is Kiki's Delivery Service. I have a feeling it will be years before Porco Rosso, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and My Neighbor Totoro see distribution (although the dubbed Totoro can still be obtained).

[bigsleepj]

And unfortunately no new release date has been given. Disney has gotten too caught up with internal corporate battles and focus upon sequels to their older titles it seems to focus in on their Chibli licenses. I am totally surprised that Spirited Away and Castle In The Sky have yet to make it to Disney Channel. So far the only title they have aired is Kiki's Delivery Service. I have a feeling it will be years before Porco Rosso, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, and My Neighbor Totoro see distribution (although the dubbed Totoro can still be obtained).

No offense, but aren't you a little bit too pessimistic? I mean would the Disney Corporation pass up the chance to make money, even if it is very little off a niche market? I know they're an incredibly controlling corporation with a lack of many things, but I don't think expecting a delay of a few years would be realistic to worry about.

[Rev. Doc]

No offense, but aren't you a little bit too pessimistic? I mean would the Disney Corporation pass up the chance to make money, even if it is very little off a niche market? I know they're an incredibly controlling corporation with a lack of many things, but I don't think expecting a delay of a few years would be realistic to worry about.

Sorry. Just speculation on the fact that they have had the licences to the entire Ghibli library now for about 4 years and have only released 3 out of about 13 titles. Plus the fact that they have been pushing the dates back on these three for almost a year now.

[bigsleepj]

Sorry. Just speculation on the fact that they have had the licences to the entire Ghibli library now for about 4 years and have only released 3 out of about 13 titles. Plus the fact that they have been pushing the dates back on these three for almost a year now.

True enough but they have gone as far as to register with Amazon.com, release cover art for the DVD set and produce at the same time three English tracks. To throw it all out of the Window at moment 79% would be pretty stupid, considering that Dinsey's revenues have fallen and this could be a steady income from the growing number of anime fans. But then again, only Dinsey can be this stupid. I mean they let Pixar get away for crying out loud! How do you loose a company that makes you a billion dollars per movie?

[Rev. Doc]

they have had the licences to the entire Ghibli library now for about 4 years and have only released 3 out of about 13 titles.

Let me correct myself. I had forgotten Princess Mononoke which would be 4 not 3 releases.

Other speculation on Disney's delay is that they are waiting for their theatrical release of Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle in 2005 in the states which they can then link these other three DVD releases with. This is most likely what will happen.

[bigsleepj]

Let me correct myself. I had forgotten Princess Mononoke which would be 4 not 3 releases.

Other speculation on Disney's delay is that they are waiting for their theatrical release of Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle in 2005 in the states which they can then link these other three DVD releases with. This is most likely what will happen.

Hmmm. That seems the most logical answer to this question. So the next big question is: When does "Howl" gets released in the US? As far as I know Disney has announced no release date for the US or the UK (and I wont speculate as to what time it will arrive here) but 20 Nov is its Japan release date and 5 Dec its France release date (according to the iMDB.com), none of it which is encouraging.

[Rev. Doc]

Hmmm. That seems the most logical answer to this question. So the next big question is: When does "Howl" gets released in the US?

Again, one can only speculate. I am sure Disney will be watching how Howl's Moving Castle does in it's releases in other parts of the world. Now I don't mean to sound pessimistic again, however, Disney has not been known to give Ghibli's titles a very big push in theaters here. They are regarded as Disney's "Step Children" as one critic put it, taking back seat to their own projects. Both Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away opened to a limited number of screens, Spirited Away opening on only 151. It was only after the Oscars that the film reached 714 screens.

Since it is just now being released in Japan, and given Disney locks in the Spring or early Summer for it's "Big" title release, I would say we are looking at sometime early fall or holiday season of 2005 unless one of their "B" movie titles fills that slot.

But at this point Disney has made no indication of even putting it in theaters so we can only speculate and wait. I think they will also be keeping their eyes on the releases of Appleseed (January 14, 2005) and Steamboy (March 18, 2005) before they make a move.

[Ichigo_89]

Steamboy coming out in March?! WOOT!! Man, I've wanted to see that ever since I read about it months ago. *jumping for joy* Any idea if The Cat's Return will ever be licensed?

