Anime legend Hayoa Miyazaki is set to be recognised by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with an honorary Academy Award this weekend at the Governors Awards. The 73-year-old co-founder of Studio Ghibli and director of films such as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and The Wind Rises recently announced his retirement from filmmaking, but ahead of the awards ceremony he has now revealed that he plans to continue making short films which will be show at Japan’s Ghibli Museum.
“It became very difficult for me to concentrate for such a long time that it takes to make a whole film, to concentrate that much. I loved making feature-length films to be shown in theaters and making animation films, and my thought was to hand that over to the next generation. One of the good points of making such short films is that I don’t have to worry about it having financial success. The people who come to the museum are forced to see this film when they go into the little theater there. So even if it’s a little bit boring, they’ll probably sit through it and not raise a fuss. I will continue to make animation work until I die.”
So, good news for fans of the legendary animator…
Originally published November 6, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
