Studio Ghibli Fest has run for a decade in the United States, drawing both long-time fans and new generations to cinemas for Japanese animated films. This ongoing festival has become a special tradition for families, like Amanda Mendoza VanCleave, 34, her 3-year-old daughter, and her mother, Araceli. They circle the dates on the calendar, making annual outings to their favorite theater in Austin, Texas.
Earlier this month, the VanCleave family attended a screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s 1988 classic, My Neighbor Totoro, wearing matching Totoro jammies. VanCleave described it as “our thing,” a ritual for “Us three girls together.” Her daughter often screams “Totoro!” upon seeing the opening logo, a moment that prompts laughter from other theatergoers. The festival’s appeal clearly spans generations, with both seasoned Ghibli enthusiasts and young children flocking to these screenings.
A Decade of Foreign Films
GKids and Fathom Entertainment launched Studio Ghibli Fest 9 years ago, in 2017, initially featuring five titles that generated $5 million in ticket sales. Dave Jesteadt, GKids president, admitted he would have been “lying if I thought the program when we conceived it would be going as long as it has.” He noted that the festival “does defy conventional wisdom,” as they continue to see records set each year, with grosses rising rather than falling. The festival's most successful box-office year was 2024, when 14 movies accounted for $16.4 million in sales. Last year, eight movies grossed $10.6 million. This year, both Ponyo and My Neighbor Totoro have already completed popular five-day runs.
Shannah Miller, vice president of marketing for Fathom, confirmed the festival’s expanding reach. The theatrical footprint has grown from approximately 640 locations at its inception to more than 1,100 locations this year. Fan demand has driven an increase from two or three playdates per title to five-day runs for some films. When GKids first acquired the Ghibli library 15 years ago, in 2011, the Japanese studio emphasized the importance of theatrical releases. GKids initially hosted retrospectives in major markets and arthouses before moving the films into multiplexes, aiming to introduce them to a new generation of children.
Expanding Cultural Reach
Jesteadt stated that “One of the worst things that can happen to classics is that they’re perceived as classics and kept in amber.” He expressed a desire to “move to a nationwide celebration that really treated these as equivalent to any new Hollywood film.” When GKids introduced the catalog to streaming 6 years ago, in 2020, they anticipated a potential decline in theatrical attendance. However, Jesteadt observed that “if anything, that just brought in a new audience that wanted to see these films in theaters for the first time.”
This year’s festival schedule continues with Tales of Earthsea on August 8 and 10, and Only Yesterday on August 9 and 11. A 40th anniversary screening of Castle in the Sky, the first Ghibli release from 1986, is planned for August 22-26. A 4K remastered Princess Mononoke will play from September 26-30, followed by a 25th anniversary celebration for Spirited Away from October 17-21. The festival remains a strictly U.S.-based phenomenon, though some of these films are revived in other countries. Miller expressed pride in what they are building, offering “a different story to tell with Studio Ghibli” amidst discussions about the decline of theater.
The Appeal of Globalized Entertainment
The Academy Museum is currently hosting a new Ponyo exhibit, further cementing the films' cultural presence. Composer Joe Hisaishi is touring the music from many of the films, including a seven-night residency at New York’s Radio City Music Hall in August. Angela Lector, 27, has attended Howl’s Moving Castle dressed as its hero, Sophie, and met Japanese film students at a showing of Princess Mononoke, a favorite from her childhood. Lector finds the theater experience more engaging than streaming at home, noting the opportunity to “talk to people you don’t know about the movie.”
Lector hopes to see 1984’s pre-Ghibli film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind brought back. She believes “The Ghibli films are timeless. There’s something for everyone in them,” adding that “Everything feels human. No one is too powerful or too small.” VanCleave recently noticed her daughter’s classmate wearing a bow like Kiki’s. This led to a conversation with the classmate’s mother, who also watched Ghibli movies at home. They invited the family to Ponyo, which became the classmate’s first movie theater experience. The two 3-year-olds shared a recliner, illustrating the shared cultural consumption of these foreign animated works.