Miyazaki Movies Out in February
'Totoro,' 'Porco Rosso' and 'Nausicca' - Three classic anime features directed by Oscar-winner Hayao Miyazaki will be released on DVD in the U.S. on February 22, 2005.
Originally scheduled for last August (see "Three Miyazaki Classics Out in August"), My Neighbor Totoro, Porco Rosso, and Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind will all be released as deluxe 2-disk DVDs with an SRP of $29.95 each.
Given the success of other Miyazaki features such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, which are still making the VideoScan Top 10 charts long, long after their initial release on DVD, the addition of three more classic Miyazaki features is good news for retailers who deal in anime.
Viz is releasing a full color anime comic version of My Neighbor Totoro, starting with Volume #1 in November, which will provide retailers with another great way to merchandise these remarkable films.
My Neighbor Totoro was previously released in a dub-only version DVD in 2002, but Porco Rosso has never been released for the American market and Nausicca was previously only available here in a mangled VHS version entitled Warriors of the Wind. Nausicca, which was released in Japan in 1984, has a prescient ecologically-aware theme that pre-figures many of the concerns evident in Princess Mononoke, while Porco Rosso is one of the most adult-oriented films Miyazaki has ever produced, with stunning flying scenes featuring designs from actual 1920's seaplane fighters.