Tag Archives: Studio Ghibli

So What’s With the Music in Earwig and the Witch?

18 Mar

Steelbook Edition available to preorder on Amazon USA

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

GKIDS & Shout! Factory
Now Available on Streaming (HBOMax)

DVD/Blu-Ray Release Date:
April 6, 2021

Spoiler Alert

Long time fans of Studio Ghibli’s works will find their decision to transition to CGI jarring. The production quality and advanced character design–the motion of the figures–is just not there. They don’t have the decades of experience other teams (like DreamWorks or PIXAR) have. It’s all new to them. Despite this setback, debuting Earwig and the Witch (アーヤと魔女) on television and the CGI quality doesn’t overshadow the tale by much.

Goro Miyazaki explains his reasoning behind the production design in one featurette offered in this home video release (it comes with a handy checklist of other Ghibli films for completionists to explore). Viewers can decide if his choice is for the better or worse. By mid-act I got accustomed to it and became more invested in the hilarious antics Erica Wigg (Kokoro Hirasawa) goes through with the help of her new pet to become a woman of the house.

Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , ,

Faster Than the Speed of Light is Earwig & the Witch’s Home Video Release Date!

25 Jan

Available to pre-order on Amazon USA

GKIDS & Shout! Factory

Home Video:
April 6, 2020 

Hot after its limited screening in select theatres worldwide in early Feb, Studio Ghibli’s Earwig and the Witch will hit digital next month, March 23, for other regions. This is the date to circle for this highly anticipated release for video streamers.

The home video release, set to arrive two weeks after, will be. offered in both a Limited Edition Steelbook™ and a Blu-ray+DVD combo, and the extra features being offered are as follows:

Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , ,

Earwig & The Witch is Rocking into America Early Feb!

21 Jan

Earwig and the WitchPlaying at Select Theatres Feb 3rd
Also coming to HBO Max Feb 5th

If Earwig and the Witch is to be rockin’ the free world–as the poster hints–then let’s hope that more theatres can reopen come February 2021! It’ll be better to see this on the big screen than small, even though it will be offered simultaneously on a streaming service.

Hot off the heels of its Late December 2020 debut in Japan, this latest film from Studio Ghibli will get the duo treatment–to play theatrically and online at the same time. Based on the children’s novel by Diana Wynne Jones (Howl’s Moving Castle), the film marks Studio Ghibli’s first 3DCG animated feature.

Plot Synopsis: Growing up in an orphanage in the British countryside, Earwig has no idea that her mother had magical powers. Her life changes dramatically when a strange couple takes her in, and she is forced to live with a selfish witch. As the headstrong young girl sets out to uncover the secrets of her new guardians, she discovers a world of spells and potions, and a mysterious song that may be the key to finding the family she has always wanted.

Continue reading →

Tags: , , , ,

Straight up We’ll Climb in this GKIDS Rerelease of The Wind Rises

22 Sep

Watch it online or buy at Amazon USA

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

GKIDS & Shout! Factory

Release Date:
Sept 22, 2020

The question of which North American Studio Ghibli home video release is worthwhile to own depends on how consistent the package design is between each distributor’s release. I tried to obtain all the region two releases but as home video player technologies changed, I adapted because I favoured high definition over a low fidelity DVD format.

The changeover of rights is not confusing. Disney got the license for certain films, and if the title was deemed “too adult,” it was a Touchstone Pictures release. Universal Pictures handled the non-Miyazaki products, and over time the Mouse conceded. GKIDs and Shout! Factory took over distribution. I’m at the point of filing away my cases and making a custom binder to store my many versions and not worrying about how my collection looks on the media shelf. With The Wind Rises now on Bluray, I can say my collection is more or less complete.

Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Nausicaä and Kiki’s Delivery Service Flies on in with Steelbook Editions!

15 May

Studio Ghibli and GKIDS, with distribution by Shout! Factory, will release Kiki’s Delivery Service and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, from the famed Studio Ghibli library of films, on August 25, 2020 in limited edition SteelBook packaging with striking new art. Each SteelBook will house a Blu-ray & DVD combo pack, presenting the film alongside hours of bonus features and a booklet with stunning art and statements from the filmmakers.

With this release, two films from one of the world’s most coveted animation collections can come home to collectors in limited edition SteelBook packaging for the first time in North America. Theses two films join Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo in a series of limited edition SteelBook releases.

Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , ,

← Older Entries

<span>%d</span> bloggers like this: