Aja Romano, Vox:

In an unprecedented move, Studio Ghibli, the home of such beloved animated classics as award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and My Neighbor Totoro has announced a deal with HBO Max to stream its film collection on the platform beginning in the spring of 2020.

The partnership marks the first time Ghibli films have ever been available to legally stream. The catalog includes over 20 films, ranging from the Oscar-winning Spirited Away to Miyazaki’s most recent film for the studio prior to his brief retirement, The Wind Rises, which will arrive in fall 2020.

If you’ve never seen a Studio Ghibli film, it might be because they are very rarely shown outside of theaters. To me, they are some of the best films ever made. Even the English language dubs are excellent.

Interesting that they landed at HBO Max. Not to be confused with HBO, HBO Go, or HBO Now. HBO Max is the new home of Friends and Big Bang Theory. Jarring to see these films packaged along with those two shows. One of these things is not like the others. But I digress.

One point that this does raise is the complete lack of 3rd party content coming to Apple TV+. Apple could easily have big on big tentpole shows like Friends, Seinfeld, Big Bang Theory, to instantly add heft to Apple TV+. But they’ve chosen not to take on those costs and go with a pure slate of self-created shows. Which means they’ll be able to cut any license deals they like, show their complete catalog in any country they choose.

If you’re not familiar, and you get the chance to see a Studio Ghibli movie, especially Spirited Away, do it.