Gillian Joins Ghibli's English "Poppy Hill" Dub
Posted at 8:27 AM (PDT) on Thursday, August 23, 2012

X-Files' Gillian Anderson Joins Ghibli's English Poppy Hill Dub
Anime News Network
August 22, 2012

Actress previously voiced Moro in Princess Mononoke

Studio Ghibli revealed on Wednesday that X-Files actress Gillian Anderson will be working on the English language dub of Goro Miyazaki's film From Up On Poppy Hill. Known for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully in The X-Files television series and films, Anderson also voiced the character Moro in the English dub of Princess Mononoke. Studio Ghibli has not announced which character she will be voicing in From Up On Poppy Hill.

Actor/director Ron Howard (Happy Days, American Graffiti, Arrested Development) will also play a role at the invitation of the dub's executive producers, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy (Ponyo, The Secret World of Arrietty). Academy Award-winning sound designer and director Gary Rydstrom (Titanic, Jurassic Park) is directing the English dub.

Adapted from the shōjo manga Kokuriko-Zaka Kara by Chizuru Takahashi and Tetsurō Sayama, From Up On Poppy Hill "follows a group of Yokohama teens in their quest against a wrecking ball that threatens to destroy their school's clubhouse in preparation for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics." Hayao Miyazaki, Goro's father and Ghibli's co-founder, scripted the film. The film originally premiered in theaters in Japan in July 2011.

North American distributor GKids acquired the rights to this film, and it plans to release From Up On Poppy Hill in American theaters next March after qualifying it for Oscar consideration.