You can’t keep Hayao Miyazaki away from what he loves. The celebrated anime director announced during a television special that he wants to come out of retirement to turn his 20-year pet project into a full-length animated feature.
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Miyazaki announced his retirement three years ago, and has since been working on Kemushi no Boro (or Boro the Caterpillar), a CG short for the Ghibli Museum. It’s based on a story he’s been developing for about two decades, and it’s about a caterpillar that’s so small “it may be easily squished between your fingers.” According to the NHK television special, translated to The Man Who Is Not Done, Miyazaki was unhappy with how the short turned out and has proposed expanding it into a feature.
Miyazaki said the film will take about five years to make, which means he’d be around 80 years old by the time it’s done. If approved, it should be finished before the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, which would be perfect timing. It hasn’t officially been green-lit yet, but Miyazaki’s already planning storyboards. And come on, there’s no way Studio Ghibli would turn down another amazing piece of art from the legendary Hayao Miyazaki.
In the meantime, Miyazaki said he’ll continue making CG shorts for the Ghibli Museum, and that Kemushi no Boro should be finished in a year.