Studio Ghibli Day!

Yay! Today, Disney releases their latest batch of dubbed Studio Ghibli films! I just had to take a moment to tell you before taking off to go sump sampling. Anyway, today, run out and buy or rent:

Howl's Moving Castle - Hayao Miyazaki's latest, in which a little girl is turned into an old woman, and that leads to a series of adventures with the enigmatic Howl. I ran out to the theatres to see this when it first came out, and I agree with the critics: while no Spirited Away, it's still really good. For bonus features, you get interviews with the American voice cast, interviews with the American directors, a few snippets from the "making of" special from Japanese TV, and the storyboards for the whole film! Oh, and I forgot to mention that there's also a featurette about Miyazaki visiting Pixar. See, it's actually the folks at Pixar who've been dubbing these films, so Miyazaki came to the USA to poke his head in at the American dubbing sessions.

(And, you know, if you're blessed with a Region 2 DVD player, you'd be much better off special-ordering the massive, 4-disc special edition that was released in Japan.)

My Neighbor Totoro - How most in North America got their first taste of Miyazaki. (20th Century Fox originally dubbed it and released it back in 1993.) Disney now gives us a brand new dub of this tale of two little girls growing up in the country and hanging out with forrest spirts. Again, there's interviews with the American voice cast, the original Japanese trailers, and the storyboards for the whole film.

Whispers of the Heart - A coming-of-age tale about a young girl and her first romance. She also dreams of being an artist and her main creation - a cartoon cat - figures prominently. This one was not directed by Miyazaki - he only wrote it, storyboarded it, and produced it. It's a sad tale, actually. This was directed by Yoshifumi Kondou, whom Miyazaki was grooming as his "heir apparent." Kondou was killed in a car accident shortly after the film came out. Anyway, again, you get interviews with the American voice cast, the original Japanese trailers, and the storyboards for the whole film.