section_path: Distribution rights/Theatrical and home media rights/International
section_name: International
paragraph_text: International
  
  After purchasing the global distribution rights from World Film Corporation, Manson International and Showmen, Inc. produced a 95-minute English dub of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, titled Warriors of the Wind, which was released theatrically in the United States by New World Pictures on June 14, 1985, followed by a VHS release in December 1985. The voice actors and actresses were not credited, and the film was heavily edited to give it a faster pace. The film received a PG rating just like Disney's later English dub. By removing several of the longer dialogue scenes, some of the environmentalist themes were simplified as was the main subplot of the Ohmu, altered to remove Nausicaä's childhood connection to them. Most of the characters' names were changed, including the titular character who became Princess Zandra. The North American poster and VHS cover featured a cadre of male characters who are not in the film, riding the resurrected Giant Warrior—including a still-living Warrior shown briefly in a flashback. Overall, approximately 22 minutes was cut for North American release. Warriors of the Wind also prompted Miyazaki to allow translator Toren Smith of Studio Proteus to create an official, faithful translation of the Nausicaä manga for Viz Media.
  
  In the late 1980s, an English dub of Castle in the Sky was produced for international Japan Airlines flights at the request of Tokuma Shoten. The Castle dub was briefly screened in the United States by Streamline Pictures. Carl Macek, the head of Streamline, was disappointed with this dub, deeming it "adequate, but clumsy". Following this, Tokuma allowed Streamline to dub their future acquisitions My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service. In April 1993, Troma Films, under their 50th St. Films banner, distributed the Totoro dub as a theatrical release, and the dub was later released on both VHS and DVD by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. In the early 1990s, an English dub of Porco Rosso was produced by Ward Sexton in Japan, again for international Japan Airlines flights. The original dubs can be seen on the 1996 Ghibli ga Ippai Laserdisc set, the initial copies for the Japanese DVD releases of Totoro, Laputa and Porco, and Fox's VHS and DVD releases of Totoro.
  
  In 1996, Walt Disney Studios acquired worldwide distribution rights to the Studio Ghibli library, with Disney redubbing all previously dubbed films. In addition, Walt Disney Studios Japan agreed to contribute 10% of the funding for all future releases, starting with My Neighbors the Yamadas, in exchange for right of first refusal regarding international distribution. Disney continues with this practice to this day, even extending it to the works of Studio Ponoc and to co-productions like The Red Turtle in Japan. It reportedly took four years for Disney and Studio Ghibli to reach a distribution deal. Originally, the Ghibli films were meant to headline a line of videos called Animation Celebration, highlighting critically acclaimed animated films from around the world. These plans never materialized in full, but the Animation Celebration logo can be seen on Disney's original VHS release of Kiki's Delivery Service. During Disney's tenure, the studio produced the English dubs and released 15 of Ghibli's films, plus Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, through the Walt Disney Pictures, Buena Vista Home Video, Miramax (now-owned by Paramount) and Touchstone Pictures banners.
  
  Disney and Ghibli have also selectively chosen not to promote and record an English-dubbed version for films and works deemed less internationally marketable, including some of Takahata's more developmental and obscure pieces. Although the Studio has a "No cuts" policy in terms of international versions and dubs, this does not apply to promotional materials, such as posters, for which the filmmakers collaborate with Disney to produce cultural appropriate international versions. The Studio has not shied away from rebranding on the international stage in order to convey tweaked promotional imagery for different cultural norms. One example of these tweaks to international promotional materials can be seen between the Japanese and English versions of the movie poster for Spirited Away (2001). For American and other English-speaking audiences, the name of the film was changed from the Japanese version, which directly translates roughly to, "The Disappearance of Chihiro and Sen", to Spirited Away to suggest more mystical, otherworldly themes, since the direct Japanese translation could be taken to mean that Chihiro/Sen disappeared due to some more dangerous reason. On the American movie poster, more pictures of spirits from the film were added to the background to further pique the viewer's interest with more supernatural themes, creating an association between the film's spirits and what most American people would think of as "ghosts". For the Japanese poster, there are fewer spirits as the Japanese Shinto religion normalizes the existence of spirits, so less emphasis is needed to convey the importance of non-human spirits. Also, Disney enlarged the "Studio Ghibli" and "Hayao Miyazaki" labels on the poster, helping to bring greater awareness to the studio through the success of Spirited Away.
  
