In a recent television special on NHK, legendary anime director Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke) has expressed interest in returning to the anime film industry following his retirement in late 2013.
Since his retirement, Miyazaki has been producing the anime short Kemushi no Boro (Boro the Caterpillar), which was showcased at the Studio Ghibli Museum. Miyazaki revealed in the special that he was unsatisfied with the length of the anime and wanted to expand it into a full feature length anime film. In order to do, he estimates that it would take about 5 years to complete, aiming for a release before in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Miyazaki has already started doing storyboards for the full length film, despite the movie not being green-lit yet.
Former Studio Ghibli president Toshio Suzuki mentions that Miyazaki would be drawing storyboards until he dies, where he notes that it would increase the sales of the film.
Hayao Miyazaki is one of the most well known and acclaimed Japanese directors. Miyazaki founded Studio Ghibli in 1985 after the success of his first major film Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Since then Miyazaki has directed many more films with the studio, many of which has resonated with fans all over the world including: Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle and many more. In regards to Miyazaki’s manga work, he drew his first manga series in 1969 titled Puss ‘n Boots (which is unrelated to DreamWorks Animation’s 2011 film). Miyazaki’s most notable manga series is Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, which was adapted into a film. Miyazaki’s latest manga was Kaze Tachinu, which was also adapted into a film.
This is not the first time that Hayao Miyazaki has returned to direct more anime following a supposed retirement. Time will tell whether or not he will really return this time for Kemushi no Boro.