All Studio Ghibli movies streaming with HBO Max in 2020
Studio Ghibli made some of the most memorably anime movies in history – and their streaming rights have just been acquired by HBO Max. This is different from the regular old HBO, and does not necessarily mean that people with subscriptions to HBO Now or access to HBO GO will have access to the full Studio Ghibli collection of media. Let's take a peek at what they've made public so far.
Where can I stream Studio Ghibli movies?
North American media distributor GKIDS made a deal with HBO Max for streaming rights to 21 Studio Ghibli movies. These movies include such worldwide hits as 'Spirited Away', 'Ponyo', and 'Princess Mononoke'. It also includes all of the following.
Studio Ghibli movies included in this streaming rights deal, in alphabetical order: Castle in the Sky, The Cat Returns, From Up On Poppy Hill, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, My Neighbors the Yamadas, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Ocean Waves, Only Yesterday, Pom Poko, Ponyo, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, The Secret World of Arrietty, Spirited Away, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, Tales From Earthsea, When Marnie Was There, and Whisper of the Heart.
Also in the deal is the still relatively new (originally released in 2014) title, 'The Wind Rises', which will launch in the Autumn of the year 2020. Per the release from the HBO Max, it would appear that all of the listed titles (with the exception of The Wind Rises) will be available for streaming with the launch of HBO Max.
What is HBO Max?
The folks at HBO behind streaming services seem to want to get a grip on every single different angle in the business. They've got HBO GO, which is part of a cable package that lets you watch shows from live TV on multiple devices as well as on-demand series, movies, and sports. There's HBO Now, which has all the same benefits of HBO GO, but has a separate subscription cost that's not tied to a cable bill.
HBO Max was announced after the other two services, earlier this year. HBO Max was announced as a streaming service in early 2019 after AT&T acquired HBO (with the rest of Time Warner) in 2018. AT&T officially owned Time Warner as of June of 2018. HBO Max was detailed at its announcement in July of 2019.
To give you some idea of how convoluted this situation is behind the scenes, take a peek at the title of one executive who commented on the press release: "Kevin Reilly, Chief Content Officer, HBO Max and President, TNT, TBS, and truTV." And it's all owned by AT&T. HBO Max will launch in the Spring of 2020.