It feels like an end of an era. Hayao Miyazaki, one of the true titans of animations, is to retire from filmmaking, having made his final film, The Wind Rises / Kaze Tachinu.
Out in Venice yesterday, the president of Studio Ghibli, Koji Hoshino, announced that the Ghibli co-founder would be retiring after The Wind Rises, which is already out in cinemas in Japan. The film is screening in competition at Venice, and will continue its tour of the festival circuit at Telluride and then Toronto.
Hoshino didn’t take any questions about Miyazaki’s decision, and said that the writer-director himself will be holding a press conference in Tokyo this week about the announcement. “He wants to say goodbye to all of you.”
The 72-year-old co-founded Studio Ghibli back in 1985, and has gone on to direct nine films at the animation house, including his most recent, The Wind Rises. His impressive career includes helming some of the best-known animes of all time, including My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo, and of course Spirited Away, which remains the only film to win Best Animated Feature at the Oscars not made in the English language.
Needless to say, we’re all very big fans of Miyazaki and his work here at HeyUGuys, and his retirement will certainly leave a noticeable hole in the world of animation.
His son, Gor? Miyazaki, made his sophomore feature in From Up on Poppy Hill two years ago, having made his debut with 2006’s Tales from Earthsea. And all eyes will no doubt be turning to him to step up and fill that hole.
And with Miyazaki retiring, it is perhaps with even more anticipation that we look to Ghibli’s The Tale of Princess Kaguya, due out in Japan later this year, which marks fellow Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata’s first film in fourteen years. Interestingly, Miyazaki has worked with composer Joe Hisaishi on all of his films at Ghibli, and Hisaishi has written the score for Takahata’s upcoming movie. With Miyazaki exiting, we can hope for Takahata to become more prolific in the coming years as well.
