Ghibli Museum Library

Ghibli Museum Library (三鷹の森ジブリ美術館ライブラリー, Mitaka no Mori Jiburi Bijutsukan Raiburarī, lit. Three Hawks (Mitaka) Forest Ghibli (Art) Museum Library) is the collection of classic and non-Japanese animated films which have been dubbed or subtitled and released in Japan by Studio Ghibli under the Ghibli ga Ippai label, in collaboration with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and Cinema ANGELIKA.

Three of the current titles were previously released as part of the now mostly defunct Ghibli Cinema Library (ジブリCINEMAライブラリー, Jiburi CINEMA Raiburarī). The collection is named after the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka.

Overview
The Ghibli Museum of Art in Mitaka, where Hayao Miyazaki is the museum's owner, announced that it would launch a library project that would distribute the home release of the world's best animated films. On January 16, 2007, a press conference was held at Cinema ANGELIKA in Shibuya, Tokyo. Director Kiyofumi Nakajima and director Alexander Petrov attended the press conference.

Since the Ghibli Museum opened in 2001, it has widely introduced animation culture through permanent exhibitions and seasonal exhibitions introducing animation mechanisms and production processes. Kiyofumi Nakajima said, "Animation is meaningful because it is moving. I thought it was important to introduce the animation work itself." Additionally, when the French classic animation "The King and the Mockingbird" or "Le Roi et l'Oiseau" (1953) was released last summer at Cinema ANGELIKA by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, a film which greatly influenced their youth, the theater was packed every day. They were represented by Kimhiro Tsujinaka, casting director of Ghibli's recent works.

Their first release, Russian director Alexandre Petrov's film, "The Spring Awakening" (2007), which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short film for "The Old Man and the Sea," was released at Cinema ANGELIKA on March 17, 2007 and "The King and the Mockingbird" was released on DVD on April 4, 2007 (released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment). Director Petrov stated, "The so-called art film that I'm making can barely be delivered on DVD, and it's either screened once or never. I am very happy that "Spring Awakening" will be released in such a theater, and I would like to thank the people involved in the project." The Ghibli Museum held a special exhibition, managed by Pedrov, in conjunction with the release of "Spring Awakening".

Subsequent releases were from Miyazaki and Takahata's back catalog, including Panda Kopanda (1972), Lupin the 3rd and a theatrical version of Anne of Green Gables (1979). Several Aardman films also saw release, including the Shaun of the Sheep franchise and Wallace and Gromit: a Matter of Loaf and Death (2009).

Press Release
''On Tuesday, January 16, 2007, the Ghibli Museum Library in Mitaka was officially established. In the future, the Ghibli Museum will introduce the world's best animated films in movie theaters and DVDs.

Cinemas will be released mainly at Cinema ANGELIKA in Shibuya, Tokyo.

http://www.gojyu.com/

The DVD is sold by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.

http://www.disney.co.jp/studio/ghibli.html

We plan to introduce recommended animation works one after another in accordance with summer vacation and winter vacation. The Ghibli Museum has been one of its objectives to contribute to the development of culture through the spread and enlightenment of animation culture.

In the past, we have featured Pixar exhibitions, Norstein exhibitions, Aardman exhibitions, and animation studios around the world, but this time we decided to step out of the museum and introduce the works of animated films themselves.