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HBO Max: first details on the new streaming service
by Luca Fontana
For the first time in digital format: Studio Ghibli to be shown on HBO Max in 2020
18.10.2019
Translation: machine translated
Studio Ghibli films such as "Castle in the Sky" and "Princess Mononoke" will soon be available for the first time in digital format. But only on HBO Max and only in the American version.
The cinema, the only way to truly appreciate these films?
The spokesman for GKids, the independent animated film specialist that distributes Studio Ghibli's works in North America, had this to say:
Studio Ghibli will never offer its films digitally, either for download or streaming, anywhere in the world. It believes that presentation plays a fundamental role in the enjoyment of its films, including the opportunity to see them with others in a cinema.
This is no coincidence: Hayao Miyazaki, director and creator of Studio Ghibli's most famous films, has a difficult relationship with Hollywood. In the past, some of his films have had their plots cut entirely to make them more appealing to a wide American audience. This is notably the case with "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind", Miyazaki's first major hit released in 1984.
A distribution deal signed with Disney in 1996 helped ease relations, although the big-eared group only refrained from touching Studio Ghibli films when Miyazaki himself was directing.
Luca Fontana
Senior Editor
Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.chI write about technology as if it were cinema, and about films as if they were real life. Between bits and blockbusters, I’m after stories that move people, not just generate clicks. And yes – sometimes I listen to film scores louder than I probably should.
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