Studio Ponoc, a Japanese animation studio founded by Studio Ghibli producer Yoshiaki Nishimura, has entered into a multi-year pact with Netflix, which will become the exclusive streaming home of upcoming Studio Ponoc films, beginning with “The Imaginary” later this year. (The film was released in Japan in December.)
Founded in 2015, during a fallow period in Studio Ghibli’s history when Hayao Miyazaki had supposedly retired and work at the fabled studio had slowed to a trickle, Studio Ponoc has produced a feature film (“Mary and the Witch’s Flower”) along with an anthology of their short work (“Modest Heroes”), as well as productions for the Tokyo Olympic Games and some commercials.