January 2007

January 31, 2007 Fan-created Laputa Robot Model
James Chung pointed out an incredibly detailed from-scratch (mirror) model of the robot from Laputa: Castle in the Sky.

While still a work-in-progress and the text is solely Japanese, the photos tell much of the story.

T. Ishikawa spotted the Miyazaki Mecha Modelers Club, another Japanese group with models ranging from the God Warrior (Nausicaa) to Calcifer (Howl's Moving Castle)


January 29, 2007 Swiss Documentary, Animage Funeral
The January 23 production diary shows a picture of a TV crew from Switzerland visiting Studio Ghibli filming a documentary program about Heidi. Takahata gave an interview.

Hideo Ogata, the first chief editor of the anime magazine Animage passed away on January 25. The production diary of January 28 mentioned that Hayao Miyazaki spoke during the funeral service. GhibliWorld has additional details.

Thanks to T. Ishikawa and Peter van der Lugt for the news.


January 26, 2007 "Tales from Earthsea" Opening Early in France
Buta-Connection is reporting that Les Contes de Terremer (Tales from Earthsea) will open in French theaters on April 4. It had been previously scheduled for April 11.

Thanks to Buhler Ladislas for the news.


January 22, 2007 "Tales from Earthsea" "Wins" Two Raspberry Awards
GhibliWorld has the details on Tales from Earthsea "winning" two of the 2006 Bunshun Raspberry Awards; one for worst film and the other for worst director.

Thanks to Peter van der Lugt for the news.


January 18, 2007 Miyazaki's Next Film To Be Revealed in March
In a press conference held at at Cinema ANGELICA, Studio Ghibli President Toshio Suzuki mentioned that Miyazaki's next film will be announced in March.

Thanks to T. Ishikawa for the news.


January 16, 2007 New Museum Exhibit, DVDs
Aleksandr Petrov and the Studio Ghibli Museum held a press conference today to announce that an Aleksandr Petrov exhibition will be held at the Ghibli Museum. Goro Miyazaki is the project manager of the exhibition.

"My Love" (Petrov's latest film) website. The Japanese title is "Haru no Mezame".

Studio Ghibli announced that Ghibli Museum has started a library business to release Western animation on DVD.
Ghibli Museum character "Muzeo (Museo) Mushi" is the mascot of the business. The character will appear in a Ghibli Museum film and DVD. Museo Mushi appears in the opening of the short films shown at the Museum.

Ghibli Museum Library blog written by Ghibli Museum director Kiyofumi Nakajima.

Le Roi et l'Oiseau DVD will be released on April 4 (Trailer).

Disc 1 of the Standard edition includes a talk between Hikari Ohta and Isao Takahata. Disc 3 of the Collector's Edition includes "Paul Grimault Exhibition and Isao Takahata in France" (20 min) and "Isao Takahata and Paul Grimault Exhibition in Tokyo" (20 min) featurettes.

Pictures of Cinema ANGELICA

Thanks to Peter van der Lugt and T. Ishikawa for the news.


January 12, 2007 "Spirited Away" in semi-HD on NTV
Studio Ghibli announced that Spirited Away will broadcast in High Definition on NTV's program Friday Roadshow February 2. This is not a HD-mastered version but an upconverted version.

Friday Roadshow published a list of the 30 highest rankings films they've shown from 1985 to 2006. Miyazaki occupies the top three spots.

1st: Spirited Away - 46.9% (market share?) (Jan 24, 2003)
2nd: Princess Mononoke - 35.1% (Jan 22, 1999)
3rd: Howl's Moving Castle - 32.9% (Jul 21,2006)
12th: Princess Mononoke
13th: Princess Mononoke
17th: Spirited Away
25th: Kiki's Delivery Service

Thanks to T. Ishikawa for the news.


January 9, 2007 Ghibli Branches Out into Distribution, Possible Foreign Director Collaboration
Studio Ghibli announced that they are continuing the distribution of Western animated films due to the success of the French animated film "Le Roi et l'Oiseau".
On March 17, Aleksandr Petrov's "My Love" will be the first film shown at Cinema ANGELICA which has been designated as a "Studio Ghibli specialized theater". The second film is Michel Ocelot's "Azur et Asmar" (no release date).

Studio Ghibli President Toshio Suzuki mentioned that Ghibli has plans for a foreign animation director to create a film with Ghibli in the future.

According to the January 5 production diary, C-part of the storyboard of the next film was completed.

GhibliWorld notes that online retailer Yesasia lists February 5 as the Hong Kong DVD release date for Tales from Earthsea.

Thanks to T. Ishikawa and Peter van der Lugt for the news.


January 5, 2007 Miyazaki's Birthday, Next Film Tidbit, etc
Today (5 January) is Hayao Miyazaki's 66th birthday.

On page 97 of the January issue of Animation Magazine it states that Miyazaki's in-progress-but-not-named project is based on a Chinese story called "I Lost My Little Boy". This hasn't been confirmed by any other source so please take with a grain of NaCl.

Joe Hisaishi's latest concert DVD (Joe Hisaishi & New Japan Philharmonic World Dream Orchestra) was released late last month. It contains 20 songs, 3 of which are Studio Ghibli-related.

The Studio Ghibli Museum sent out a New Year's Card illustrated by Goro Miyazaki

Thanks to Peter van der Lugt, Bryan Poo, and T. Ishikawa for the news.


January 2, 2007 Studio Ghibli New Year's Card
GhibliWorld has put up a copy of the studio's annual New Year's Card illustrated by Hayao Miyazaki.

Thanks to Peter van der Lugt for the news.