Hayao Miyazaki ‘s first independently created film, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was released on Blu-ray in Japan a couple of weeks ago, selling a record 20,000 units in the first week alone. The disc is feature packed, super-well designed and sports a gorgeous transfer sourced from a 6K scan of the original elements. I can’t wait to own this thing. But my impulse to import has been stayed with the confirmation that the film... 

Disney was right – Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is officially set to be the next of Studio Ghibli ’s films to come to Blu-ray! When last we reported on the Japanese animation studio’s catalogue coming to Blu , it was still in question whether distributor, Disney would follow up the release of Ponyo with Miyazaki ’s Nausicaä or Takahata ’s My Neighbors the Yamadas . …  Read More →

Disney was right – Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is officially set to be the next of Studio Ghibli ’s films to come to Blu-ray! When last we reported on the Japanese animation studio’s catalogue coming to Blu , it was still in question whether distributor, Disney would follow up the release of Ponyo with Miyazaki ’s Nausicaä or Takahata ’s My Neighbors the Yamadas . Today&#…  Read More →

This is a huge release week for me. One of the most important of the year. There’s not a lot hitting the shops today but a couple of films here number amongst my favourites. As always, your clicks matter. If you enjoy this weekly column and want to support it and the site, please make your purchases through our Amazon links. By doing so, you’re directly helping the The Blu-ray Blog stay alive… just like Johnny 5 . I can’t... 

[See post to watch Flash video] My Neighbour Totoro . Castle in the Sky . Kiki’s Delivery Service . These are among my favourite films of all time. And they are all newly re-released on DVD this week from Disney . I think writer/director/animator Hayao Miyazaki is an absolute genius and, after years and years of having to import his films through dubious channels we’re very lucky to finally have them available to us on home video.... 

PONYO (2008, Blu-ray released March 2, 2010 – MSRP $39.99) Stunning. Absolutely stunning. Yeah, I’m a a bit of an unabashed Miyazaki fan but the Blu-ray disc of his latest film, Ponyo has completely blown me away! I didn’t think 2-D, hand-drawn animation could look this good in my home!! If you follow The Blu-ray Blog at all, I’m sure you’ve gathered that I’ve been waiting ages to get …  Read More →

Remember how we told you that it looked like My Neighbors the Yamadas would be the next Ghibli film to make it to Blu-ray ? Well, it seems that Disney , Ghibli’s distributor has other plans. At the conclusion of an airing of the film on Japanese TV, the studio made the announcement that Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind would be the next Ghibli film to hit Blu! And it’s apparently going to be released this coming summer in Japan.... 

All right. We’re only a month and a bit away from finally getting our grubby little hands on the US/Canadian edition of the Ponyo Blu-ray . I can barely contain my excitement. Seriously! But a couple of days ago I found out (via these great sites ) that the Japanese language track on the disc will not be lossless. Only the English dub is receiving the royal treatment! Seriously, Disney !?! Don’t you guys learn anything? We had to... 

No sir! It’s no longer just a rumour or a dream. This is for real. It’s official, Ponyo is coming to Blu-ray on March 2nd, 2010 (as disc producer Frank Marshall had revealed to us a couple of months ago .) We may not be getting the sheer cornucopia of special features that the Japanese Blu-ray release received but with the collection …  Read More →

March? Seriously, we have to wait until March 2nd for Hayao Miyazaki ’s Ponyo to show up on Blu-ray here in North America?! That sucks. But it’s now been confirmed by producer Frank Marshall via his Twitter account tonight. Guess I had better sit tight or start saving my pennies for that Japanese import, available December 8th. Marshall didn’t reveal any details of the Blu-ray release beyond sharing the date and the fact that...