From Up On Poppy Hill, directed by Goro Miyazaki, has been adapted from the manga Kokuriko-Zaka Kara by Chizuru Takahashi and Tetsurō Sayama. It follows a group of Yokohama teens involved in a student movement to prevent the demolition of an old club house in preparation for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Hayao Miyazaki, Goro’s father and Studio Ghibli’s co-founder, scripted the film.

Already having been released in Japan, the film is set for release in America next spring. English dub cast members have recently been announced by Ghibli; Gillian Anderson (Princess Mononoke, X-Files), Chris North (Law and Order), Sarah Bolger (BioShock 2, The Spiderwick Chronicles) and Ron Howard (American Graffiti) will be voicing characters in the Ghibli film, though it is unclean which characters they will be playing.

Academy Award-winning sound designer and director Gary Rydstrom (Jurassic Park, Toy Story) is directing the English dub and Studio Ghibli will be overseeing the dub as producer. The film has qualified for Oscar consideration and the company GKids plan to release the film on Blu-ray and DVD after its cinema release.