Rejoice, Toronto anime fans! Studio Ghibli retro comes to TIFF Bell Lightbox
Monday, January 16, 2012
by Chris MaGeeThe thing that made our recent mini-break from posting here on the blog all the more difficult was that we couldn't share our immediate joy regarding a very important announcement here in our hometown of Toronto. As many of you will remember, we posted about how a full retrospective of the films of Studio Ghibli at New York's IFC Center between December 16th to January 12th. At that time there was an indication that this retrospective, which included 35mm prints of such Ghibli classics as "My Neighbor Totoro", "Princess Mononoke", "Only Yesterday", "Porco Rosso" (above) and "The Cat Returns", would start touring around North America with a potential stop here in Toronto. Would it happen? It turns out it is!
The official site for the Toronto International Film Festival Group announced that "Spirited Away: The Films of Studio Ghibli" will be coming to the TIFF Bell Lightbox here in the city from March 10th to April 8th. 15 films from the animation studio founded by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata in 1984 will screen on the big screen, something that rarely happens here in Canada as new Ghibli releases only tend to get very limited theatrical runs before hitting DVD. Most likely this will be the case when Ghibli's "The Secret World of Arrietty" gets released in North America in February, but this retrospective will make whatever select screenings of "Arrietty" that take place become a appetizer for this full feast of Ghibli goodness.
Head to the TIFF Bell Lightbox website here for a full listing of the films in the programme, as well as details on purchasing tickets.