The Box Office Mojo website is listing the Ocean Waves anime film with a December 28 theatrical release date from distributor GKIDS. The title is also included on Box Office Mojo's list of films that have recently been rated by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). GKIDS did not respond to ANN's inquiry about the listing before press time.

Studio Ghibli's Ocean Waves television special and another Ghibli work, Grave of the Fireflies, were notably missing from Tokuma Shoten and Walt Disney Company's landmark international distribution deal for every other Ghibli feature in 1996. Central Park Media (CPM) and later ADV Films and Sentai Filmworks released Grave of the Fireflies, but Ocean Waves has never been released on home video in North America.

GKIDS' website lists it as the current distributor for all full-length Studio Ghibli films except Tales From Earthsea . The distributor recently released Only Yesterday for the first time in North America; the film was included in Tokuma Shoten and Disney's distribution deal but never released.

Optimum Releasing released the Ocean Waves special on DVD in the United Kingdom in 2010, and Madman Entertainment released it on DVD in Australia later that year.

Thanks to Daniel Zelter for the news tip.