  In 2011, GKIDS acquired the North American theatrical distribution rights of the aforementioned Ghibli films, with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment retaining the home video rights. Afterwards, in 2013, GKIDS acquired the US and Canadian distribution rights to From Up on Poppy Hill. The film, which Disney passed on to GKIDS due to dealing with potential incest, marked the first time since 1996 that Disney handed a Studio Ghibli film off to another distributor. Afterwards, GKIDS would go on to distribute the films Disney found to be too mature or unmarketable for American audiences: Only Yesterday, Ocean Waves, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya and When Marnie Was There. In July 2017, Disney relinquished its home video rights (with the exception of The Wind Rises, which remained with Disney until 2020 due to a distribution clause) to GKIDS, which handles all theatrical and home media distribution of Ghibli films in North America along with Mary and the Witch's Flower. Nevertheless, Disney still continues to handle select distribution in Japan (home media), Taiwan and China (Both under Buena Vista International brand).
  
  GKIDS' home media releases have been handled by multiple distributors. Cinedigm distributed the home media release of Poppy Hill, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment distributed the home media releases of Kaguya, Marnie, Mary, Yesterday and Waves, and Shout! Factory all subsequent releases thus far. The Ghibli films owned by GKIDS were made available for digital purchases on most major services in the United States and Canada on December 17, 2019, through Shout! Factory.
  
  Outside Asia (including Japan) and North America since 2003, Goodfellas (a former subsidiary of Wild Bunch, formerly known as Wild Bunch International) has been Studio Ghibli's international sales holder.
  
  Individual rights to Ghibli's films are held by various third parties, including Elysian Film Group and Anonymous Content (United Kingdom and Ireland), Wild Bunch (France and Belgium), Leonine (Germany), Gutek Film (Poland), Lucky Red (Italy), Vértigo Films (Spain), Crunchyroll Store Australia (Australia and New Zealand) and Encore Films / mm2 Entertainment in Southeast Asia.
  
  Notably, The Secret World of Arrietty received a second dub exclusive to the United Kingdom, produced by StudioCanal UK, likely due to the film's origins being from Mary Norton 's British novel The Borrowers.
  
  Disney formerly held international sales rights until they were sold off to Goodfellas (then Wild Bunch) in 2003. Disney kept the French distribution rights to Ghibli's library until September 2020, when it had expired and transitioned off to Wild Bunch. Since 2021, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment serves as the home media distributor of Studio Ghibli's catalog via its distribution deal with Wild Bunch through the Wild Side Vidéo label.
  
  After purchasing the global distribution rights from World Film Corporation, Manson International and Showmen, Inc. produced a 95-minute English dub of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, titled Warriors of the Wind, which was released theatrically in the United States by New World Pictures on June 14, 1985, followed by a VHS release in December 1985. The voice actors and actresses were not credited, and the film was heavily edited to give it a faster pace. The film received a PG rating just like Disney's later English dub. By removing several of the longer dialogue scenes, some of the environmentalist themes were simplified as was the main subplot of the Ohmu, altered to remove Nausicaä's childhood connection to them. Most of the characters' names were changed, including the titular character who became Princess Zandra. The North American poster and VHS cover featured a cadre of male characters who are not in the film, riding the resurrected Giant Warrior—including a still-living Warrior shown briefly in a flashback. Overall, approximately 22 minutes was cut for North American release. Warriors of the Wind also prompted Miyazaki to allow translator Toren Smith of Studio Proteus to create an official, faithful translation of the Nausicaä manga for Viz Media.
  
  In the late 1980s, an English dub of Castle in the Sky was produced for international Japan Airlines flights at the request of Tokuma Shoten. The Castle dub was briefly screened in the United States by Streamline Pictures. Carl Macek, the head of Streamline, was disappointed with this dub, deeming it "adequate, but clumsy". Following this, Tokuma allowed Streamline to dub their future acquisitions My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service. In April 1993, Troma Films, under their 50th St. Films banner, distributed the Totoro dub as a theatrical release, and the dub was later released on both VHS and DVD by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. In the early 1990s, an English dub of Porco Rosso was produced by Ward Sexton in Japan, again for international Japan Airlines flights. The original dubs can be seen on the 1996 Ghibli ga Ippai Laserdisc set, the initial copies for the Japanese DVD releases of Totoro, Laputa and Porco, and Fox's VHS and DVD releases of Totoro.
  
