Turner Classic Movies Offers Fans Opportunity to Win The Ultimate Hayao Miyazaki DVD & Book Sweepstakes

Turner Classic Movies Offers Fans Opportunity to Win The Ultimate Hayao Miyazaki DVD & Book Sweepstakes

Grand Prize Winner Receives Gift Collection Featuring Works by Legendary Japanese Animator Hayao Miyazaki, Sponsored by TCM, Buena Vista Home Entertainment & Viz Media

Festival of Nine Miyazaki Films Airs Thursdays in January

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- In January 2006, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will honor one of Japan's most celebrated filmmakers, Oscar(R)-winning animator Hayao Miyazaki, often called the Walt Disney of Japan. For this celebration, which coincides with the director's 65th birthday, TCM has created The Ultimate Hayao Miyazaki DVD & Book sweepstakes with partners Buena Vista Home Entertainment and Viz Media to provide anime fans with the chance to win the definitive collection of Miyazaki's work, including a variety of unique books, graphic novels and collection of DVDs, featuring Hayao Miyazaki's latest theatrical release, Howl's Moving Castle.

The Grand Prize Winner will enjoy The Art of Howl's Moving Castle, a hard cover, beautifully illustrated, full-color, coffee table edition containing a generous collection of concept sketches, fully rendered character and background drawings, as well as paintings and cell images. The book also presents interviews with and comments from the Studio Ghibli production staff, including key observations and commentary from director Hayao Miyazaki. The prize also includes Howl's Moving Castle Film Comic Series Volume 1 - 4, which presents the action from Howl's Moving Castle in a full-color, frame-by- frame format; Howl's Moving Castle Picture Book, aimed at younger readers and featuring scene by scene film footage with character dialog and The Art of My Neighbor Totoro, the essential companion to the film containing concept sketches, drawings, paintings, and interviews and comments with the production staff and key points from the director; My Neighbor Totoro film comics series and picture book; and the Spirited Away film comic series and picture book. The Grand Prize winner also will receive these Hayao Miyazaki DVDs provided by Buena Vista Home Entertainment: Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away.

In addition, 50 first prize winners will receive a copy of The Art of My Neighbor Totoro along with the Graphic Novel and My Neighbor Totoro DVD.

Fans can enter The Ultimate Hayao Miyazaki DVD & Book Sweepstakes by logging on to TCM's Website, www.turnerclassicmovies.com, from January 1 - 31, 2006.

Fans wishing to enjoy Hayao Miyazaki's work will also have the opportunity to tune in to TCM each Thursday in January for some of his best work. Each film is shown first in its English-dubbed format, with an encore presented with the original Japanese-language track. The festival kicks off Thursday, Jan. 5, Miyazaki-san's 65th birthday, with the movie that earned the esteemed director the Oscar(R) for Best Animated Film, Spirited Away (2002).

TCM's telecast of each movie will be introduced by animation director John Lasseter (Toy Story), who directed the English-language track on Spirited Away.

Hayao Miyazaki is among the most beloved and prolific animation directors in Japanese history and is the creator of several successful anime films, including Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke (winner of the Japan Academy Award for Best Film release of 1997), My Neighbor Totoro and the 2002 Academy Award(R)-winning Spirited Away. Along with the exquisite artwork, his films are celebrated for their captivating characters, involving stories and ecological and humane concerns. Miyazaki's films often have a fairy-tale spirit, with winsome young protagonists and magical settings. In addition to writing, producing and directing many of his own films, Hayao Miyazaki has produced a number of movies made by other animators, including his longtime collaborator Isao Takahata, for whom he served as executive producer on Only Yesterday and Pom Poko.

Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), is one of the most comprehensive and innovative companies in the field of manga publishing, animation and entertainment licensing of Japanese content. Owned by three of Japan's largest creators and licensors of manga and animation, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan Production Co., Ltd. (ShoPro Japan), VIZ Media is a leader in the publishing and distribution of Japanese manga for English speaking audiences in North America and a global licensor of Japanese animation. The company offers an integrated product line including magazines such as Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat, graphic novels, videos, DVDs, audio soundtracks and develops and markets animated entertainment from initial production, television placement and distribution to merchandise licensing and promotions for audiences and consumers of all ages.

Walt Disney Home Entertainment is distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., a recognized industry leader. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. is the marketing, sales and distribution company for Walt Disney, Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax, Dimension and Buena Vista videocassettes and DVDs.

Turner Classic Movies, currently seen in more than 70 million homes, is a 24-hour cable network from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company. Since its launch in 1994, TCM has presented the greatest motion pictures of all time from the largest film library in the world, the combined Time Warner and Turner film libraries, from the '20s through the '80s, commercial-free and without interruption. More information is available at the TCM website at www.turnerclassicmovies.com.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment product around the world and the leading provider of programming for the basic cable industry.

Source: Turner Classic Movies

CONTACT: Dawn Lach of Turner Classic Movies Los Angeles,
+1-310-788-6787, or dawn.lach@turner.com

Web site: http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/
http://www.turnerinfo.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: This information and art can also be accessed on TBS, Inc.'s press site at http:// www.turnerinfo.com.

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