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Discotek Licenses Marmalade Boy, Sanrio's Nutcracker Fantasy

Discotek Media announced on Saturday that it has licensed the Marmalade Boy anime television series and movie, Sanrio's 1979 stop-motion film Nutcracker Fantasy, Panmedia's 1986 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz television anime series, Sanrio's A Journey Through Fairyland (Yōsei Florence) anime film, and the Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective television anime series. The first 38 episodes of Marmalade Boy and all the other titles will be available on DVD on August 29, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz will also be available on standard-definition Blu-ray Disc. (Discotek will release episodes 39-76 and the movie of Marmalade Boy in a Part 2 DVD set later.)

Discotek describes Toei Animation's 1994-1995 adaptation of Wataru Yoshizumi's Marmalade Boy manga:

Miki Koishikawa's parents have always been strange. While deeply caring for their daughter, they're prone to wasteful spending, oversleeping, and even taking extravagant trips. And their latest trip to Hawaii has brought back something truly outrageous: love. Not for each other, but for a different couple entirely! With her parents planning to divorce and swap partners with the Matsuuras, Miki's life is turned upside down with a new, highly abnormal family all living together in one house. To top it off, the Matsuuras have a son named Yuu exactly Miki's age, and he's too gorgeous for words. For better or for worse, this is Miki's life now, but adjusting won't be easy when jealous rivals and old flames enter the mix!

Discotek will offer Marmalade Boy in Japanese with English subtitles, and with the English dub. Tokyopop previously released the anime on DVD.

Discotek describes Sanrio Films and animator Takeo Nakamura's Nutcracker Fantasy:

This original stop-motion Sanrio production features beautiful photography, lighting, sets, and intricate dolls. They help create a delightful and sometimes dark world complete with the menacing Ragman and a tyrannical two-headed rat queen. After a young girl, Clara, receives a nutcracker from her enigmatic Uncle Drosselmayer, she finds that her precious present is stolen by thieving rats led by Mauslynx, the double-headed rat queen. To win it back, Clara enters a surreal land through her family's grandfather clock. One of her stops is the Kingdom of Dolls, where she finds the king grieving over his cursed, eternally-asleep daughter, Princess Mary, a doppelganger for Clara herself. She and Franz, the captain of the guards and Mary's suitor, infiltrate the army of rats in a desperate attempt to dethrone the despot!

Discotek will offer Nutcracker Fantasy in Japanese with English subtitles, and with the English dub. The film screened in Los Angeles in 2013 for the first time since its original release. It had not received a DVD release before. The film then received a new edition for a theatrical release in Japan in 2014.

Discotek describes Panmedia's version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz:

Dorothy and her canine pal Toto live a quiet life on a Kansas farm with Uncle Henry and Aunt Em. But one day, the little girl and her dog find themselves spirited away from the fields of Kansas, to the magical land of Oz! Dorothy and Toto meet many friends on the yellow-brick road to Emerald City, where she hopes to find a way home to Kansas-- but when she arrives, the city's mysterious ruler, the Wizard of Oz, is not what she expects! The Wizard can help Dorothy get home, but at a daunting price: she and her friends the Tin Woodsman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion must kill the Wicked Witch of the West and free the Winkies from her rule.

Dorothy's journey to Emerald City is only the beginning of this celebrated 52-episode adaptation of L. Frank Baum's beloved series of children's books, which goes beyond the tale of Wizard of Oz to introduce you to new friends, like the Gump, the Sawhorse, Jack Pumpkinhead, and Billina-- plus new adversaries in the witch Mombi, General Jinjur and the All-Girl Army, and the bitter and scheming Nome King. Dorothy must team up with old friends and new to save all of Oz and return Emerald City to its rightful ruler, the mysterious Ozma. One way or another, Dorothy's not in Kansas anymore!

Discotek will offer the international version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with the English dub, including narration by Margot Kidder (Superman). Lightyear Entertainment previously released the series on DVD.

Discotek describes A Journey Through Fairyland:

Michael is a gifted oboe player, but his heart's not in it. He ignores his musical studies to lose himself in the garden, playing only for the benefit of his beloved flowers. Michael's frustrated teacher gives him an ultimatum: Be serious, or leave the music school forever! Despondent, Michael prepares to say goodbye to the garden. But the floral fairy Florence, so bewitched by his music, bestows a powerful magic wand on Michael, and whisks him away. Will Michael's astonishing adventure with Florence in Fairyland help him rediscover his love of music?

A Journey through Fairyland was released in 1985 under the title Yosei Florence. Four years in the making, the film is a visual and auditory tour de force by Sanrio Films and the legendary director Masami Hata (Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, Ringing Bell). Featuring music by Strauss, Chopin, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and many other famous composers, and vocal performances by real-life stars of the Takarazuka Revue and the Shiki Theatre Company, A Journey Through Fairyland is a magical, musical experience you won't soon forget!

Discotek will offer A Journey Through Fairyland in Japanese with English subtitles, and with the English dub. The anime was previously available on an English-dubbed VHS videotape.

Discotek describes Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective:

A vampire with no past, on a mission to atone for his sins against humanity, Shido is a private detective with a secret obsession. The Nightbreed - a supernatural race of demons even more sinister than his own kind - have descended on the city, taking possession of human bodies which they use to wreak havoc and murder. With the beautiful and determined government agent Yayoi hot on his tail, and his vampiric elder Cain intent on bringing Shido back into the fold, the undead vigilante races to keep one step ahead and solve the mysteries of the Nightbreed before it's too late. This complete series collection contains all 12 episodes in Japanese with English subtitles, and the English dub!

Discotek will offer Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective in Japanese with English subtitles, and with the English dub. Central Park Media previously released the anime on VHS and DVD.

Thanks to Rukiia for the news tip