One of the most acclaimed animated films from GKIDS, including Hayao Miyazaki’s works, can now be rented digitally.
Regardless of how many streaming services there were, Studio Ghibli’s films have long been withheld from them. But the situation is slowly changing, previously, the majority of Studio Ghibli films were distributed via the Walt Disney Company. Since 2017, GKIDS has partnered with Fathom Events to host a series of limited run screenings of the studio’s films throughout the year.
In 2019 was the first year that viewers could purchase Ghibli films digitally, and in 2020 current U.S. distributor GKIDS made the Ghibli library available to stream on HBO Max. Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli to be made available to rent on all major digital platforms, including Apple TV, Amazon VOD, Vudu, Google Play and Microsoft.
The selection of titles is as below and includes Miyazaki’s pre-Ghibli film “Nausicaä” which was made before the studio was founded but was acquired by the company later:
“Castle in the Sky,” “The Cat Returns,” “Earwig and the Witch,” “From Up on Poppy Hill,” “Howl’s Moving Castle,” “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” “My Neighbor Totoro,” “My Neighbors the Yamadas,” “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind,” “Ocean Waves,” “Only Yesterday,” “Pom Poko,” “Ponyo,” “Porco Rosso,” “Princess Mononoke,” “The Secret World of Arrietty,” “Spirited Away,” “The Tale of The Princess Kaguya,” “Tales from Earthsea,” “When Marnie Was There,” “Whisper of the Heart,” and “The Wind Rises”.
All films are in high-definition and will be available to rent (for $4.99 per film), with most offering both English and Japanese language tracks. This marks the first time the films have been available for digital rental in North America.
