Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has announced that they will bring the Studio Ghibli animated feature 'Ponyo' to Blu-ray on March 2nd, day-and-date with the DVD release. Technical specs have not been announced at this time, but you can expect to see a 1080p AVC video presentation accompanied by a DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack.
The only special feature released thus far is "a fabulous journey into the world of Ghibli', but it will not feature the making of documentary found on the Japanese release.
Those of you picking up a copy of 'Up' or 'Monster's Inc.' on November 10th will notice that the accompanying insert states 'Ponyo' will be released on December 8th, day-and-date with the Japanese release. This is incorrect, and the US release has been delayed until March, as noted above.
Anything from the mastermind of Miyazaki finding its home on Blu-ray is a blessing! I will surely be adding this one to my collection. Now how long until the rest of his body of work follows suit?
I found myselt crying in tears of happiness and I wanted to stay in the theater just hoping to see more of it. My favorite Hayao Myasaki film, a pure delight.
Only Miyazaki movie I haven't seen, saw a preview on one of the disney blus. I think Snow White, but it looked fantastic. Really hope they release some of his masterpieces on Blu.
Hopefully the new doc is somewhat comprehensive. A BD release just in time for holidays would be a great way to introduce American audiences to the wonders of Miyazaki-san and Ghibli, and create an audience of new converts.
Pity about the lack of more features, but at least the feature specs sound top notch. Can't wait.
Sad it is still along way to March release, I was hoping to enjoy this with the family on Christmas. Well, at least it has been confirmed. I just hope that they don't put it off longer in the coming months...Who knows!!Good movie. Not the best, but nice enough to guarantee a purchase.
Cannot wait for more Ghibli Blu-ray releases! I might hold out to see if I should get the Hong Kong releases or the Disney ones though, the reason being that I watched a few of the films originally as a child in Cantonese and thus has some level of sentimental attachment to the dub in that particular language.
I'm hoping the US edition mirrors the Japanese release in that the DTS track has all 6.1 channels of sound. One wonders if Disney will be plugging this for some sort of Oscar nomination/win since the release is literally right after the ceremony.
