Studio Ghibli Announces Hayao Miyazaki’s Retirement

Sad news fell upon the world yesterday at the Venice Film Festival as Studio Ghibli announced the retirement of the great animated features director Hayao Miyazaki. This news came during the Studio Ghibli press conference while they were in town to promote Miyazaki’s latest, and apparently last, feature film The Wind Rises.

The announcement was officially made by Studio Ghibli president Hoshino Koji, and not by Miyazaki himself. A follow up press conference dedicated to this breaking news will soon follow in Japan.

According to Twitch, Miyazaki has tried to retire twice already with little success. All questions that were unanswered at the Venice Film Festival will most likely be touched on in the coming week.

Of course, Miyazaki is most notably recognized for his directorial work on Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, Kiki’s Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky, Ponyo, Porco Rossi, and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away.

If there is a glimmer of hope for animation fans, the announcement only made mention to Miyazaki as a director and never specified if he would be leaving Studio Ghibli entirely.

It is certainly a sad time for all Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli fans regardless of whether or not he will continue to oversee productions or if he is out completely.

What would make matters worse is if composer Joe Hisaishi announces his retirement too. Hisaishi has only partnered with Miyazaki for his feature films at the animation studio. All of Hisaishi’s scores become characters of their own within each of Miyazaki’s film, and it would be equally sad if he did not continue to work with Studio Ghibli after his departure in the director’s seat.

In the comments section below, let us know which Miyazaki film is your favorite.

The Wind Rises, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, does not have an official North American release date scheduled, but it will be distributed by Walt Disney Studios a la Touchstone Pictures.

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Source: Twitch