Summary
Before we begin this article, we need to take a breath and realize something: We live in a day and age where a huge anime film is guaranteed to come to theaters. Right now Studio Ghibli’s next film -The Boy and the Heron- has a planned wide US release that includes IMAX screens. During the 90s, anime fans would be lucky if a Studio Ghibli film was released in America AT ALL, and even as late as the 2010’s most anime movies were given strict limited releases!
Thanks to the major growth of anime as a box office force to be reckoned with, anime films that get even a modest amount of success in Japan are at the very least going to get a one night Fathom Event release. Still, back when Walt Disney Studios werefirst dubbing and distributing Studio Ghibli’s catalog, they were more-or-less keeping up with the current release dates in Japan. That is, until they got to a movie where a legal problem prevented them from distributing it in America for several years.
What is the Earthsea Series?
TheEarthseaseries is a classic collection of fantasy books written by American author Ursula K. Le Guin. The stories are set in the fictional archipelago ofEarthseaand revolve around wizards, dragons, and ancient magic. They tackle themes of power, balance, duality, and coming-of-age.
The series began with the novelA Wizard of Earthsea, published in 1968, which introduced readers to Ged, a young boy with innate magical abilities who must come to terms with his powers and confront a darkness he unintentionally unleashed.The Earthsea cycle consists of the following:
In addition to these, Le Guin also wrote a collection of short stories titledTales from Earthsea (2001) that further explores the world and its characters. Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series is praised for its depth, lyrical prose, and nuanced exploration of complex themes, making it a cornerstone of modern fantasy literature. The series even caught the eye of a then upcoming film director named Hayao Miyazaki, who wanted to turn the books into a film.
Being unfamiliar with the director, she turned him down. Years later when he became a bigger name and his films showed off that he was more than what he initially appeared to be, Le Guin decided to grant him the rights her books (and even suggested a time period where things were vague enough they would have a lot of freedom to make up their own story). Ultimately, he would not direct the film, and (in a situation Le Guin claims he felt “duped” by), the movie would become the directorialdebut of Hayao’s son; Goro Miyazaki.
What is Tales from Earthsea?
Tales from Earthseais final result of the movie byStudio Ghibli. Released in 2006, the film is loosely based on a combination of plots and characters from theEarthseaseries, primarily drawing fromThe Farthest Shore and Tehanu. After viewing the movie, Le Guin had mixed feelings about it. While she appreciated its visual beauty, she felt the underlying philosophy of her books was not truly captured.
Critics and audiences were equally mixed on the film, with many praising the quality of the animation but finding the story did not capture the depth and nuance of Le Guin’s novels. The film was also criticized for its pacing and for being a loose adaptation, merging multiple book plots into one (something that isn’t entirely uncommon but needs to be done with care to avoid the screenplay feeling rushed).
Despite the mixed reception, Tales from Earthsea was a commercial success in Japan. It topped the Japanese box office and was one of the highest-grossing films in Japan in 2006. The same could not be said for America. While the film was able to be released shortly after its Japanese premier in some European countries, Americans would have to wait longer to see it. Like…a LOT longer.
The Problem of the Sci-Fi Channel Earthsea Series
In December 2004, theSci-Fi Channel(now known as Syfy) aired theEarthseaminiseries (often referred to asLegend of Earthsea). The miniseries is a loose adaptation of the series, primarily combining elements from the first two books:A Wizard of EarthseaandThe Tombs of Atuan. Now, it should be noted that while Ursula K Le Guin may not have been overly happy with Goro Miyazaki’s film, one of the reasons she WAS more appreciative of some of its obvious artistic merits is because she sawthisadaptation first.
To be blunt: She HATED this adaptation, and took particular issues with the whitewashing of characters, the oversimplification of the story, and the significant deviations from her original narrative! She was disliked this adaptation so much that she went out of her way to express her disappointment with the miniseries in various articles and on her official website (the only reason she wrote about her response on Miyazaki’s film is because she wanted to clarify a misunderstood story that was circulating).
TheEarthseaminiseries didn’t do much better with critics or viewers, as both gave the miniseries mixed reviews. While some viewers did appreciate the effort to bring Le Guin’s world to the screen, others were critical of the adaptation. Normally, an adaptation such as this could only help the next project, because this adaptation was so poorly received that anything that was released afterward wouldhaveto be an improvement. Unfortunately…the Sci-Fi Channelmade it a point that they would be the only game in town.
The Dreaded “No Compete” Clause
Despite the mixed reception ofTales from Earthsea, Studio Ghibli fans were excited to see the film in America. It wasn’t until a report from Variety popped up to pour cold water on fans heads that reveled they would be waiting to watch it for a long time:
Turns out Tales From Earthsea was adapted from the same Ursula K. Le Guin fantasy novel that inspired the Sci Fi Channel’s Earthsea miniseries, which means the new toon can’t be released in the U.S. until the mini’s rights expire. According to Le Guin’s son Theo, Hallmark Entertainment granted a specific rights reversion in 2004 that allowed Studio Ghibli to produce the animated theatrical release, so long as the resulting feature isn’t released in the U.S. until December 2008.
Despite this timeline, Disney didn’t get around to releasing the movie in cinemas until Jun 12, 2025, where it played for three weeks on just a few screens before being pulled (the movie would ultimately gross apaltry $48,461 in America). Fans were confused, of course, why Disney would only give this movie the briefest of theatrical releases after waiting so long to release it, and Anime News Network’s Answerman Brian Hanson had this to say:
Giving any movie an honest-to-God theatrical release is expensive, even for one in only 5 theaters. Developing film prints is expensive, creating movie trailers is expensive, promoting them is expensive. It’s all just a big expense. At least, until the film hits DVD and Blu-Ray. Then it’s nearly all profit.
My own thoughts on the movie aside,Tales from Earthseahas been dogged by particularly poisonous reviews since its release four years ago. It opened in other foreign markets, including the UK, to similar critical dismissal and lackluster box-office numbers. In 2010, I can’t imagine Disney had any high hopes for Earthsea to do little more than tread water in the theatrical market. Their only real hope to turn a profit on the movie was to try and get the DVD and Blu Ray out as quickly as possible.
But, Studio Ghibli has since been making it a legal requirement to screen their newest films theatrically before they head to DVD. So, Disney was contractually obligated to spend the time and money to promote this film, knowing it had little to no chance of finding a receptive audience. They took a wash on it, threw it out, and three weeks later, killed it.
I suppose what could’ve kept it going was if even the limited theatrical run was a surprise success. But, it wasn’t. The big indicator for the success of films in limited release isn’t the total boxoffice for the weekend, it’s the per-theater average. Essentially how much money the film made for each individual theater. Tales from Earthsea was bringing in a little over 4,000 dollars its first weekend, less than 2,000 on its second weekend (on the same amount of screens) and less than 600 on its third.
At that point, stick a fork in it, it’s done. Even with all the clout and muscle that Disney can operate in the movie business, even they know when to pull the plug on a movie that’s not going to pull its own weight.
It should also be noted that the movie being released overseas for so many years, many fans simply found less than kosher ways to watch the movie (and years to spread the fact on how terrible it was). So while this was certainly a frustrating development, chances are you’re able to guess that even if the Sci-Fi Channel didn’t get in the way of the movie coming to America sooner, it’s likely the poor quality of the film would havemade it a bomb anyway.
