March 31, 2006 Additional TCM Showings
Turner Classic Movies will be airing several Studio Ghibli film in May during the morning hours:
Castle in the Sky (Friday, May 5, 2:00 AM)
Porco Rosso (Friday, May 5, 4:15 AM)
Princess Mononoke (Friday, May 12, 2:00 AM)
My Neighbor Totoro (Friday, May 12, 4:30 AM)
Whisper of the Heart (Friday, May 19, 2:00 AM)
Pom Poko (Friday, May 19, 4:00 AM)
Thanks to Jean Yeatman for the news.
March 29, 2006 Miyazaki Clock Footage, Puss in Boots Trailer
Footage from the NTV show "Zoom in SUPER" featuring the large Miyazaki-designed clock is availible at Ghibli World.
Discotek (US publisher of Puss in Boots has uploaded a trailer to YouTube.
Thanks to Peter van der Lugt and Daniel Zelter for the news.
March 24, 2006 Miyazaki Designed Huge Clock
NTV announced that Hayao Miyazaki will design a huge copper clock (10 meters high, 18 meters wide) for the NTV tower at Shiodome, Tokyo. It is planned for completion in the middle of July. The design period took over four years.
Production will be done by Shachimaru Kunio who produced the robot on the rooftop of the Studio Ghibli Museum. A model of the clock is displayed at Shiodome until April 25th.
Details of this project will be announced on NTV's program "Zoom In Super" on March 29th.
Thanks to T. Ishikawa for the news.
March 22, 2006 Takahata Interview
Ghibli World conducted an interview with Isao Takahata during his visit to the Anima 2006 convention in Brussels. It covers his reflections on some of the previous works as well as details on his current projects.
Thanks to Peter van der Lugt for the news.
March 21, 2006 "House Hunting" Museum Short Info
Details about the "Yadosagashi" (House Hunting) short film showing at the Studio Ghibli Museum is available at Ghibli World.
Thanks to Peter van der Lugt for the news.
March 16, 2006 "Tales from Earthsea" Translator Article and DVD Releases
Ghibli World has links to pictures and a trailer of NHK's "Professional" TV program that followed Studio Ghibli President Toshio Suzuki around for the past few months (something mentioned in Goro Miyazaki's blog).
An article by Masako Shimizu (translator of the Earthsea series) has been added to the Studio Ghibli's website. This is one of the very few English pages on the official site.
Buena Vista Japan announced that Gauche the Cellist and Taneyamagahara no Yoru DVDs will be released on July 7 on the 110th anniversary of the birth of Kenji Miyazawa. These DVD are released as part of the Ghibli ga Ippai Collection Special.
Gauche the Cellist (2 discs)
Price: 4,935yen
Audio: DD Mono
Subtitles: Japanese and English
Special Features:
1. Storyboards
2. "Kenji and Music and Iihatobu - The sixth symphony Kenji heard"
3. Trailer
4. Staff interviews (80 min) - Isao Takahata, Koichi Murata, Shunji Saida, Tadao Kubota
5. Character boards, Image boards, and Art boards
DVD production: Studio Ghibli
http://club.buenavista.jp/ghibli/news/detail.jsp?id=502
Taneyamagahara no Yoru (DVD and Sound Track CD)
Running time: 27 min
Price: 3,990
Audio: DD 2.0
Subtitle: Standard Japanese, Regional dialect Japanese
Staff and Cast
Director, Dramatizer, and Painter: Kazuo Oga
Voice Cast: Hatsuo Yamaya (speaks in a regional dialect)
Singing: Ensemble Planeta
http://www.pcmusic.jp/ensembleplaneta/disco/index.html
Production: Studio Ghibli
http://club.buenavista.jp/ghibli/news/detail.jsp?id=503
Thanks to T. Ishikawa and Peter van der Lugt for the news.
March 13, 2006 Museum Website and Oga's First Film
Ghibli World is reporting that Lawson has created a website dedicated to the new Studio Ghibli museum shorts.
Studio Ghibli announced that Kazuo Oga's (art director for most Ghibli films) first film "Taneyamagahara no Yoru" (Night of Taneyamagahara) will be released this summer. This film is in a picture story show style. The details of this film will be announced later.
The play "Taneyamagahara no Yoru" was written by Kenji Miyazawa in 1924 when he was a 28-year old teacher.
Thanks to T. Ishikawa and Peter van der Lugt for the news.
March 11, 2006 Three R1 DVD Releases
Three Studio Ghibli DVDs were released on March 7:
*Howl's Moving Castle
*My Neighbor Totoro
*Whisper of the Heart
Details on all three can be found linked from the Video Release Schedule.
Thanks to Steve Warrick and Canon Pence for the reminder.
March 9, 2006 News Bits
Ghibli World has links to information about advance ticket sales for Tales from Earthsea and leaflets promoting the film.
"El Mercurio", Chile's most important national newspaper, published an article (in spanish) about Hayao Miyazaki in its March 5th culture supplement "Artes y Letras".
Madman Cinema is thrilled to announce that Hayao Miyazaki's HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE has grossed over $1 million dollars combined at the Australian / New Zealand theatrical box office. Released in cinemas on September 22 in Australia and December 29 in New Zealand, HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE's Australian premiere was the Closing Night slot at the Sydney
Film Festival in June, 2005 with Studio Ghibli co-founder and HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE producer, Toshio Suzuki, a special guest of the Festival.
The Australian and New Zealand DVD release is due out on March 15th
Thanks to Peter van der Lugt, Sylvester Ip, and Gonzalo Vasquez Villanueva for the news.
March 7, 2006 "Monmon the Water Spider" Details
Ghibli World continues their features on the various Studio Ghibli Museum shorts with one on "Monmon the Water Spider".
Thanks to Peter van der Lugt for the news.
March 2, 2006 "Tales from Earthsea" Ad Campaign Begins
Asahi Drinks and Studio Ghibli are collaborating on a commercial for Tales from Earthsea. They had previously worked together on an ad for Umacha chilled tea.
Background paintings and Goro Miyazaki's rough sketch from the film are being displayed at the Otemachi Museum in the Otemachi Station (Toei subway Mita line). Images of the sketch and a translation of the insertion song are availible from Online Ghibli.
The NHK program "Professional" features Toshio Suzuki on the April 6th broadcast. The filming of the show was mentioned in Goro Miyazaki's blog (January 10, 19).
Ghibli World reports that the theme song will be released as a CD single in June. A clip from the NTV program "Seikatsu Hot Morning" featuring an interview with Hayao Miyazaki is also availiable.
Thanks to T. Ishikawa and Peter van der Lugt ryfor the news.