Just over a year ago the Anime News Network reported on a possible sequel to Studio Ghibli’s 1992 animation Porco Rosso, citing an edition of the Model Grafix magazine where Hayao Miyazaki threw out the idea.
Today news is blowing around that Miyazaki is developing the idea and it may become one of the studio’s next films after their much anticipated adaptation of The Borrower Arietty (Karigurashi no Arietty).
Here’s what Anime News Network gave us last year,
Hayao Miyazaki is considering whether to draw Porco Rosso: The Last Sortie, a sequel to his Porco Rosso film.
The potential sequel will have the title character piloting a Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 bomber from Italy, although the magazine says that Miyazaki will first see the Campini-Caproni experimental aircraft at Italy’s Museo storico dell’Aeronautica Militare di Vigna di Valle at an unknown future date.
And now, thanks to Nausicaa.net‘s translation of an interview Miyazaki gave to Cut Magazine, here’s what else we know about the project,
So I want to escape to “Porco Rosso: The Last Sortie”. I have all its materials. It should be interesting. It is set for Spanish Civil War.
However with this excellent news there’s a dark cloud on the horizon, which concerns the fate of our favourite Animation house. Miyazaki talked about the future of the studio, and how the success of their forthcoming adaption of Mary Norton’s Borrower books may be the deciding factor.
He told Cut magazine,
Suzuki-san is making a dissolution program for Ghibli. No joke, we talked about it the other day. This dissolution program changes if Arrietty succeeds.
For example, Ghibli should be able to continue with about five staff members as a copyright management company even if we smash the studio. So, Ghibli can say ‘We stop film production. Goodbye’. I do not have to be there.
The Borrower Arrietty was always going to be a must-see, but now it’s a film which really needs to be seen. As many times as possible.
Credit to AICN and Bleeding Cool for poking us with this stick.
