Studio Ghibli, which has been historically against making their anime classics available on streaming platforms, made another large leap into the world of streaming by announcing that 21 films from their catalog are coming to Netflix. You’ll probably recognize some of Studio Ghibli’s films, such as Spirited Away, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and my personal favorite, My Neighbor Totoro. All of these will be among the films uploaded to Netflix’s platform.
“In this day and age, there are various great ways a film can reach audiences. We’ve listened to our fans and have made the definitive decision to stream our film catalogue. We hope people around the world will discover the world of Studio Ghibli through this experience,” producer, Toshio Suzuki, said in a statement to Variety.
The reason for the United States’s absence from Netflix’s international deal with Studio Ghibli is the studio’s deal with Warner Bros. to stream their films on the upcoming HBO Max, announced late 2019. This means the service will be launching with a massive anime library, as they will also be streaming Crunchyroll’s offerings. HBO Max is scheduled to launch in May 2020.
Spirited Away, directed by Hayao Miyazaki, was the top grossing anime film until it was surpassed by Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name in 2017. Shinkai’s latest film, Weathering with You, is currently playing in a limited number of theaters in the United States.