Hayao Miyazaki Not Retired After All, Which Is Great News For Studio Ghibli Fans Everywhere

He just can’t stay away from animation, and we’re all grateful. It turns out that legendary anime director, Hayao Miyazaki, isn’t retired after all. In fact, he’s currently at work on a new feature-length animated film.

In 2013, Miyazaki proclaimed that he was retiring, “This time is for real.” However, by 2015, he was trying on CG for size on a short film called Kemushi no Boro (which will screen at the Studio Ghibli museum in Tokyo when it’s completed). Now, all that retiring talk has gone out the window, as he’s approached Studio Ghibli with an idea for another feature film, one that they are officially committed to making.

In a pre-Oscars interview for The Red Turtle, which is currently nominated in the Best Animated Feature Film category, Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki confirmed that he would be producing Miyazaki’s next feature-length animated film, apparently after being presented with a storyboard Miyazaki created in twenty minutes during production on The Red Turtle. At first, Suzuki felt bad, not wanting to tell Miyazaki he liked it and pulling him out of retirement (again), but he had to be honest and say he was interested.

There’s still no word as to the title or the story yet, but according to Suzuki, “Right now in Tokyo, [Miyazaki’s] putting all his effort into making it.” The goal is to have the film finished by 2020, in time for the Tokyo Olympics.

What kind of story do you anticipate from Miyazaki next? And are you excited?

(via Kotaku, image via Denis Makarenko/Shutterstock)

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Teresa Jusino

Teresa Jusino (she/her) is a native New Yorker and a proud Puerto Rican, Jewish, bisexual woman with ADHD. She's been writing professionally since 2010 and was a former TMS assistant editor from 2015-18. Now, she's back as a contributing writer. When not writing about pop culture, she's writing screenplays and is the creator of your future favorite genre show. Teresa lives in L.A. with her brilliant wife. Her other great loves include: Star Trek, The Last of Us, anything by Brian K. Vaughan, and her Level 5 android Paladin named Lal.

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