Ghibli heads, rejoice! The iconic Japanese animated features from the legendary Studio Ghibli will be available to stream on Netflix from February 1.
21 Ghibli movies will drop on the streaming platform – the first set will include Oscar-winning Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, My Neighbour Totoro, Ocean Waves, Tales from Earthsea, Castle in the Sky, Porco Rosso, and Only Yesterday. The next drop, on March 1, will see Princess Mononoke, My Neighbors the Yamadas, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, Arrietty, and Spirited Away on site. Then from April 1 we’ll have From Up On Poppy Hill, When Marnie Was There, Ponyo, Pom Poko, Whisper of the Heart, and Howl’s Moving Castle.
The films will be available to watch across Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, in their original Japanese with 28 different language options for subtitles (that’s 20 completely new dubs for the franchise).
“In this day and age, there are various great ways a film can reach audiences. We’ve listened to our fans and have made the definitive decision to stream our film catalogue. We hope people around the world will discover the world of Studio Ghibli through this experience,” Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki said in a statement.
Studio Ghibli hasn’t released a new film since When Marnie Was There in 2015, but has been working on a new filmic venture, How Do You Live, since 2017 – a work that is said to be Hayao Miyazaki’s final film (don’t despair just yet though, the genius animating enigma has dropped in and out of retirement several times previously). It’s based on Genzaburō Yoshino’s 1937 novel of the same name, which discusses how to live as human beings.
A second film in the works was also recently revealed in the studio’s annual New Year’s message, though nothing else is known just yet.
Most recently, a very cute 15-second, hand-drawn advertisement for Japanese convenience store Lawson’s was released by Studio Ghibli, titled Machi Ho Station.
The studio also recently shared info on its upcoming kabuki stage play adaptation of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and the Studio Ghibli theme park.
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