Oscar-winning Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli has forged a partnership with Chinese entertainment company Alibaba Pictures — part of the multinational, diversified tech powerhouse Alibaba Group — to create new animated content and pursue other business opportunities in China. The agreement was signed earlier this month by Ghibli Co-Founder and producer Toshio Suzuki and Alibaba Pictures President Li Jie at a previously unannounced meeting in Tokyo.
The first project announced under the pact will be an immersive exhibition celebrating studio co-founder, director/writer Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, The Boy and the Heron). Due to launch in Shanghai in 2024, the event will utilize Alibaba Group’s Damai digital ticketing platform. The company shared in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that visitors “will be treated to a captivating and immersive journey, submerging themselves in the enchanting realm of Hayao Miyazaki’s animation, thereby reliving the profound emotions and inspiring bravery brought by the master animator.”
At the same time, Alibaba Pictures signed an “agreement of intent” to become the China distributor for Studio Ghibli’s latest feature, the Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated The Boy and the Heron, written and directed by Miyazaki and produced by Suzuki. The film is expected to be approved for exhibition by Chinese government regulators early this year.
[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]
