Famed animator Hayao Miyazaki might not be done making films, says Studio Ghibli exec
Joseph Pugh | CBC News | Posted: September 8, 2023 3:40 PM | Last Updated: September 8, 2023
Speaking through a translator on a TIFF red carpet, a studio vice-president says Miyazaki is still working
Hayao Miyazaki might not be done making movies.
On a red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival for the director's latest film, The Boy and the Heron, Studio Ghibli executive Junichi Nishioka told CBC's Eli Glasner that the animation stalwart is still hard at work.
"Other people say that this might be his last film, but he doesn't feel that way at all," said Nishioka through a translator.
"He is currently working on ideas for a new film. He comes into his office every day and does that. This time, he's not going to announce his retirement at all. He's continuing working just as he has always done."
The Boy and the Heron was selected as the opening film at TIFF. It premiered earlier this summer in Japan under the title How Do You Live?, and is scheduled for a Dec. 8 release in North American theatres.
It follows the story of a boy who is forced to move with his family to the Japanese countryside during the Second World War, where he is drawn into an adventure by a mysterious and persistent heron.
The 82-year-old Miyazaki isn't at TIFF and hasn't done any interviews about The Boy and the Heron. In Japan, the film was released with no promotional materials beyond a somewhat-cryptic poster.
Miyazaki is known for a decades-spanning career of animated films with Studio Ghibli, which he helped co-found in 1985. Among his most notable films are My Neighbour Totoro, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, which won the 2003 Academy Award for best animated film.
The director had previously announced his retirement following his 2013 film The Wind Rises.