At Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2023 Studio Ghibli’s PR Head ‘Junichi Nishioka‘ revealed that Hayao Miyazaki’s new film “THE BOY AND THE HERON” or as it is called in Japanese “How Do You Live ?” will not be Hayao Miyazaki’s last final film. Junichi Nishioka further said that the 82 year old legendary director has already come back to the studio with new ideas for future projects.
Hayao Miyazaki previously announced his retirement from feature films back in 2013 after the release of his 11th feature film “The Wind Rises” but he would then later return to the studio for directing his latest feature film “THE BOY AND THE HERON” (2023). This isn’t the first that the legendary anime director has gone back on his words about retiring, Miyazaki has previously talked about retiring and announced his retirement from feature film about 7 times in the past with 1st and the most official one being after the release of his 1997 classic “Princess Mononoke”. He cited his age and health as reasons for his decision, saying that he was tired and wanted to spend more time with his family. However, he returned to directing in 2001 with Spirited Away, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
This has led to fans calling Miyazaki’s relationship with retirement being the same as that of “Oil and Water” where both of them don’t mix very well.
His latest Movie “How Do You Live ?” is already out now in Japanese theaters and has already broken several despite having 0 marketing and promotion in Japan which was Studio Ghibli’s president “Toshio Suzuki” idea as he wanted the audience to have a completely fresh experience without getting spoiled. But this would only work in Japan because of Miyazaki & Studio Ghibli’s insane brand value and this is also the reason why for the US & Canadian release (DECEMBER 8th) GKIDS revealed a new teaser for the movie on September 6!!
Short Synopsis about “THE BOY AND THE HERON”:
“A young boy named Mahito, yearning for his mother, ventures into a world shared by the living and the dead. There, death comes to an end, and life finds a new beginning.”