Though celebrated animation writer, director and manga-ka Hayao Miyazaki announced plans for a really, truly, for real this time retirement back in September, Variety reports that the 73-year-old artist may return to the drawing table for another project at Studio Ghibli. The hint came out of an interview with producer Toshio Suzuki on NHK’s Asa Ichi Thursday morning.
Suzuki stated that the animation legend, whose last film was the globally acclaimed The Wind Rises, has floated the idea of creating something for the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo’s Mitaka area, and speculated that if Miyazaki did pursue a new project it would likely be a short-format one.
The producer also clarified his statement from earlier this week about the possibility of Studio Ghibli shutting down for a break, which was initially mistranslated by an English-language fan blog sparking lots of online speculation about a complete shut-down.
“We’re changing the way we make [animation],” Suzuki said. “We wanted to make a dream company. We thought we would make what suited us and not make what didn’t suit us. We were able to realize [that dream] to some extent and we’re very happy about that. But now we’re at a point where we’ve got to think about what we’ll do next.”
