Hayao Miyazaki is Working on a New Computer-Animated Short Film
So much for retirement.
Remember last year, when everyone was freaking out over the announcement that Studio Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki wasn't going to be making any more films? Well, it looks like that may have been a little premature. It turns out that the legendary director behind My Neighbour Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle and The Wind Rises, among numerous other animated masterworks, is currently putting the final touches on his first ever computer-animated short, with plans to unveil the film at Toyko's Ghibli Museum.
Information about the film is currently in short supply, although Variety is reporting it stars a hairy caterpillar, runs ten minutes long and took approximately three years to make. But perhaps the most intriguing piece of information for fans is the fact that the film has been animated in the 3D CG format, as opposed to the more traditional 2D format for which Miyazaki is best known. No word yet on when or if the film will play outside of the Ghibli Museum. We'll just leave this link to the Japan Airlines homepage riiiiiight here.
In retrospect, Miyazaki's retirement announcement should always have been taken with a grain of salt. The 74-year-old first threatened to give up the game back in the late nineties after completing Princess Mononoke, only to bounce back a few years later with a little film called Spirited Away — perhaps you've heard of it? He told Variety late last year that although he had retired from features, he was not retiring from animation, and intended to keep working "until the day I die."
The future of Studio Ghibli, meanwhile, has been the subject of speculation for some time now, with Miyazaki's retirement and rumours of a restructuring leading some to fear that the company, like its founder, was out of the filmmaking business for good. Either way, it's comforting to know that there's going to be at least one more film from Miyazaki out there before too long.
Via Variety.
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