After his ten-year retirement, Hayao Miyazaki produced a new film for Studio Ghibli, The Boy and the Heron.
Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio that was founded in the 80s by directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Miyazaki created many popular movies such as Spirited Away (2001), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Princess Mononoke (1997) and many other popular movies. In 2013, Miyazaki and Takahata officially retired from film directing. Just five years later, Takahata passed away at age 82.
While The Boy and the Heron will be Miyazaki’s first film in a decade since his retirement, it’s not speculated to be his last. Studio Ghibli executive Junichi Nishaioka spoke on Miyazaki’s comeback to CBC News.
“Other people say that [The Boy and the Heron] might be his last film, but he doesn’t feel that way at all,” Nishaioka said. “He is currently working on ideas for a new film.”
The Boy and the Heron follows the story of a boy named Mahito who recently lost his mother and has to move to a new town with his father. There he meets a heron who informs him his mother is still alive. In search of her, Mahito enters an abandoned tower which ends up taking him to another world.
The film is released across theaters in the United States on Dec. 8. The English voice cast includes Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Mark Hamill, Williem Defoe, Robert Pattinson, Florence Pugh and more.
