Back in 2014, Studio Ghibli announced it was taking a break. Since then, it’s collaborated with a French animation studio, but hasn’t yet begun work on a new own in-house feature film. That could change as one of the studio’s most promising young directors, who quit Studio Ghibli in 2014, could return for his next film.
Hiromasa Yonebayashi directed the wonderfully fantastic When Marnie Was There, which is up for an Oscar for best animated feature and, according to AP, he said his next film might be for Studio Ghibli.
Even though he’s left the studio, Yonebayashi apparently still has a close connection with it, and Studio Ghibli is even furnishing the the tuxedo he’s wearing to the Oscars.
Said Yonebayashi, “I feel extremely honoured. The legacy and the trust that Studio Ghibli built over the years and the works we have created with members of our team won a positive evaluation.”
Let’s hope that legacy continues to produce new films.
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6 responses to “Signs Of Life At Studio Ghibli”
Ghibli fired basically everyone including Yonebayashi because they can’t afford to keep animators permanently on staff when they had nothing for them to work on. It was always their stated intention to re-hire people on contract basis to produce new films, though. IIRC Yonebayashi himself was talking about this.
There’s also rumors that Takahata might have something new he’s working on but that guy moves at a glacial pace.
Incidentally, one of the consistently rumored projects Ghibli had on the backburner was a sequel to Porco Rosso. The last news we had was that Miyazaki was to write it and Yonebayashi to direct.
I hope that they do end up producing new films. When Marnie Was There is an absolutely excellent film, but I feel like it would be a shame if that was how they went out.
I agree
I was in Japan with my wife, with our final day at Studio Ghibli, when “When Marnie Was There” was released in Aus and, luckily, it was showing at Hoyts in Melbourne when we returned.
Needless to say, we went to see it immediately.
What a wonderful addition to the Ghibli anthology.
There is so much more they can do, so here is hoping they continue beyond Myazaki, for many more wonderful memories to come
My prediction is that as long as Miyazaki is alive and able, he’ll keep making movies. I’m positive he has at least one more left in him.
All I really hope for is they never fall into the trap of making sequels and continue to keep creating these amazing worlds that begin, live, and end.
Cat Returns is a sequel to Whispers of the Heart, and it’s lovely!
I was unaware of this, but I stand by my comment. They don’t make bad movies, but a money hungry Ghibli could just bank on the success of Totoro Too, Howls’ Moving Castles, King Ashitaka, etc etc.