HAYAO MIYAZAKI’S “My Neighbor Totoro” will be the first Studio Ghibli film to get a theatrical release in China, on Dec. 14, the 30th anniversary of the much-loved anime’s debut.

The digitally restored anime will have a subtitled Japanese original and a Chinese dubbed version for its China release, according to Chinese movie website Mtime, which reported in September that a local distributor was also negotiating the release of other Studio Ghibli productions. “My Neighbor Totoro” is a story set in postwar rural Japan of two young daughters of a professor who encounter woodland spirits.

The film, released on a double bill with Isao Takahata’s “Grave of the Fireflies,” took only US$5 million at the Japanese box office on its bow in 1998.

It would go on to garner fans and acclaim, pulling in more than US$250 million from its home entertainment releases around the world.

The Totoro character has become one of Japan’s favorite and merchandising sales have totalled more than US$1.1 billion.

The biggest grossing Japanese anime in China to date is “Stand By Me Doraemon,” which earned around US$87 million on its release in 2015.

The restored version of “My Neighbor Totoro” was released in North America in 2014 and in the U.K. the following year.

(SD-Agencies)