[bigsleepj]

Again, one can only speculate. I am sure Disney will be watching how Howl's Moving Castle does in it's releases in other parts of the world. Now I don't mean to sound pessimistic again, however, Disney has not been known to give Ghibli's titles a very big push in theaters here. They are regarded as Disney's "Step Children" as one critic put it, taking back seat to their own projects. Both Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away opened to a limited number of screens, Spirited Away opening on only 151. It was only after the Oscars that the film reached 714 screens.

Step Children! That's a pretty good way of putting it! That is the most accurate discription of the Disney - Ghibli relationship. If you look at how long it took "Spirited Away" to get released here, not even by Disney, then you can't help but feel some apathy for them. Especially considering their own movies have fallen in quality over the past few years. Spirited Away was given a general release by a local company last year in June 2003 and did fairly well here but the DVD release by that same company has been dissapointing. The DVD has only...the English voice track. No subtitles (English or Japanese), no Japanese voice track, no extras, not even a trailer. At least trailers can be entertaining. Considering the DVDs released by Disney in the UK and in Englad they could have mayhaps given it an okay release here, considering how successful it was here. I'm planning on getting the UK or US DVD when I can afford it.

[Tenshi no Ai]

About the whole "passing up a chance to get money" bit, don't forget that the three releases last time ALL hit DVD charts. Everytime I walked into a music store they were always sitting on the best seller shelves. So, I really don't see why they keep putting them off. Leaving us in suspence. Why Disney? WHY?!

[Rev. Doc]

Disney may be on again with the February 22nd release. This is according the the Ultimate Disney Fan Site. However, there may be a title change. Rumor is that the titles now to be released are Nausicaa, Porco Rosso and The Cat Returns. Totoro is left out of this batch. We'll just have to be satisfied with the older dub version, which I never really thought was that bad. Anyway, Disney has yet to confirm this so we will still have to wait and see.

[bigsleepj]

Great!!! Thanks for the info!

But why did they drop Totoro? Probably because its more Kidy and they're keeping it for Howl's Moving Caslte, I suspect.

I would have bought the older dub by Streamline Pictures but it doesn't have the Japanese soundtrack. Since I'd like to learn Japanese I'd prefer to have the Japanese track as well. Oh well, "The Cat Returns" looks like an interesting movie.

[Tenshi no Ai]

Great!!! Thanks for the info!

But why did they drop Totoro? Probably because its more Kidy and they're keeping it for Howl's Moving Caslte, I suspect.

I would have bought the older dub by Streamline Pictures but it doesn't have the Japanese soundtrack. Since I'd like to learn Japanese I'd prefer to have the Japanese track as well. Oh well, "The Cat Returns" looks like an interesting movie.

Mou... since when did Disney say they would even begin to work on The Cat Returns?! Hopefully Totoro will be out in another batch then... (I get dissatisfied when they bring out a dub-only DVD :/)

[termyt]

No offense, but aren't you a little bit too pessimistic? I mean would the Disney Corporation pass up the chance to make money, even if it is very little off a niche market?

YES! Yes they would. My mother would attest to that. Do you know how many of her generation are dying to see the original Micky Mouse Club produced on DVD? There's a lot of money to be made there but Disney is not interested.

The nazi-mouse cares little about what we want. It seems to believe that what ever it produces is what we should want. After all, are they not the first and last authority on what is good for our children?

My dripping sarcasm aside, I hope the title's release dates stay "back on" or me and that mouse will have a reckoning. By the way, Totoro fans, you can probably still get the Fox release of Totoro on DVD. I did.

EDIT: I did a little search and the 20th Century Fox release of My Neighbor Totoro is still available on DVD through Amazon for under $10. The Disney version will be a two disc special and will have a new translation and dub, but the Fox dub is pretty good, too.

[Rev. Doc]

Mou... since when did Disney say they would even begin to work on The Cat Returns?!

Disney has made it offical now. Here is the voice casting for The Cat Returns:

Anne Hathaway (“The Princes Diaries 2: Royal Engagementâ€