"Windaria" was released theatrically in Japan on July 19, 1986. In 1987, Harmony Gold licensed "Windaria" for release in the United States, trimming the movie from its original 101-minute running time to 95 minutes. The English-language version was edited in order to better market the movie to younger audiences. According to director Carl Macek, Harmony Gold was given no scripts or translations of the property and they thus had little insight into the plot details. The English version included a new script, an altered plot with a happy ending, scenes switched around, violent and adult-oriented scenes removed, the entire cast given Western names, and added narration provided by Russell Johnson (of "Gilligan's Island" fame).