Despite widely being reported as Hayao Miyazaki’s final feature film before retirement (where have we heard that before?), the enthusiastically received international premiere of The Boy and the Heron at the 48th Toronto International Film Festival was followed by a declaration that the master’s latest flight of animated fantasy will not be his swan song. Per a tweet by CBC’s Eli Glasner, Studio Ghibli’s head of public relations Junichi Nishioka told the press Miyazaki is still pitching new movies.
Exiting news for fans of Hayao Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli VP Junichi Nishioka tells us The Boy and the Heron is not Miyazaki’s final film and that he is already coming into the office with new ideas. #TIFF23 pic.twitter.com/u9DyyPhJwu
— Eli Glasner 🎥 (@glasneronfilm) September 8, 2023
Miyazaki’s retirement is almost a running gag in animation and cinephile circles. The director first declared his “final film” in 1997, ahead of the release of Princess Mononoke, 18 years after the release of his feature film directorial debut The Castle of Cagliostro — and just four years before his triumphant return with the critically acclaimed, Oscar-winning hit Spirited Away.
Miyazaki again grumbled about stepping away in 2005, and became adamant about his imminent retirement in 2013 after his historical drama The Wind Rises. He remained at the studio, completing the Ghibli Museum short Boro the Caterpillar in 2018, but had already been ruminating on and developing How Do You Live — the inspiration that would turn into The Boy and the Heron — since 2016.
While the great storyteller has definitely slowed down as an 82-year-old grandfather (10 years have elapsed between his last feature and Heron), fans will be delighted to know that his creative spark burns as bright as ever.
The Boy and the Heron was released in Japan on July 14. The film had its international premiere on Thursday, September 7 as the Opening Night Gala for TIFF. The U.S. premiere is set for New York Film Festival before GKIDS presents the North American theatrical release starting December 8.
[H/T Slashfilm, Crunchyroll]