Turner Classic Movies Turns January Spotlight on Legendary Japanese Animator Hayao Miyazaki
December 01 2005 - 5:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Oscar(R)-Winning Director Feted with Nine Movies, Presented in Both
Japanese and English-Language Versions* ATLANTA, Dec. 1
/PRNewswire/ -- Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is turning its January
spotlight on one of Japan's most celebrated filmmakers, Oscar(R)-
winning animator Hayao Miyazaki, often called the Walt Disney of
Japan. Each Thursday in January, TCM will present classic Miyazaki
animation, each film presented first in its English-dubbed format,
with an encore presented with the original Japanese-language
track.* The festival kicks off Thursday, Jan. 5, Miyazaki-san's
65th birthday, with the movie that earned the esteemed director the
Oscar(R) for Best Animated Film, Spirited Away (2002). TCM's
telecast of each movie will be introduced by animation director
John Lasseter (Toy Story), who directed the English-language track
on Spirited Away. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (airing Jan.
12 at 8 p.m.) established Miyazaki-san as one of the most talented
directors in the burgeoning Japanese animation industry. In 1985,
he and Isao Takahata founded Studio Ghibli. Miyazaki-san reached
new heights in 1997, when his epic Princess Mononoke (Jan. 5 at
10:15 p.m.) earned more money at the Japanese box office than any
film in history. The film subsequently received a wide release in
the United States. In 2002, Miyazaki-san wrote and directed
Spirited Away, which went on to become the first animated film ever
to win the prestigious Golden Bear award at the 52nd Berlin
International Film Festival. After being brought to the United
States for wide release, with John Lasseter directing the new
English- language track, Spirited Away became the first (and so far
only) non-American movie to win the Oscar(R) for Best Animated
Feature. In addition to serving as writer and director,
Miyazaki-san has also executive-produced films for Studio Ghibli
co-founder Takahata-san, including 1991's Only Yesterday (Jan. 26
at 8 p.m.) and 1994's Pom Poko (Jan. 26 at 10:15 p.m.).
Miyazaki-san's most recent film, Howl's Moving Castle, premiered at
the Venice Film Festival in 2004 and went on to become a huge box
office hit in Japan. It was released in the United States this past
summer, with Lasseter serving as executive producer. Miyazaki-san
has claimed it will be his last film as writer-director. The
following is a complete schedule for TCM's January spotlight on
Hayao Miyazaki, featuring introductions by John Lasseter: Thursday,
Jan. 5 8 p.m. Spirited Away (2002 - English-language version) 10:15
p.m. Princess Mononoke (1997 - English-language version) 1 a.m.
Spirited Away (2002 - Japanese-language version) 3:15 a.m. Princess
Mononoke (1997 - Japanese-language version) Thursday, Jan. 12 8
p.m. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984 - English-language
version) 10 p.m. Castle in the Sky (1986 - English-language
version) 12:15 a.m. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984 -
Japanese-language version) 2:15 a.m. Castle in the Sky (1986 -
Japanese-language version) Thursday, Jan. 19 8 p.m. My Neighbor
Totoro (1988 - English-language version) 9:30 p.m. Porco Rosso
(1992 - English-language version) 11:15 p.m. Whisper of the Heart
(1995 - English-language version) 1:15 a.m. My Neighbor Totoro
(1988 - Japanese-language version) 2:45 a.m. Porco Rosso (1992 -
Japanese-language version) 4:30 a.m. Whisper of the Heart (1995 -
Japanese-language version) Thursday, Jan. 26 8 p.m. Only Yesterday*
(1991 - Japanese-language version only) 10:15 p.m. Pom Poko (1994 -
English-language version) 12:30 a.m. Only Yesterday* (1991 -
Japanese-language version) 2:45 a.m. Pom Poko (1994 -
Japanese-language version) Turner Classic Movies, currently seen in
more than 70 million homes, is a 24-hour cable network from Turner
Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company. Since its launch
in 1994, TCM has presented the greatest motion pictures of all time
from the largest film library in the world, the combined Time
Warner and Turner film libraries, from the '20s through the '80s,
commercial-free and without interruption. More information is
available at the TCM website at
http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/. Turner Broadcasting System,
Inc., a Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and
entertainment product around the world and the leading provider of
programming for the basic cable industry. DATASOURCE: Turner
Classic Movies CONTACT: New York, Michelle Rosenblatt of Turner
Classic Movies, +1-212-275-7883, or Web site:
http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/
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