May 31, 2002 Studio Ghibli Museum Tickets from Outside of Japan
Tickets to the Studio Ghibli museum were only purchasable from inside Japan, but the museum is now selling tickets via specific travel agencies. Information on ticket cost, availability, and contacts is located on the official museum site.
Thanks to MikE for posting the news to the MML.
May 21, 2002 "Le Voyage de Chihiro" a Hit in France
The film will break the 1 million mark in viewers after its fifth week in theaters.
Critics have also given the film rave reviews (in French).
Thanks to Xavier Roche for the news.
May 19, 2002 Ebert Answers "Castle in the Sky" Query
In this week's edition of Ebert's "Movie Answer Man" column, a question about the status of "Castle in the Sky" is answered by Moriarity of AICN.
Thanks to Thomas Holbrook for the news.
May 17, 2002 French Release Information
Some information from Buta Connection posted to the MML by Vincent Ploix:
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We learn that Buena Vista will release four Miyazaki films in France in the next two years:
- Laputa and Kiki's delivery service in 2003
- Nausicaä and Porco Rosso in 2004
No information on the French dub yet.
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May 17, 2002 "Sen" DVD Bundle at Lawson's
The Collector's Edition and DVD player bundles of "Sen" (details) have proven to be extremely difficult items to obtain. A litte hope from Oliver Ho:
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The Special Edition and DVD have re-appeared for reservation at Lawson. (Thanks for the tip MikE)
I just found out if you order online, you do not have to make a payment until a week later.
I managed to acquire a reservation for the DVD Player Edition, will try again later for the Special Edition :D
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You can view the different bundles at the Lawson website. Note: It's fairly tough to reserve a bundle from inside Japan, and fans outside of Japan are probably limited to just drooling at the items.
May 13, 2002 "Spirited Away" to Premiere in Toronto
Animated Movies (warning: pop-ups galore) reports that the English Dub of "Spirited Away" will premiere at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival (September 5 - 14).
Thanks to steve for posting the news to the MML
May 12, 2002 "Anime Animaux" Radio Segment
Gary Montgomery sent in this link to WNYC's May 11th Studio 360 segment titled "Anime Animaux", the segment is in RealAudio format. A mention of "Princess Mononoke" occurs at around 2:20, and the host mentions "Spirited Away" at the 7:20 mark. Currently, the file ends in the middle of the interview, this may or may not be fixed in the following days.
May 10, 2002 "Sen" and "Hols" in Portugal
Ricardo Gonçalves sent in a brief clipping from the Portuguese edition of "Premiere" magazine:
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NEW (DISTRIBUTOR) AGE
Its name is New Age Entertainment and it's a new portuguese distributor which is going to focus on releasing cult and independent movies which have been acclaimed by both critics and audiences alike. Starting in May, they are going to release two titles on DVD: Absolute Beginners, by Julian Temple and Hols, Prince of the Sun, by Isao Takahata, the first title of a collection which looks very promising: Anime Masterpieces. Coming soon are the releases of Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko, Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale and the long awaited Spirited Away, by Hayao Miyazaki, the film which won the Golden Bear at the last Berlin Film Festival.
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It remains to be seen if "Sen" will show in theaters or head straight-to-video.
Never heard about "Hols"? Visit this page.
May 7, 2002 "Spirited Away" Appears on the Disney.com Site
A small blurb is located under the "Movie Info" box in the bottom right-hand corner of the Walt Disney Pictures site. You might have to press the "Next Info" button a few times to select the correct blurb.
The text reads:
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Spirited Away
This fall, Walt Disney Studios will release Hayao Miyazaki's ("Princess Mononoke") animated masterpiece, "Spirited Away." Japan's all-time top grossing film ($234 million). The film follows the fanciful adventures of a young girl named Chihiro, who discovers a secret world when she gets lost & ventures through a hillside tunnel, encountering strange spirits, assorted creatures & a grumpy sorceress who seeks to prevent Chihiro from returning to the human world.
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Thanks to David Khalil for the tip.
May 5, 2002 "Castle in the Sky" Screening in New York
A showing of "Castle in the Sky" (Disney English dub) is scheduled for May 11 at 7:00pm as a part of the Tribeca Film Festival.
The film (with new English dub and music by Joe Hisaishi) originally premiered at the 2000 NYICFF.
More details on this page.
Thanks to Chris Fielder for posting the news to the MML.
May 3, 2002 "Spirited Away" Wins Audience Award at SFIFF
More details at the offical SFIFF site or AICN.
Thanks to Paul Alvarado-Dykstra for the news.