Hayao Miyazaki Coming Out Of Retirement To Create One Last Movie

Studio Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki is coming out of retirement for one last movie. Miyazaki is best known for his animated films that bring Japanese culture, mythology, and often, family to the forefront of storytelling. The most popular works to come out of the studio include Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Ponyo.

Founded in 1985 by Miyazaki, filmmaker Isao Takhata, and producer Toshio Suzuki, Studio Ghibli is known for its unique storytelling and classic hand drawn animation. The studio has more than made a name for itself, earning five Oscar nominations, with Spirited Away winning Best Animated Feature in 2003.  While it has been nearly nine years since Miyazaki announced his retirement from feature films, it seems he has been eager to get back to work.

As reported in a recent interview with The New York Times, Miyazaki is coming out of retirement to create one more movie. While not much is currently known about the film, Miyazaki describes it as “fantasy on a grand scale,” and it is based on a novel by Genzaburo Yoshino, presumably, How Do You Live? The novel itself follows a small, fifteen year old boy who is living in Tokyo after the recent death of his father.

Over the years, Miyazaki has had the opportunity to work with some of Japan’s best actors, like Shegesato Itoi, Minami Takayama, Yoji Matsuda, and many others. While all of Miyazaki’s films feature an outstanding Japanese voice cast, many have also been translated and dubbed into English, including 1998’s My Neighbor Totoro, which follows two sisters, Satzuki and Mei, voiced by real life sisters Dakota and Elle Fanning, who spark a friendship with the local woodland spirits. This is also the case in 2004’s Howl’s Moving Castle, where the mysterious figure of Howl is voiced by Christian Bale. It will be interesting to see which actor or actresses will step into voice roles if the upcoming film is also dubbed into English.

At 80 years old, Miyazaki considers himself a lucky man who has been afforded many opportunities to bring to life the worlds he has created. But Miyazaki is well aware of the time he has left, which is why retirement in 2013 after the release of The Wind Rises seemed to be the best conclusion to a long body of work that established a legacy in animation and storytelling rivaled perhaps only by Walt Disney. Yet, within a year from retiring, Miyazaki notified producing partner Suzuki that he thought he had one more story to tell. And while How Do You Live? may be Hayao Miyazaki‘s final film, his legacy has left a profound impact on the world of filmmaking.

Source: The New York Times

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