GKids Buys Studio Ghibli Library In UK & Ireland, Sets Imax Releases

Toho-owned animation specialist Gkids has acquired the UK and Ireland distribution rights to the 23 film-library of Japan’s Studio Ghibli.

The library features classics including Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, The Wind Rises, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Ponyo, and Castle in the Sky.

The deal includes rights for theatrical, home video, TV, and digital. Goodfellas retains streaming rights for the territory, where it has been licensed to Netflix. 

The deal was negotiated by Eric Beckman at Gkids and Vincent Maraval at Goodfellas, the sales agent for Studio Ghibli worldwide. Gkids has been the long-time home to Studio Ghibli in North America, where it handles distribution across all theatrical, home video, digital, and streaming.
 
The first theatrical release under the new agreement will be the IMAX release of Kiki’s Delivery Service, which will hit UK and Ireland on August 21. Future Imax released will include The Secret World of Arrietty (UK: Arrietty) and Whisper of the Heart. 

Kiki’s Delivery Service is the 1989 fantasy film written, produced and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The story follows Kiki, a young witch who moves to the port city of Koriko with her cat Jiji and starts a flying courier service.

In the UK and Ireland, Gkids will be working in close partnership with sister-company Anime Limited, the Glasgow-based distributor, which was recently acquired by Gkids’ parent company Toho. Both companies will be handling the upcoming release of Toho’s anticipated Godzilla Minus Zero.

In December, Japanese giant Toho announced that it was setting up a regional European headquarters in the UK for its overseas business division, Toho Global. The UK deal for the Ghibli catalog cements the company’s growing appetite for European expansion.
 
“Gkids is delighted to extend our relationship with Studio Ghibli into the UK and Ireland, and to have this opportunity to reintroduce these incomparable films to audiences old and new,” said David Jesteadt, President of Gkids. “We promise UK and Irish fans that we will take loving care of the Ghibli catalog, beginning with the Imax release of Kiki’s Delivery Service this summer, and expand from there across all home video and digital platforms. Our deep thanks to our longtime friends at Goodfellas for entrusting us with these masterpieces and to everyone at Studio Ghibli for their continued trust and support.”  
 
“We are very happy to be working together with GKIDS to bring the renowned Studio Ghibli library to UK and Irish audiences,” added Vincent Maraval, president of Goodfellas. “Gkids has a deep understanding and passion for the films and they have been exemplary in their management of the Ghibli brand in North America.”