Animé fans are in mourning at the news that Japanese hit-factory Studio Ghibli may have made its final film.
Toshio Suzuki, the general manager of the Tokyo-based animation studio behind My Neighbour Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle and the Oscar-winning film Spirited Away, announced the halt in production on Japanese television on Sunday.
Studio Ghibli will cease film-making after 29 years of production, Suzuki told the show Jounetsu Tairiku, downsizing its staff to manage trademarks and copyrights on its existing portfolio of 20 feature films.
Suzuki took over day-to-day running of the studio when its co-founder Hayao Miyazaki retired in 2013. “Obviously, Miyazaki’s retiring was quite significant,” Suzuki said on air. “What should Ghibli do? ... Right about now, we will take a breather and think about what’s next.”
Rumours of Ghibli’s imminent demise had been circulating in recent weeks. A Ghibli insider forecast its closure on the Japanese website News Cafe, blaming the high production costs and poor profits of its recent releases. “There’s no choice but to dissolve the studio, because it’s unable to cross the high hurdle of announcing a new film on an annual basis,” the staffer said.
Toshio Suzuki, the general manager of the Tokyo-based animation studio behind My Neighbour Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle and the Oscar-winning film Spirited Away, announced the halt in production on Japanese television on Sunday.
Studio Ghibli will cease film-making after 29 years of production, Suzuki told the show Jounetsu Tairiku, downsizing its staff to manage trademarks and copyrights on its existing portfolio of 20 feature films.
Suzuki took over day-to-day running of the studio when its co-founder Hayao Miyazaki retired in 2013. “Obviously, Miyazaki’s retiring was quite significant,” Suzuki said on air. “What should Ghibli do? ... Right about now, we will take a breather and think about what’s next.”
Rumours of Ghibli’s imminent demise had been circulating in recent weeks. A Ghibli insider forecast its closure on the Japanese website News Cafe, blaming the high production costs and poor profits of its recent releases. “There’s no choice but to dissolve the studio, because it’s unable to cross the high hurdle of announcing a new film on an annual basis,” the staffer said.
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