ICv2 has confirmed the widespread rumors that Buena Vista Home Entertainment is set to release three classic animated feature films directed by Hayao Miyazaki on April 17, 2003.  Spirited Away, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Castle in the Sky (Laputa) will all debut in the U.S. on DVD in April.  Kiki's Delivery Service has been released in the States on VHS, but this will mark the first U.S. video release for both Spirited Away and Castle in the Sky (Laputa).  Spirited Away appears to be a lock for an Oscar nomination as 'Best Animated Feature Film,' and many critics including Ebert and Roeper are urging the Academy to present the Oscar to Spirited Away.  If Spirited Away does win, it will provide a major boost for the film and for other works by Miyazaki, who has succeeded the late Akira Kurasawa as the Japanese filmmaker with the largest and most significant worldwide following.

 

The release of these three Miyazaki films will more than double the amount of his work that is easily accessible to American audiences.  Currently only Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, and Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro are available on domestic DVDs here, along with the episodes that Miyazaki directed for the Sherlock Hound TV series.  For pop culture retailers, particularly those who deal in anime and manga, the more Miyazaki films available the better.  The quality of his work is so high and its appeal so universal that it has great potential across disparate demographics, male and female, young and old.  It is a great pleasure to introduce new viewers to the works of an artist of such obvious talent and stature, and at long last it appears that the bulk of Miyazaki's body of work will be available here in the U.S.  Preliminary specs on the Buena Vista releases suggest that they will be two-disk sets, with an SRP of $29.95, and a Minimum Advertised Price of $19.95.