Polygon are in hot water after falsely reporting Studio Ghibli would not distribute their films to streaming services.
In an article on October 17th originally titled “Will Miyazaki’s movies ever be on Netflix or Disney+”, Polygon claimed the following:
“Studio Ghibli does not make their films available digitally, whether for download or streaming, anywhere in the world,” a GKids representative told Polygon over email earlier this year. “They continue to believe that presentation is vital and particularly appreciate opportunities for audiences to experience the films together in a theatrical setting.”
(GKids was unable to provide a comment from a Studio Ghibli representation for further clarification or additional updates on deals in progress.)”
Polygon also cited The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, a documentary behind the creation of The Wind Rises wherein Miyazaki states “I’m a man of the 20th century, I don’t want to deal with the 21st.”
Two days later, GKIDs announced Studio Ghibli films would be coming to HBO Max. When a Twitter user pointed out Polygon’s earlier article, GKIDs replied:
“The quote referenced in articles earlier this week was from a GKIDS statement in 2018. Neither GKIDS nor Studio Ghibli were contacted by those writers for confirmation or comment prior to publication. Otherwise, we would have provided comment.”
Polygon would then proceed to update their article (now titled “Why you may never see Studio Ghibli’s movies on streaming services”) adding an update. “Shortly after our story went live, WarnerMedia announced the acquisition of streaming rights to the Studio Ghibli catalogue. The films will live exclusively on HBO Max beginning in spring 2020. To learn more about why Disney, the longtime shepherd of the Ghibli brand in North America won’t be showing the movies on Disney Plus, read our original story.”
When another user quotes Polygon’s article claiming GKIDS did not respond to Polygon’s further requests for clarification, GKIDS claims that was added when the article was updated. As of yet we have been unable to locate an archive of the original article to confirm this.
“It seems that was an addition included in today’s 10/17 update to the Polygon article referenced. GKIDS was not contacted for confirmation or comment this week regarding the earlier articles, until our HBO Max announcement today.”
Studo Ghibli films will be coming to HBO Max in Spring 2020.
