Hayao Miyazaki is coming out of retirement to make a new film
Studio Ghibli legend Hayao Miyazaki is coming out of retirement to make one more film.
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The animator and filmmaker confirmed to the New York Times that he will direct a new feature-length project called How Do You Live? based on a 1937 novel by Genzaburo Yoshino.
Miyazaki had initially announced his retirement in 2013 but then returned to make a short film for the Ghibli museum and for his grandson Goro Miyazaki, who most recently directed Earwig And The Witch.
Goro had said that he believed his father returned to filmmaking as he “needed to create something in order to live, basically.” When asked by the Times why he would be making another feature, Hayao said: “Because I wanted to.”
Details about the new film remain under wraps, with Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki calling the project “fantasy on a grand scale”.
“The title of your next film is ‘How Do You Live?,’” I say. “Will you give us the answer?”
“I am making this movie because I do not have the answer,” Miyazaki also told the publication when asked how he would interpret the question (“how do you live?”) himself.
Discussing the future of animation, Goro told NME last year that a combination of CGI technology and hand-drawn techniques could be the way to go.
“I would say that well after trying 3D CGI here at Studio Ghibli, it was a plus that we found out that we were capable of doing it. When you look at sole animation and 3D animation, obviously they’re two different art forms,” he explained.
“However, there’s also a lot of similarities; discovering those similarities was also a plus and has paved the way for future projects….I think we will make both in the future.”