Summary
- Hayao Miyazaki's unexpected return to filmmaking with "The Boy and the Heron" won big at the Academy Awards.
- Studio Ghibli received an honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, sparking curiosity about Miyazaki's next project.
- Despite his age, Miyazaki remains secretive about his next film, viewing all animators as rivals in his pursuit of perfection.
Studio Ghibli is one of the most famous studios for animated movies in the world, and its founder, Hayao Miyazaki, is legendary in the film industry. Recently, he has gotten even more notoriety after coming out of "retirement" to produce his supposed magnum opus piece, The Boy and the Heron. Not only did the movie perform incredibly well both in Japan and abroad, it went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Picture, winning over several titles from big Western studios.
The Boy and the Heron didn't stop there, though, and has continued to win awards around the world. The film that was never meant to be has gone on to become perhaps one of Miyazaki's most famous, and definitely made his name a talking point. While most people thought this must be the film legend's final film, as it was already one more than we thought we would ever get from him, his son says otherwise. While accepting yet another award for Studio Ghibli on his father's behalf, Goro Miyazaki shared some new insight into his father's future plans.
Studio Ghibli at the Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival, held annually in France, is one of the most famous and well-known film festivals in the world. Winning an award there is a great honor, and Studio Ghibli has made history in the awards circuit yet again this year with its award there. For the first time in history, the Cannes Film Festival has awarded not just one person but the entire studio with an honorary Palme d’Or. Hayao Miyazaki, the co-founder of the studio, also did not accept his Academy Award in person this year, so it was not a huge surprise that his son, Goro, accepted the Palme d'Or for the studio on his behalf.
Goro Miyazaki has been working in his father's company for many years, overseeing most of the work regarding the Studio Ghibli Theme Park, and also directing Tales from Earthsea and From Up on Poppy Hill, as well as serving as the executive producer of The Boy and the Heron. However, that did not stop reporters from asking the younger Miyazaki questions about his father, and how he felt about winning such a special award. Interestingly, as reported by SoraNews24, Goro replied,
“His feelings seem to be, ‘I don’t really understand what it is, but thank you.’ It doesn’t seem to have made much of an impression on him at all...In his younger days, even while grumbling about it, he seemed happy when he received awards, but now that he’s over 80 he’s receiving them for things he made in the past, so he doesn’t really seem all that concerned or interested."
To be fair to Hayao Miyazaki, at 83 years of age, it's understandable that he may not want to travel the world receiving awards. But what Goro said next is what has everyone really excited.
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Hayao Miyazaki is Working on a New Project
After moving on from Hayao Miyazaki's thoughts on the Palme d'Or, Goro went on to say that his father was too busy thinking about his next big project to worry about what he already finished. “OK, I got an award, but I’m going to focus on what’s in front of me now,” seems to be his attitude," said Goro Miyazaki, revealing that his father is going to make the best of his remaining years to keep pursuing his life's work.
Undoubtedly, everyone wants to know what is on Hayao Miyazaki's mind, and what he is planning to do for his next film. It will be hard to top the success and impact of The Boy and the Heron, but if anyone can do it, its Studio Ghibli. However, not even his own son knows what he is working on now. It seems that the elder Miyazaki has not shared his next ideas with anyone, and is adamantly keeping them a secret for now at least. Again, as reported by SoraNews24, Goro Miyazaki shared that there is a reason behind his father's secretiveness, saying,
“Even at his age, he still thinks of all the other animators around him as rivals. It doesn’t matter if they’re younger than him, if they’re people who supported him while working as his staff, if they’re people who work at Ghibli or at other studios. If they’re animators, they’re rivals, all of them. Since they’re his rivals, he won’t talk to them about his ideas until he’s got the details worked out just right, and he can say ‘Yes, this is it!’”
Considering it did take seven years to produce The Boy and the Heron, we likely won't be seeing anything new from Studio Ghibli any time soon. But we can rest assured that Hayao Miyazaki is still clearly motivated to keep working, and isn't letting something as silly as age stand in the way of his creativity. The Boy and the Heron was released in theaters with nothing but a poster, not even a trailer or summary, so it would not come as a surprise for Studio Ghibli's next film to drop without much more information than we have right now.
Source: SoraNews24