GKids & Studio Ghibli Announce English-Language Voice Cast and North American Release Date for When Marnie was There
HAILEE STEINFELD, KIERNAN SHIPKA, KATHY BATES, ELLEN BURSTYN, GEENA DAVIS, CATHERINE O'HARA, JOHN C. REILLY, RAINI RODRIGUEZ & VANESSA WILLIAMS
FILM OPENS MAY 22 IN NYC & LA FOLLOWED BY NATIONAL EXPANSION
NEW YORK, NY (March 5, 2015) – GKIDS, the distributor of award-winning animation for both adult and family audiences, announced the English voice cast for WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE (Omoide no Marnie), the highly anticipated latest feature from Studio Ghibli. In addition to Hailee Steinfeld as “Anna” and Kiernan Shipka as “Marnie” the film features the voices of Kathy Bates, Ellen Burstyn, Geena Davis, Catherine O'Hara, John C. Reilly, Raini Rodriguez and Vanessa Williams (Full cast list below). WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE is the second film from director Hiromasa Yonebayashi whose 2010 debut, The Secret World of Arrietty, received international acclaim and was beloved by audiences worldwide and was the highest grossing Ghibli film to date in North America. Based on the British children's novel by Joan G. Robinson, the English-language version of the film is produced by Studio Ghibli and Geoffrey Wexler. GKIDS will release WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE on May 22 in New York and Los Angeles, with expansion to all major markets in the following weeks.
GKIDS and Studio Ghibli previously partnered on the award-winning, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, one of the best reviewed films of 2014 and an Oscar®-nominee for Best Animated Feature. Other recent collaborations include the 2014 documentary, The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, and the critically acclaimed 2013 animated feature From Up On Poppy Hill. GKIDS also handles North American theatrical distribution for the Studio Ghibli library of films -- one of the world's most coveted animation collections -- with titles including Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and others.
SYNOPSIS
Sent from her foster home in the city one summer to a sleepy town by the sea in Hokkaido, Anna dreams her days away among the marshes. She believes she's outside the invisible magic circle to which most people belong – and shuts herself off from everyone around her, wearing her “ordinary face.” Anna never expected to meet a friend like Marnie, who does not judge Anna for being just what she is. But no sooner has Anna learned the loveliness of friendship than she begins to wonder about her newfound friend...
Based on the novel by Joan G. Robinson, When Marnie Was There is the newest film from Studio Ghibli, and the second feature film by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the director of The Secret World of Arrietty.
Anna Sasaki – Hailee Steinfeld
Marnie – Kiernan Shipka
Setsu Oiwa – Grey Griffin
Kiyomasa Oiwa – John C. Reilly
Hisako – Vanessa Williams
Yoriko – Geena Davis
Sayaka – Ava Acres
Nobuko – Raini Rodriguez
Mrs. Kadoya – Kathy Bates
Nan – Ellen Burstyn
Older Woman – Catherine O'Hara
ABOUT STUDIO GHIBLI
Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985 by animation directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata and is one of the most successful and well-respected animation studios in the world. Cultivating a creative force of talented directors, animators, and storytellers under the revered brilliance of Miyazaki and Takahata, Studio Ghibli's films have been praised for their originality, dazzling animation, and epic storytelling. The films have become a beloved part of Japanese popular culture, and have garnered worldwide acclaim from audiences and critics alike. Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away won the Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature of 2002, and in November 2014, Hayao Miyazaki received an Honorary Award at the Governors Awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a lifetime achievement in animation. Isao Takahata's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Animated Feature in 2015.
ABOUT GKIDS
GKIDS is a distributor of award-winning feature animation for both adult and family audiences. Since opening in 2008, the company has scored six Best Animated Feature Oscar nominations – second only to Disney – with The Secret of Kells in 2010, A Cat in Paris and CHiCO & Rita in 2012, Ernest & Celestine in 2014, and its two current releases, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya from Studio Ghibli cofounder Isao Takahata, and Song of the Sea from Tomm Moore. GKIDS also handles North American theatrical distribution for Oscar-winner Hayao Miyazaki's famed Studio Ghibli library of films, one of the world's most coveted animation collections with titles Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and others. GKIDS is longtime producer of the New York Int'l Children's Film Festival, an Oscar-qualifying event and North America's largest festival of film for children and teens. NYICFF jury members include Uma Thurman, Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Gus van Sant, Christine Vachon, Henry Selick and James Schamus. www.gkids.com/films
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