Studio Ghibli Fest 2017: ‘My Neighbor Totoro’

(© Studio Ghibli)

GKIDS and Fathom Events are presenting Studio Ghibli Fest 2017 where they will screen one Studio Ghibli film a month in participating theatres across the U.S.A. through November 2017. Last month’s film was the 1988 classic My Neighbor Totoro. Here are some thoughts about the festival and about the screening I attended.

Review: ‘The Red Turtle’

(© Studio Ghibli – Wild Bunch – Why Not Productions – Arte France Cinéma – CN4 Productions – Belvision)

Studio Ghibli’s The Red Turtle is a hypnotic, meditative, and symbolic treatise on life.

‘Princess Mononoke’ Returning to Theaters in January

Studio Ghibli’s animated epic Princess Mononoke is celebrating its 20th anniversary. To commemorate this event, GKIDS, in partnership with Fathom Events, is sponsoring a two-night screening of the film.

Angelika Film Center Dallas Hosts Studio Ghibli Summer Festival

To our readers who live in or will be visiting Dallas, Texas this summer—you’re in for a real treat. The Angelika Film Center Dallas is putting on a family film festival exclusively with films from Studio Ghibli.

Watch This: New Trailer for ‘The Red Turtle’ from Studio Ghibli and Wild Bunch

© Studio Ghibli/Wild Bunch

Studio Ghibli has partnered with Dutch animator Michaël Dudok de Wit and German distributor Wild Bunch on their next animated feature called The Red Turtle. A new trailer recently debuted online.

Studio Ghibli’s ‘When Marnie Was There’ Now on Blu-ray and DVD

© Studio Ghibli

In case you missed it in theaters, Studio Ghibli’s latest hand-drawn animated feature When Marnie Was There is now available in the U.S. on Blu-ray and DVD.

Hayao Miyazaki Directing CG-Animated Short for Ghibli Museum

Famed animation director Hayao Miyazaki has come out of retirement to direct again, but the project is not what you’d expect.

Top Ten Most Fascinating Animated Characters: Number 5

In the spirit of full disclosure, I did not grow up a ravenous anime connoisseur, as so many of my fellow animation geeks. I enjoyed some shows that were anime without really noticing that they were (like Rainbow Brite and TMNT), but I didn’t watch much Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh!, or Dragon Ball Z (much to my husband’s chagrin.) I did see Spirited Away the year it won the Academy Award and I, to be perfectly honest, did not get it. So much more fantastical and bizarre than what I was used to, I wrote it off as “weird.” Yet, I always knew there was something great I was missing–whether because the whole world was raving about it or from some inherent awesome-story-detector deep inside me, I’m not sure. In any case, it is now one of my favorite animated films, and Chihiro is one of the most interesting, admirable characters ever depicted–on-screen or in print.

Oscar Nominees Announced for Best Animated Feature Film

Five animated features have been nominated for this year’s Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film. Here are the nominees with links to the films’ official websites or Facebook pages.

Studio Ghibli Blu-rays Coming on November 18th

Three new Blu-rays of English-dubbed Studio Ghibli features are on their way this fall. Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, and The Wind Rises are all scheduled to be released in the U.S. on November 18th. All three films were released in the U.S. by The Walt Disney Studios and Disney has put together these new Blu-ray sets.