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Ghibli Digital




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Silverias



Joined: 08 Feb 2014
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 9:36 pm Reply with quote
Is there any reason why Studio Ghibli titles aren't being sold digitally? With them finally being released on Blu-Ray, why aren't they taking the opportunity to reach a much wider audience with digital distribution, be it through iTunes or some other service? I'm not sure what the situation is in Japan, but I know that Disney is the North American distributor, and they have a good record of releasing things digitally. Is there something keeping them from doing this? If they're finding it worthwhile to release them on disc, I assume that a digital release would be worthwhile, too.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15279
PostPosted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 11:01 pm Reply with quote
I imagine they don't want to cheapen the experience or the value of their films.
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Silverias



Joined: 08 Feb 2014
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 12:23 pm Reply with quote
I'm not sure I understand. How does offering the films in a different format cheapen the experience at all? Digital downloading shouldn't be looked at as any different than a DVD or Blu-Ray release. Sure, you might not get physical packaging, but you still get a great film in great quality, and that's what matters.

There's also the fact that not offering digital distribution cuts off parts of your audience, and maybe even encourages piracy. I know that I would love to be able to pick them up from iTunes.

Digital distribution isn't quite as big in Japan (I think), but I think that the western distributors (in this case, Disney of all people) would have to realize how important that has come to be in western markets.
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Nico87



Joined: 11 Jun 2011
Posts: 139
PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 4:03 pm Reply with quote
To be honest they don't really need to "reach a much wider audience" because Ghibli anime is as mainstream as it gets.

They also sell absolute shitloads of BDs/DVDs of their movies. 'My Neighbor Totoro' DVD alone has sold over a million copies in Japan. Add Blu-ray sales, worldwide sales, box office and merchandise and we're talking stupid amounts of money for just one of the movies.
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varmintx



Joined: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 1197
Location: Covington, KY
PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 6:38 pm Reply with quote
Since I'm not capable of reading his mind, I could be wrong, but I believe GATSU's point is, people buy digital versions of movies in order to watch them on smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. If you would like to know why that would "cheapen the experience" of a film, I'll let the great director David Lynch explain.
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Silverias



Joined: 08 Feb 2014
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 6:50 pm Reply with quote
That's fair enough. But I wouldn't say that's the only reason people buy digital movies. And even if it were, a good movie stands on its own, no matter what you watch it on.

The point isn't that they're losing money and need to, or that they're not selling enough physical media. It's just that it's another, equally legitimate path if distribution, and it's becoming very popular. It's only going to become more so in the future. Choosing not to accept that just isn't a very good business move. There really isn't much of a potential loss by offering media in digital formats.

And I know the situation is different in Japan. I'm just thinking of western markets.
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st_owly



Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 5234
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
PostPosted: Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:00 pm Reply with quote
In order to get the rights to sell them digitally, they'll probably have to jump through more hoops than they deem worthwhile, and hence haven't done so. Knowing Miyazaki and technology, it wouldn't surprise me if he himself has personally vetoed it.
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Silverias



Joined: 08 Feb 2014
Posts: 5
PostPosted: Tue Feb 11, 2014 7:05 pm Reply with quote
I just discovered something. There actually is a Ghibli title that is being digitally distributed right now - the Anime Network is streaming Grave of the Fireflies. This makes me think that it is probably something to do with the Disney deal, since Grave of the Fireflies isn't licensed by them? Or perhaps it's Miyazaki's decision?
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One-Eye



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Posts: 2260
PostPosted: Tue Feb 11, 2014 7:29 pm Reply with quote
Silverias wrote:
I just discovered something. There actually is a Ghibli title that is being digitally distributed right now - the Anime Network is streaming Grave of the Fireflies. This makes me think that it is probably something to do with the Disney deal, since Grave of the Fireflies isn't licensed by them? Or perhaps it's Miyazaki's decision?

I believe that's because Grave of the Fireflies was not produced by Ghibli but instead the publisher of the original novel its based on. The publisher probably holds some of the rights as producer and that's why CPM and later ADV/Sentai got the license to distribute it. Plus I doubt at the time Disney would have touched it with a 10 foot pole. All you need to see was their treatment of Princess Mononoke when it came out. They were pretty gun-shy about anything that might tarnish their family friendly image at the time.
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luffypirate



Joined: 06 Oct 2006
Posts: 3186
PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 11:54 am Reply with quote
I've noticed that a lot of the older crowd of artists and directors are wary about their works being available digitally.
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