This was unexpected news: Netflix will be the streaming home of Studio Ghibli movies for the next few years (at least) across the world - except in the US, Canada and Japan. When HBO Max was unveiled mid to late last year, one of the announcements was that the new streaming service would have the Ghibli library, which is why it won’t be available on Netflix in North America.
Netflix are doing right by the catalogue and will offer the films in Japanese with subtitles. But the streamer will also offer newly-recorded dubs for up to twenty languages and offer subtitles in 28 languages.
The films are being released in batches:
Feb 1
Castle in the Sky (1986)
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
Only Yesterday (1991)
Porco Rosso (1992)
Ocean Waves (1993)
Tales from Earthsea (2006)
March 1
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
Princess Mononoke (1997)
My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)
Spirited Away (2001)
The Cat Returns (2002)
Arrietty (2010)
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013)
April 1
Pom Poko (1994)
Whisper of the Heart (1995)
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
Ponyo (2008)
From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)
The Wind Rises (2013)
When Marnie Was There (2014)
This is fantastic news for fans of Studio Ghibli’s works, but also for film fans generally.
Indulge me for a moment - I visited Japan early last year and visited a cafe that only sold baked goods modeled after My Neighbor Totoro.
A David Lynch short film What Did Jack Do? was released via Netflix last night. This was initially released in 2016 and played at several film festivals, but it is the first time the film has seen a wide release.
The film stars Lynch and involves him interrogating a monkey. You can watch it here.
Read more: Dark Horizons
Something very cool that I stumbled upon yesterday was an episode of the podcast Song Exploder that spoke with Patrick Carney and Ralph Carney about creating the theme song to Bojack Horseman.
Listen now: Song Exploder
The TV show Spencer: For Hire was based on a series of novels by Robert B Parker. After Parker died, author Ace Atkins took over writing the Spencer character. One of the books Atkins wrote, Wonderland, has now been adapted into a new Netflix movie Spencer: Confidential. Starring Mark Wahlberg, it is directed by Peter Berg and will be released on March 6.
A new head of Eurovision has been selected with Martin Österdahl appointed as Executive Supervisor.
Source: TV Tonight
And finally…
In big news…
BBC Director-General Tony Hall has announced that he’ll step down from the role this coming summer (the Australian winter).
Source: Radio Times
