When it comes to retirement, Hayao Miyazaki can’t seem to stick with it for long. The anime fandom has joked about the Studio Ghibli director’s inability to spend his years idly, but it seems Miyazaki did have good reason to officially leave retirement a couple years back.
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Recently, Shukan Josei Prime covered a recent interview that Toshio Suzuki did with NHK’s Sunday Art Gallery. The producer has been a friend of Miyazaki’s for years. He took a moment to address Miyazaki’s return to the industry, and Suzuki said the director came out of retirement because of his grandson.
“He [Miyazaki] said, ‘I’m making it for my grandson,’” Suzuki recounted.
According to Suzuki, the artist wanted to make sure he left a legacy behind that his grandson could be proud of. The producer admitted Miyzaki told him that his grandson may one day say something like, “Grandpa passed into the next world, but he left this work.”
After explaining Miyazaki’s true motivation, Suzuki laughed and added: “No doubt Ghibli fans are looking at the TV, blurting, ‘Hey! Wait a second. That’s the reason?!”
If you have not keep up-to-date with Miyazaki’s turbulent time in retirement, then you have a bit of history to brush up on. The director confirmed he would be officially retiring back in 2013 after his film The Wind Rises premiered. The artist continued to work on-and-off during his golden years, a fact that left many fans confused. Miyazaki announced earlier this year that he was coming out of retirement to continue his work with Studio Ghibli, and the director has been working on a full-length feature ever since.
Still, there is still some doubt over whether Miyazaki’s new film will actually get made. Last year, Suzuki told press after visiting the U.S. for the Academy Awards that Studio Ghibli was a tad understaffed for the famous director’s vision.
“To tell the truth, we need a lot of staff to make a feature film. But he is working by himself now, though he needs at least 600 people. That’s his concern,” Suzuki explained. “If we really decide to make a new film, I will announce it officially, of course. We just have not reached that point yet. So if you ask me ‘Will you make it?’ now, I have to deny it. Because honestly, I have nothing to announce.”
[HT] Kotaku
