Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro

Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro is the feature length directorial debut of Hayao Miyazaki — one of the most famed animators of all time. Long before his breakout hit My Neighbor Totoro, Miyazaki was working as an animator for Toei Animation and TMS Entertainment. Based on his previous work on Lupin III TV episodes, Toei greenlit a movie project with Miyazaki at the helm, handling directorial, writing, design, story-board, and animation duties. Lupin the III is based on a long-running manga series dating back to 1967. It follows the escapades of master thief Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène Lupin — the fictional gentleman thief and master of disguise created by French writer Maurice Leblanc in 1905. Lupin III is a treasured commodity in Japan with over 21 volumes in the original manga series, 5 different television series, 10+ films and countless other special TV-movies, videogames, etc… It was therefore quite a start for Miyazaki!

The rarity of this 1st release B1 poster cannot be emphasized enough. This is one of only a handful of original 1979 posters I’ve heard of. B1s for this film have turned up quite often lately, however, those are from the 2014 re-release of the film. Nearly all of those posters are found rolled and the artwork and fine print text is always blurry. Please see our authentication entry on distinguishing the true 1st release poster from the R14 poster. Rest assured, this is the real deal!