Tell Disney To Release The Rest of Miyazaki's Films!

Recently (Today to be excact), Disney released some information that shocked the nation about Hayao Miyazaki! However it wasn't GOOD nes at all! In fact it was quite bad. They stated that they had no plans to release any more of his films in the near future. Here's a small article about it:

According to an article published by Inside.com, the Disney company has no plans to release any further Hayao Miyazaki or Studio Ghibli films in America, although they have the domestic distribution rights to 11 films including Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, and the current Japanese blockbuster Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi).

"Hayao Miyazaki's animated feature Spirited Away, is already on track to unseat Titanic as Japan's highest-grossing film ever. And Disney, which has a lucrative worldwide distribution deal with the director, is uniquely positioned to jump in. Yet the best explanation for Disney's caution can be summed up with two words: Princess Mononoke. Mononoke, Miyazaki's last film, also was a smash hit in Japan -- taking in a second-best-ever $150 million at the Japanese box office in 1997 -- but was a mammoth dud in the States. (Spirited Away has taken in $106 million worldwide at the box office in its first five weeks, the only non-American movie to pass $100 million mark this year.)

According to the article, the dark nature of Princess Mononoke surprised Disney and "the disastrous results of Mononoke's 1998 U.S. release... changed everything... the film grossed just over $2 million" at the American box office. "That's kind of embarrassing, to have the most successful film in the history of Japan come to the U.S. and not do that well," said Steve Alpert, executive representative for Tokuma Publishing, the company that owns Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli.

According to Alpert, "Disney currently has no official plans to release any more of Miyazaki's films in America."

I fell that this is totaly unfair for a number of reasons. For one thing Mononoke was a LIMITED release! What kind of company releases a limited release movie, without advertising, or much warning and expect it to sell well? I didn't even GET the movie in my area untill the run for the film was almost over! And then the movie had only stayed in my town for about a week.

In fact this movie got so little attaintion, I asked a friend of mine (Who is a big fan of anime, Miyazaki, and animation in general) if had seen Princess Mononoke in the theaters. His response: "Princess Mononoke? It's Mononoke Hime! And it's only available in Janan." Well of course I told him about the so-called theater release for america, and he went wild and said: "Why didn't anybody advertise this!?! I had no idea about any of this!" Sad huh?

I also feel like Disney isn't even giving this alot of thought, and now it's time to tell them that WE WILL go see (And buy) Miyazaki films if giving the chance!!! Please sign this petition and send letters to Disney at this address (Please be firm, but polite):

David Jessen
c/o Buena Vista Home Entertainment
350 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank CA 91521-4691
USA

But please sign! We need to get the message across to Disney NOW!!! Otherwise we might not get anouther chance! Please sign! At the least Disney should give us a chance to buy the movies on VHS and DVD!