Hayao Miyazaki, the Oscar winning director and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, has announced his retirement. ‘The Wind Rises‘, which premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival at the weekend, is to be the 72-year-old artisan’s last film. Studio Ghibli president Koju Hoshino said in a deliberately short announcement on Sunday ahead of a full press conference in Tokyo next week. “He wants to say goodbye to all of you“.
Hayao has become one of HTF’s favourite anime directors and we will miss both him and his films. HTF Writer Adam White especially, who has a more personal connection with the man that introduced him to anime. “It always astounded me how Ghibli movies never aged. I didn’t realise until a character in ‘Castle of Cagliostro‘ mentioned West Germany that the film was infact made in 1979!”
‘Castle of Cagliostro‘ was Hayao Miyazaki’s debut in animated direction. It was one of two films made by the Tokyo born director before creating the animation studio: Studio Ghibli, with fellow director Isao Takahata. Studio Ghilbi and Hayao have since gone on to create some of the most well regarded anime movies winning both Japanese and International Academy Awards: including ‘Princess Mononoke‘ (1997), Oscar-winning ‘Spirited Away‘ (2001), and ‘Howl’s Moving Castle‘ (2004).
The award winning director has in fact retired before, 16 years ago to be blunt. Leaving after the international success of ‘Princess Mononoke’, he decided to quit while he was ahead only to be drawn back 4 years later to direct ‘Spirited Away’; A picture that won best film at that years Academy Awards.
In 2005 the great man was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the Venice Film Festival, and so now with over twenty films under his belt, he has decided to announce his proper retirement at the very same festival this year. Premiering at the festival was this year’s ‘The Wind Rises‘. Hayao’s 11th feature-length film about a fictionalised biography of Jiro Horikoshi, who designed Japanese fighter planes during the second world war.
