The annual Cannes International Film Festival awarded an Honorary Palme d’Or prize to Studio Ghibli, a first-time move for Cannes, which until then had only given out the award to individuals and not organizations or groups. While Hayao Miyazaki himself was not able to attend, Goro Miyazaki traveled abroad to accept the award on his father’s behalf.
Studio Ghibli, renowned for its successful anime films in Japanese history, must remain cautious of competition from other animators, as per Hayao Miyazaki’s son, Goro Miyazaki. He also said that, Hayao Miyazaki believes that the golden age of anime was over.
Hayao Miyazaki believes the golden age of anime is over
Goro Miyazaki, who received the Cannes Film Festival award for his father Miyazaki and the Honorary Palme d’Or for Studio Ghibli, expressed his father’s happiness about the award but also felt it as an end to his career, despite the creator considering work on his next Studio Ghibli project.
Goro Miyazaki relayed to 20 Minutes about his father’s feelings on the awards, “He was delighted, but he feels that the golden age of anime is over. He feels that this award symbolizes the end of his career.”
As Miyazaki notes how things are beginning to change, it’s also something anime fans might have to consider heading into the future. Anime is experiencing a significant boom due to increasing worldwide demand for TV anime and feature films. The spread of releases and shorter release times have significantly improved. This could be a reflection of a “golden age” that will essentially act as sort of a “bubble” that could burst in the future.
Hayao Miyazaki’s next anime is in the works
Goro Miyazaki also briefly touched upon the fact that Hayao Miyazaki is already thinking about his next film. However, he also stated that his father wouldn’t divulge any details about the project.
He said, “He won’t tell anyone. He won’t ever tell. Even at that age, all the animators around him are his rivals, whether they are younger than him, the staff who support him, whether they are inside or outside the company.”
Hayao Miyazaki’s fears of plagiarism are valid, as Studio Ghibli’s iconic status makes it a target for competitors in the animation world. Yoshiyuki Tomino, creator of Mobile Suit Gundam, has publicly urged Japan’s next generation of animators to “crush” Miyazaki’s empire with their own creative endeavors.
“Everyone, please work hard to crush Miyazaki! I can’t do it anymore,” stated Tomino. “Young creators shouldn’t take this lightly. You can’t surpass Miyazaki or One Piece without truly dedicating yourselves.”
Studio Studio Ghibli has not unveiled any official promotional materials for Miyazaki’s upcoming work. However, the studio does have. However, the studio is set to showcase four original anime shorts at Cannes, marking the first official overseas showcase of its critically acclaimed short film collection.
The selection includes Boro the Caterpillar, House Hunting, Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess, and Mei and the Kittenbus, a short-film sequel to Hayao Miyazaki’s beloved family movie, My Neighbor Totoro. Despite not revealing any official promotional materials for Miyazaki’s upcoming work, the studio has big plans for its critically acclaimed short film collection.
A brief about Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki co-founded Studio Ghibli in 1985. He directed numerous films with Ghibli, including Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), and Porco Rosso (1992). The films were met with critical and commercial success in Japan.
Miyazaki’s film Princess Mononoke was the first animated film ever to win the Japan Academy Film Prize for Picture of the Year, and briefly became the highest-grossing film in Japan following its release in 1997; its distribution to the Western world greatly increased Ghibli’s popularity and influence outside Japan. His 2001 film Spirited Away became the highest-grossing film in Japanese history, winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, and is frequently ranked among the greatest films of the 21st century.
Miyazaki’s later films Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), Ponyo (2008), and The Wind Rises (2013) also enjoyed critical and commercial success. Following the release of The Wind Rises, Miyazaki announced his retirement from feature films, though he later returned to write and direct his twelfth feature film The Boy and the Heron (2023), for which he won his second Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
