GKIDS to Finally Offer Studio Ghibli Films for Digital Purchase

It's another sign that Studio Ghibli is catching up with the times. GKIDS, which has distributed a lot of their recent efforts theatrically, announced that all of the brilliant films from Hayao Miyazaki's studio will finally be available on all major digital platforms to own later this month.

Right now, it's impossible to legally watch any Studio Ghibli films digitally. Even Blu-ray and DVD releases from Shout Factory and Disney don't include download codes. But beginning December 17, all but The Wind Rises (which will arrive in late 2020) will be available to own from just about anywhere you get your digital movies, both the original Japanese language and English dubbed versions.

The initial price point ($19.99 per film) is pretty steep, but there will also be a bundle of six titles (Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away) for $99.99. The entire Studio Ghibli library will also be exclusively streaming on HBO MAX when it launches in May.

A full list of titles available December 17 is below:

Castle in the Sky
The Cat Returns
From up on Poppy Hill
Howl's Moving Castle
Kiki's Delivery Service
My Neighbor Totoro
My Neighbors the Yamadas
Nausicaa 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

About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.