Man, I've been waiting for this new film to get here since last summer.
I wish that I was getting the subtitled version though, though the dubbing seems to be pretty good. I actually prefer the english version of Porco Rosso to the japanese.
You omitted Ponyo...

I dig the dubbed Porco as well; Michael Keaton completely nails it as the main character.

Ponyo isn't part of the retrospective, unfortunately, but anyone with an interest in the rest of the lineup should absolutely check it out. My review from way back when.:http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/ponyo-warm-below-the-storm/Content?oid=2022886

I've actually seen them all, but that Takahata one "Only Yesterday" might be worth seeing again, as I think we rented a pirated VHS copy from Movie Madness long ago and I'm not sure if it is available on DVD yet....
I'd bet you've seen 'Grave of the Fireflies', and I'd also bet you'd agree the dubbing on that, especially the girl, wasn't nearly as good as the Japanese.
I wonder why they are not showing that one, actually.

I've already seen them all, of course, but I may want to check out 'Only Yesterday' again, as we rented a pirated VHS copy of that long ago from Movie Madness - bad picture and sound - and I'm not sure if it has been released on DVD here yet.
I wonder why they wouldn't show Takahatas 'Grave of the Fireflies'? Not exactly a happy film, but still....
The dubbed voices in that were awful compared to the japanese version.

I, for one, am glad 'Grave of the Butterflies' isn't being screened. It is an anti-Studio Ghibli film as far as I am concerned. The rest (while many include darker themes and in the case of 'Porco Rosso' and 'Howl's Moving Castle' also deal with war and death) are hopeful in their orientation.

I've heard really negative reviews of the current film as well. Which is sad too. Maybe he should have stopped sooner? In a way Ponyo would have been an excellent swansong.

But for a man in his mid-70's, there has to come a time when you put down the big toys (animated features are notoriously hard to create and he has been known to be more hands-on than any modern director).

Whatever he decides to do, his son Goro may have taken up the family business, but nobody should ever confuse the two. It would be like confusing Francis Ford with Roman Coppola.