After almost 18 years from his last feature film "Princess Mononoke" in 1998, legendary Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki is coming out of his retirement. The famed film maker is coming out of his retirement, yet again, by bringing into life the story of a hairy caterpillar in "Boro the Caterpillar".
This full length feature film was initially intended to be a Gibli Studio short film, but Miyazaki was unhappy about it. Instead, he proposed for a feature film for it, the story of which was already in development for nearly 20 years, Anime News Network reported.
The director has noted that it would normally take five years to make a full feature, which would make him 80 years old upon the film's release. He also noted in his proposal that the film could be done by 2019, in time for the 2020 Olympics to be held in Tokyo, Japan.
In a Japanese television special "The Man Who is not Done: Hayao Miyazaki", Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki commented that Miyazaki will draw storyboards until he dies. Meanwhile another staffer commented the icon's death would be great for movie ticket sales, as reported by Screen Rant.
Miyazaki was one of Japan's most prolific directors, with works both garnering worldwide critical acclaim and commercial success. He is one of the founders of Studio Ghibli, one of Japan's biggest and arguably its most famous animation studio, which traced its origin in 1985 when Miyazaki, along with Isao Takahata, Toshio Suzuki, and Yasuyoshi Tokuma joined forces.
Miyazaki rose to prominence in the 1970s with television animated series "Lupin III", "Future Boy Conan", and "Sherlock Hound". He then ventured into films with his first feature "Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro" in 1979, followed by his adaptation of the beginning of his "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" manga into a cult favorite anime film in 1984.
With the founding of Studio Ghibli in 1985, Miyazaki directed phenomenal animated films which include "Laputa: Castle in the Sky", "My Neighbor Totoro", "Kiki's Delivery Service", "Porco Rosso", "Princess Mononoke", "Spirited Away", "Howl's Moving Castle", "Ponyo", and finally, 2013's "The Wind Rises". But it was "Spireted Away" which became Miyazaki's biggest and most successful work, attaining commercial success and reaping accolades in and out of Japan.
"Spirted Away" is still the highest earning film in the history of Japanese film industry, even after 15 years upon its release. It has also won the Oscar award in 2003 for the Outstanding animated film award.
