Disney Releases Trailers for Ghibli Films

From AnimeNation:

Buena Vista Home Video now hosts a streaming trailer for its upcoming American DVD release of Nausicaa, Porco Rosso, and The Cat Returns. The trailer includes spoken English dubbed dialogue from all three films, featuring celebrity voice actors including Patrick Stewart as Yupa in Nausicaa, Michael Keaton as Porco in Porco Rosso, and Cary Elwes as The Baron in Cat Returns. The trailer is available on all three product pages. [Source: Nausicaa.net]

On a side note, The Cat Returns is actually a sequel to Whisper of the Heart -- another Ghibli film which, so far as I know, has never been released in the US.

Search for Anime Video

Yahoo! has a new Video Search Function (beta) that looks for video on the web (duh). I'm not sure if you could find full-length anime episodes (you'd be better off with BitTorrent), but at least you can browse for some cool clips if you have nothing better to do.

More Appleseed?

According to AnimeNation:

Variety Magazine has announced that Los Angeles-based Axis Entertainment has contracted Japanese production company Micott & Basara, one of the main sponsors of the full digital animation Appleseed movie, to extend the Appleseed franchise. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the follow-ups may come in the form of a television series and one or more film sequels. Coming Soon reports a possible live-action feature. [Source: Jagged Team]

This is somewhat surprising considering the lukewarm reviews I've read thus far [review 1, review 2]. They basically say that the visuals were awesome, but the story was somewhat lacking. (Of course, that's not to say that I won't be one of the first ones in the theatre when the movie does eventually reach Michigan.) My guess is that the producers are going to try to capitalize on the popularity of the Ghost in the Shell movies and TV series (since Masamune Shirow was the author of the both original manga).

The Appleseed movie is scheduled for theatrical release in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Miami on February 14, 2005.