Otaku USA Magazine
Ghibli Chairman Talks Present, Future of Studio in Long-Form Interview

On the 30th anniversary of its founding, is the venerated Studio Ghibli a shell of its former self or a thriving, evolving creative space?

Yes.

That’s the contradiction embodied in a new long-form interview with co-founder and über-producer Toshio Suzuki, who shed a bit of light on the goings-on at Ghibli.

Most relevant to fans of other Ghibli co-founder and semi-retiree is some new news about his upcoming CG short, Boro the Caterpillar. Suzuki set up a bit of background on the project, noting Miyazaki’s been wanting to do Boro since back during the creation of Princess Mononoke in the mid-90s. Back then Suzuki convinced Miyazaki that Mononoke was more viable as a full-length film, but thought the idea might be good as a short.

Suzuki also revealed that Boro, should Miyzaki have agreed, could’ve been animated by a team from Pixar. Miyazaki chose a Japanese team, though, largely due to the language barrier.

The über-producer also talked a bit about The Red Turtle, the Ghibli co-production directed by Dutch director Dudok de Wit. Apparently Suzuki reached out to de Wit about making a film a decade ago, but it only came together recently, with the director renting an apartment in Tokyo and working closely with other Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata to complete the project.

Ghibli’s clearly evolving into a different form, but it ain’t dead yet.

Source: Nippon.com

Matt Schley

Matt Schley (rhymes with "guy") lives in Tokyo, and has been OUSA's "man in Japan" since 2012. He's also written about anime and Japanese film for the Japan Times, Screen Daily and more.

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