  In 1996, Walt Disney Studios acquired worldwide distribution rights to the Studio Ghibli library, with Disney redubbing all previously dubbed films. In addition, Walt Disney Studios Japan agreed to contribute 10% of the funding for all future releases, starting with My Neighbors the Yamadas, in exchange for right of first refusal regarding international distribution. Disney continues with this practice to this day, even extending it to the works of Studio Ponoc and to co-productions like The Red Turtle in Japan. It reportedly took four years for Disney and Studio Ghibli to reach a distribution deal. Originally, the Ghibli films were meant to headline a line of videos called Animation Celebration, highlighting critically acclaimed animated films from around the world. These plans never materialized in full, but the Animation Celebration logo can be seen on Disney's original VHS release of Kiki's Delivery Service. During Disney's tenure, the studio produced the English dubs and released 15 of Ghibli's films, plus Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, through the Walt Disney Pictures, Buena Vista Home Video, Miramax (now-owned by Paramount) and Touchstone Pictures banners.
  
  Disney and Ghibli have also selectively chosen not to promote and record an English-dubbed version for films and works deemed less internationally marketable, including some of Takahata's more developmental and obscure pieces. Although the Studio has a "No cuts" policy in terms of international versions and dubs, this does not apply to promotional materials, such as posters, for which the filmmakers collaborate with Disney to produce cultural appropriate international versions. The Studio has not shied away from rebranding on the international stage in order to convey tweaked promotional imagery for different cultural norms. One example of these tweaks to international promotional materials can be seen between the Japanese and English versions of the movie poster for Spirited Away (2001). For American and other English-speaking audiences, the name of the film was changed from the Japanese version, which directly translates roughly to, "The Disappearance of Chihiro and Sen", to Spirited Away to suggest more mystical, otherworldly themes, since the direct Japanese translation could be taken to mean that Chihiro/Sen disappeared due to some more dangerous reason. On the American movie poster, more pictures of spirits from the film were added to the background to further pique the viewer's interest with more supernatural themes, creating an association between the film's spirits and what most American people would think of as "ghosts". For the Japanese poster, there are fewer spirits as the Japanese Shinto religion normalizes the existence of spirits, so less emphasis is needed to convey the importance of non-human spirits. Also, Disney enlarged the "Studio Ghibli" and "Hayao Miyazaki" labels on the poster, helping to bring greater awareness to the studio through the success of Spirited Away.
  
  In 2011, GKIDS acquired the North American theatrical distribution rights of the aforementioned Ghibli films, with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment retaining the home video rights. Afterwards, in 2013, GKIDS acquired the US and Canadian distribution rights to From Up on Poppy Hill. The film, which Disney passed on to GKIDS due to dealing with potential incest, marked the first time since 1996 that Disney handed a Studio Ghibli film off to another distributor. Afterwards, GKIDS would go on to distribute the films Disney found to be too mature or unmarketable for American audiences: Only Yesterday, Ocean Waves, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya and When Marnie Was There. In July 2017, Disney relinquished its home video rights (with the exception of The Wind Rises, which remained with Disney until 2020 due to a distribution clause) to GKIDS, which handles all theatrical and home media distribution of Ghibli films in North America along with Mary and the Witch's Flower. Nevertheless, Disney still continues to handle select distribution in Japan (home media), Taiwan and China (Both under Buena Vista International brand).
  
  GKIDS' home media releases have been handled by multiple distributors. Cinedigm distributed the home media release of Poppy Hill, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment distributed the home media releases of Kaguya, Marnie, Mary, Yesterday and Waves, and Shout! Factory all subsequent releases thus far. The Ghibli films owned by GKIDS were made available for digital purchases on most major services in the United States and Canada on December 17, 2019, through Shout! Factory.
  
  Outside Asia (including Japan) and North America since 2003, Goodfellas (a former subsidiary of Wild Bunch, formerly known as Wild Bunch International) has been Studio Ghibli's international sales holder.
  
  Individual rights to Ghibli's films are held by various third parties, including Elysian Film Group and Anonymous Content (United Kingdom and Ireland), Wild Bunch (France and Belgium), Leonine (Germany), Gutek Film (Poland), Lucky Red (Italy), Vértigo Films (Spain), Crunchyroll Store Australia (Australia and New Zealand) and Encore Films / mm2 Entertainment in Southeast Asia.
  
  Notably, The Secret World of Arrietty received a second dub exclusive to the United Kingdom, produced by StudioCanal UK, likely due to the film's origins being from Mary Norton 's British novel The Borrowers.
  
  Disney formerly held international sales rights until they were sold off to Goodfellas (then Wild Bunch) in 2003. Disney kept the French distribution rights to Ghibli's library until September 2020, when it had expired and transitioned off to Wild Bunch. Since 2021, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment serves as the home media distributor of Studio Ghibli's catalog via its distribution deal with Wild Bunch through the Wild Side Vidéo label.