StudioCanal have officially announced and detailed their upcoming Double Play editions of Hayao Miyazaki's The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) and My Neighbor Totoro (1988). The two titles will be available for purchase online and in shops across the United Kingdom on November 12th.
The Castle of Cagliostro
The first feature film by the distinguished Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away), The Castle of Cagliostro also marks the latest installment in the hugely popular Lupin III animated TV series, of which Miyazaki had written and directed a number of episodes. Here, our iconic super-thief Lupin pulls off a thrilling heist at a Monte Carlo casino, only to discover the spoils are counterfeit. Lupin traces the fake bills to the country of Cagliostro where an evil Count is generating forged money and distributing it worldwide. With partners in tow (including a retired gangster, a modern-day samurai, and a beautiful female thief) Lupin heads to Cagliostro where he also finds a promise of hidden treasure and Clarice, a beautiful Princess in need of rescuing from the Count's dastardly clutches. Maintaining the lineage of the Lupin III franchise, Miyazaki also imbues the proceedings with his customary wit, and sense of the romantic – Miyazaki's heroes are always ready to come to the aid of a damsel in distress. Voice cast includes David Hayter, Kirk Thornton and Bridget Hoffman.
Special Features:
Picture in Picture
Trailer
My Neighbour Totoro
From the creators of Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro is a charming tale about 10-year-old Saksuki and her inquisitive younger sister Mei who move to a new home in the country to be closer to their mother in hospital. Far from the bustle of the city, they discover a mysterious place of spirits and magic, and the friendship of the big fluffy Totoro woodland creatures. Conceived as a family film suffused with the joy of country living, My Neighbour Totoro unites the unique vision of Hayao Miyazaki with an elegy to two ever-fading miracles: the fairytale world of childhood and the disappearing countryside. Voice cast includes Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning and Tim Daly.
Damn it!!! The Castle of Cagliostro is my favorite Miyazaki film and I had to get rid of my DVD because it was non-anamorphic (can't stand those). I suppose it'd be too much to ask to get a Region-free release for this to play it in North America?
There was a UK ghibli announcement a while ago and the titles announced were totoro and grave of fireflies. I guess this means that grave of fireflies in the UK has been cancelled
Are they really going to try to tout Cagliostro as a Ghibli movie? Because it kind of isn't. With Nausicaa you could argue that pretty much everybody involved would go into what would become Ghibli. But Castle of Cagliostro most definitely is not Studio Ghibli
Please tell me that the cover art for the Lupin III film will not be official. Cause if there's anything wrong with it, it's that it has nothing to do with what the real premise of the film is about! Throws off the newcomer that would be expecting classic Lupin style, but instead, a special love story that's a bit uncommon for Lupin. At least the American DVD cover got it right.
I've already preordered for import to the US Studio Canal's UK edition of My Neighbour Totoro (as I've done with a few other of their Studio Ghibli discs). I'll blind preorder this version of The Castle of Cagliostro.
I had preordered the UK edition of Grave of the Fireflies, but I see now that Amazon UK no longer has a release date for it. The Sentai Filmworks US edition of Fireflies is due on November 20th (I have that on preorder as well).
Hopefully Cagliostro will be 1080p unlike the Japanese release which was 1080i.
I'm sure Grave of the Fireflies will get a release later on, though it's a little strange that it's been postponed for now. I think many of us suspect Grave of the Fireflies could be paired up with the release of From Up On Poppy Hill once that has had a UK theatrical run.
If anyone wants a good idea of what UK Ghibli (Cagliostro excepted!) BDs are still to be released, just have a look at which have Japanese releases already. Kiki's Delivery Service and Only Yesterday are the next two up for release in Japan, and so will probably follow/be mixed in with the remaining titles to be released in the UK next year.
@tomrule123, that cover art is from one of the former UK DVD releases of Cagliostro (Optimum's as opposed to Manga Entertainment's). I'm sure that Totoro art isn't what the BD will look like either.
@jholmes93, I'm guessing it's this site referring to Ghibli incorrectly, rather than StudioCanal. You're right of course that Cagliostro is not a Ghibli film even in the loose unofficial sense that Nausicaä can be considered so.
@EricJ, The Japanese Totoro BD came out already, it looks and sounds great and I shouldn't think the UK or US releases will be shabby either.
I think they will delay Grave of the Fireflies because they are busy making an HD restoration of The Little Norse Prince aka. Taiyo no Oji, Horusu no Daiboken. Another Takahata film but a Toei film. It is pretty old but Miyazaki is also an animator here. I bet, they will release Grave of the Fireflies along The Little Norse Prince.
