GKids has acquired the Studio Ghibli library for the U.K. and Ireland, picking up rights across theatrical, home video, TV and digital for the Japanese animation studio’s entire 23-film back catalog.
GKids will kick off the new deal with a theatrical Imax release of Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) on Aug. 21. Hayao Miyazaki‘s second feature follows the adventures of Kiki, a young witch who moves to the port city of Koriko with her cat Jiji and starts a flying courier service.
Future Ghibli titles slated for the Imax treatment include Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s The Secret World of Arrietty (2010) and Yoshifumi Kondō’s Whisper of the Heart (1995). GKids plans to roll out further titles of the new Studio Ghibli 4K Remasters in Imax and on physical media from Fall 2026 onwards.
GKids will also do a home video re-release of the entire Ghibli library — including Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning Spirited Away (2001) and The Boy and the Heron (2023) and anime masterpieces Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), Princess Mononoke (1997), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Ponyo (2008), and Castle in the Sky (1986) among many others.
GKids has long been home to Studio Ghibli in North America, handling distribution across all platforms. The U.K. and Ireland deal, signed with world sales agent Goodfellas, excludes streaming rights, which are licensed to Netflix outside North America and Japan.
“We promise U.K. and Irish fans that we will take loving care of the Ghibli catalog, beginning with the Imax release of Kiki’s Delivery Service this summer, and expand from there across all home video and digital platforms,” said David Jesteadt, president of GKids. “Our deep thanks to our longtime friends at Goodfellas for entrusting us with these masterpieces and to everyone at Studio Ghibli for their continued trust and support.”
For the U.K. and Ireland releases, GKids will work closely with sister company Anime Limited, the Glasgow-based distributor recently acquired by GKids’ Japanese parent company Toho Global. The two companies have collaborated on numerous releases over the years, including Arcane (2021), Perfect Blue (1997), and Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995). GKids and Anime Limited will also be handling the upcoming release of Toho’s Godzilla Minus Zero from director Takashi Yamazaki.
Eric Beckman at GKids negotiated the Studio Ghibli deal with Vincent Maraval at Goodfellas.
