Hayao Miyazaki not retiring after all

Last Updated on October 4, 2023

With Hayao Miyazaki’s final film The Boy and the Heron proving to be — oh, wait, it won’t be his last? In news that should shock no one who has followed the legendary director’s career, it has been announced that Hayao Miyazaki will indeed not be retiring.

In a Twitter/X post, the official Studio Ghibli Pictures page wrote the following: “Hayao Miyazaki will not be retiring after all. Studio Ghibli’s vice-president has declared that he has already returned to the office with new ideas for a new film. HE’S STILL COOKING GUYS”. The announcement is accompanied by a picture of Hayao Miyazaki hard at work in the studio.

Hayao Miyazaki has been chatting retirement on and off for quite some time now. It was almost a running joke, but now that the Studio Ghibli founder is in his 80s, this time it felt about as real as it could — until the next time, at least. Hype was so strong this time that tickets to the Toronto International Film Festival sold out, with some tickets being scalped for over $300. Reviews have been resoundingly strong, with our own Chris Bumbray giving it a 9/10 out of TIFF.

Despite the minimal promotion — we were pretty much left with stills until a teaser popped up a few days ago — hype for The Boy and the Heron was incredibly strong based on Hayao Miyazaki’s reputation alone. Really, there was so little to go on but thankfully TIFF had the following: “Visually, the film shows Miyazaki at the height of his powers, filling the frame with gorgeous compositions, vibrant colour, and arresting movement. As it draws you deeper into its mysteries, The Boy and the Heron becomes richer, stranger, and more profoundly beautiful. This is a singular, transformative experience in film, and not to be missed.”

The Boy and the Heron is Hayao Miyazaki’s first feature in a decade, with his most recent being 2013’s The Wind Rises, whose own release also prompted the director to announce his retirement. That movie earned him a career third Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, following Howl’s Moving Castle and the 2003 winner, Spirited Away (take that, Treasure Planet!). Outside of Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli earned nods for The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013) and The Red Turtle (2016).

Do you think Hayao Miyazaki legitimately has another great picture in him after The Boy and the Heron?