Studio Ghibli films had a rough start to being distributed in the west, with early dubs that made a lot of changes,  the inclusion of pop songs, and cats that aren't supposed to talk,  However, in the mid 90's, Disney stepped in, hoping that supporting Ghibli would give them a stronger foothold in Japan.  They also hoped that Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki would continue to make them kids movies like Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service, not gory historical epics like Princes Mononoke, or somber films like Spirited Away.   Would you believe that a katakana mailed to Harvey Weinstein was just the beginning?