Alliance Media acquires rights to distribute 11 Japanese films

Fim production company Alliance Media has accquired a catalogue of 11 animation titles created by Hayao Miyazaki from Japan's biggest production house Studio Ghibli, for release in India.

To be marketed under the brand name 'Junior', a subsidiary of Alliance Media and aimed at consumers of six to 18 years of age, Junior will include comics, live action films, animation films, games and television shows, Alliance Media CEO Sunil Doshi said here today.        

Known as Japan's premiere animation studio, Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985 by two of animation's greatest creators Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata.        

'Princess Mononoke' and Academy Award winning 'Spirited Away' are some of the very high-quality animation movies which the studio creates, that have been praised for their originality, dazzling animation and epic story telling, Doshi said.        

Consistently beating all kinds of movies in box-office revenues in Japan, their films have received numerous awards. Studio Ghibli is considered bigger than Hollywood's animation industry, he said.

Animation films accquired by Alliance Media include 'Nausicaa', 'The Valley of the Wind', 'Laputa: Castle in the Sky', 'My neighbour Totoro', 'Kiki's Delivery Service', 'Only Yesterday', 'Porco Rosso', 'Ocean Waves', 'Pom Poko', 'Whisper of the Heart', 'My Neighbour - the Yamadas', 'Ponyo on the Cliff'.        

Doshi has produced films like 'Navarasa' directed by Santosh Sivan, 'Mixed Doubles' by Rajat Kapoor and 'Bheja Fry by Sagar Ballary.