Hayao Miyazaki has already earned his retirement. With films like “My Neighbor Totoro”, “Princess Mononoke” and “Spirited Away”, the director and co-founder of the legendary Japanese animation studio Ghibli has created anime highlights for eternity. Almost as legendary as his work are his protests that he wants to retire – only to undo them. The 82-year-old seems to be staying true to this back and forth.
As soon as he released what was perhaps his most personal film How the Wind Rises in 2013, it sounded like the filmmaker was giving up on his career. But when he made the short film ‘Boro The Caterpillar’ especially for the Ghibli Museum in Japan in 2018, he felt the urge to make another full-length feature film – and has now delivered it with his new work ‘The Boy And The Heron’. out. But that could be the start of his comeback to the cinema…
Hayao Miyazaki has more ideas up his sleeve
The Boy And The Heron recently opened the Toronto International Film Festival in North America. And at the event, Studio Ghibli board member Junichi Nishioka revealed to Canadian broadcaster CBC that Hayao Miyazaki is far from finished: “Other people say this could be his last film. But he doesn’t see it that way at all,” said Junichi . “He is currently working on ideas for a new film. He comes to the office every day for this. This time he will not announce his retirement.”
That should surprise and delight fans of the anime jack-of-all-trades in equal measure. It remains to be seen, of course, whether a film will actually emerge from the ideas mentioned and whether Miyazaki will actually direct it himself or whether someone else from the studio will possibly take over his ideas. But the fact is: retirement definitely looks different. Any further enrichment for the anime world would surely slow it down.
When does The Boy And The Heron start?
But whether Miyazaki continues or not, his new fantasy adventure The Boy And The Heron is about to begin. In North America, the film will also be shown regularly in cinemas from December 8, 2023. However, it is not yet clear when and how the story about twelve-year-old Mahito, who has to deal with the death of his mother during World War II, will find its way to Germany.
Until then, we can at least stoke the anticipation with a trailer, as the film deliberately managed without any potentially anticipatory marketing campaign in its Japanese theatrical release and still became a huge success.