2008-12-News

Updated: Films on BBC2, Film4, and S4C

• BBC2 airs Howl's Moving Castle on December 28 at 10:05
• Film4 repeats The Cat Returns on December 31 at 13:00 and My Neighbor Totoro on January 1 at 13:00.
• Welsh language channel S4C has a whole slew of early-morning showings: Pom Poko on January 1 at 3:15, Whisper of the Heart on January 2 at 2:45, Only Yesterday on January 3 at 2:55, and Grave of the Fireflies on January 6 at 1:35.

Thanks to David Pearce and tanuki for the news.

--LLin 06:27, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

NHK to Air Several Studio Ghibli-related Programs

Studio Ghibli announced that NHK's programs about Miyazaki will be aired around the world by NHK World Premium.

• "100 years interview" with Hayao Miyazaki will aired on December 30 from 15:10 to 16:40.

This interview show addresses messages from prominent people with significance for viewers even 100 years later. Hayao Miyazaki, Japan's most popular director for animated feature films such as "Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind," "Princess Mononoke" and "Spirited Away," talks about his filmmaking and how he views children today.

• "Joe Hisaishi Presents Music from Miyazaki's Anime" airs December 31 from 15:10 - 16:53.

Joe Hisaishi, one of the greatest composers in Japan, gave a concert at Nippon Budokan, presenting sound tracks he wrote for Miyazaki's animation films with an orchestra and more than 1,000 musicians. Enjoy the concert, his interviews, the film's making-scenes and highlights from Miyazaki films. Guest stars: Joe Hisaishi, New Japan Philharmonic World Dream Orchestra, Ritsuyukai Choirs, Masako Hayashi, Ayaka Hirahara, Fujimaki Fujioka & Nozomi Ohashi, my and others.

• "Professional Special Edition - All about Hayao Miyazaki, Ponyo 300 days" be airs January 16 from 22:00-23:27. According to Studio Ghibli, this program airs on NHK World Premium January 24 from 20:25-21:52. The NHK World Premium web schedule only extends out a single week.

• 2 episodes of Professional about Hayao Miyazaki will be released on DVD on January 23 with a 17 minute bonus feature interview with Miyazaki that was not aired.

Thanks to T.Ishikawa for the news.

--LLin 18:00, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Ghibli on the TV

• Howl's Moving Castle airs on SBS in Australia on Boxing Day (December 26) at 10:20pm.

• Also on Boxing Day Film4 in the UK airs My Neighbor Totoro at 13:00. The Cat Returns starts at 16:50 on December 29.

Thanks to Tanuki for the news.

--LLin 16:13, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

New Studio Ghibli Museum Short

According to the December 10th production diary the storyboards for latest Studio Ghibli Museum short film is complete. The contents are still a secret and there is no information about the director. The entry mentions that the film is nostalgic and pretty...

Thanks to T.Ishikawa for the news.

--LLin 16:20, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

Ghibli Asemamire Summary

On the most recent episode of the Toshio Suzuki-hosted radio show it was mentioned that Nozomi Ohashi and Fujioka Fujimaki recorded the Korean version of the Ponyo theme song. A sample can be heard at the official Korean website. The film opens in Korea this Friday (December 12).

Suzuki also spoke about Miyazaki's recent state of mind. According to Suzuki, Miyazaki found a piece of paper which was placed on a staff member's desk. It showed the box office results of Ponyo sent by Toho (the film's distributor). Miyazaki read it and said to Suzuki, "Suzuki-san, Ponyo is lower than Howl." Suzuki says Miyazaki seems to have received a culture shock because Miyazaki thinks Howl is more complex than Ponyo. Suzuki says, "He is full of drive from the day. He talks about next film every day while saying, "Should I make boy's story? Why is he so fine?" (laughs)

On the November 9th episode, Masako Hayashi, who sings the opening theme song of Ponyo, says to Suzuki, "I think, if singing that in Italian, it'll be more beautiful than Japanese, because the throat is more open than Japanese for a European language."

Thanks to T.Ishikawa for the news.

--LLin 19:44, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Two Miyazaki Articles in English

One from Mark Schilling of the Japan Times titled An audience with Miyazaki, Japan's animation king and the other from the Daily Yomiuri titled Miyazaki's feelings mixed on nostalgia.

Thanks to Ken Austin and Kaylene Ruwart for the news.

--LLin 17:02, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Ponyo In Poland

Ponyo is tentatively scheduled to premiere in Poland on May 8 2009. It will be distributed by Monolith Films, the company that brought other Studio Ghibli films (except for Princess Mononoke) to Poland. The film will be dubbed and the official Polish title has yet to be annouced.

Thanks to Michal Durys for the news.

--LLin 23:27, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Studio Ghibli's Next Three Years

The November 27 production diary covers a speech made by Miyazaki to staff titled "How Do We (Ghibli) Get over the Severe World". Miyazaki also announced the start of two feature films by young staff members. It's unknown whether "young staff members" means "the director and animators are young" or just "the animators are young".

According to the production diary of November 17, the preparation room for next film was established. The entry shows a hand-written poster that says "Preparation Room - Maro & Nayo 20XX public release". "Nayo" is probably referring to Kishimoto's nickname Nayo. According to a previous talk by Toshio Suzuki, preparation room member Kishimoto is collecting data for Isao Takahata's next film. Takahata has not released a full-length feature since 1999's My Neighbors the Yamadas.

Thanks to T. Ishikawa for the news.

--LLin 16:19, 2 December 2008 (UTC)