Many fans were saddened by the announcement over a year ago that beloved Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, creator of such adored anime like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke was retiring from making movies. Soon after, the production company that Miyazaki himself co-founded, was also on the verge of closing its doors. Now, in the latest interview with the legendary animator, the Los Angeles times has Hayao Miyazaki talking about the Studio Ghibli future that fans have been so worried about.
"At this point, we're not making a new film," Miyazaki conifrms. "I think we will not be making any feature films to be shown in theaters. That was not my intention, though. All I did was announce that I would be retiring and not making any more features." This was the succintc way that Hayao Miyazaki described Studio Ghibli's future. The paper pressed on to ask whether someone could succeed Miyazaki in the work he had started in the famed studio. "That will depend on their efforts and whether they'll have the fortune, the luck, to be able to make films," was Miyazaki's response.
It will indeed be difficult to fill in the gigantic shoes that someone like Hayao Miyazaki will be leaving behind. The man is internationally recognized, even the animation giant Walt Disney Corp has dubbed him the "Walt Disney" of Japan. Even Pixa's big boss John Lasseter considers himself a fan of the Japanese animator. He was even an executive producer behind the English translations of Miyazaki's Spirited Away and How's Moving Castle. Spirited Away even won the Academy Award for Best Animated feature.
And it's not just that someone might not be able to fulfill the role that he himself played in the creative input, and the running of the company. Hayao Miyazaki talks about Studio Ghibli's future also in terms of the direction where pen and paper animation is going. "If creators have the intent to do hand-drawn animation, there certainly will be opportunities for them to do that," Miyazaki shares. "But what might be a difficulty will be the financial considerations. I do think the era of pencil, paper and film is coming to an end."
