The Japanese Website Museum K has revealed the release dates for two of the most anticipated anime movies of 2004, Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell: Innocence and Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle.  Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell: Innocence will be released in Japan on March 6, 2004.  One of the key anime properties of the 1990s, Ghost in the Shell has been revived in a big way.  Bandai will be releasing the new Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex TV series (see 'Bandai Gets TV Ghost in the Shell') and Dark Horse has been publishing the latest chapters of the Ghost in the Shell manga series by Masamune Shirow, while the major American studio Dreamworks will release Oshii's new Ghost in the Shell: Innocence movie here in the US (see 'Dreamworks to Distribute Ghost in the Shell II).

Miyazaki's follow-up to the Academy Award-winning Spirited Away is based on a children's book by British author Diana Wynn Jones (see 'Miyazaki to Direct Another Film') about a young girl whose spirit has been placed in the body of an old woman by a wicked witch.  Miyazaki's film, Howl's Moving Castle, is currently scheduled to debut in Japan on July 17, 2004.  A third major anime film, Otomo's Steam Boy, will also be released in 2004 (see 'Otomo's Steam Boy Postponed'), which should make it a very good year for anime fans.