hayao miyazaki

Screenshot: GkidsIf you’re looking for a reason to brave movie theaters and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ended up giving you Quantumalaise, might I make a modest proposal: Why not go watch an anime masterpiece or nine? Because GKids is bringing nine of the legendary Hayao Miyazaki’s films back into U.S. movie theaters for Studio Ghibli Fest 2023.The “fest” will be premiering nine movies over the course of the spring, summer, and fall, ranging from March all the way to November, as well as the previously announced…

After a ten-year hiatus from feature films, Hayao Miyazaki is returning to the director’s chair with How Do You Live. Miyazaki has “retired” and then returned to direct another film many times over the past thirty years. Thank goodness he did, as he announced his first retirement a year before he decided to make Spirited Away.The film is an adaptation of the 1937 novel by Genzaburo Yoshino, a children’s book which follows a young boy’s life as he navigates growing up with his uncle after the deaths of his parents. It’s a…

Earlier in the week, and after double checking that it was the official account, everyone’s eyebrows raised when they saw Studio Ghibli use its Twitter to tease a collaboration with Lucasfilm. Followed by a single cryptic tease, speculation ran wild: did Disney convince Hayao Miyazaki to do a short for Star Wars Visions? Was this a film to add to the studio’s portfolio? At the end of it all, the answer turned out to be...a cute little ol’ short film. That short, Zen - Grogu & the Dust Bunnies, released on Disney+ this…

Image: GhibliWhen Studio Ghibli, the maker of acclaimed anime films like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and more, tweeted the Lucasfilm logo yesterday, people lost their minds wondering what it might be. Now Ghibli has issued an even more intriguing tease, and I expect everyone will be losing their minds even harder.It’s just a photo of a Grogu figurine, with a blurry figure sitting behind it. It might be cut off here, but if you click through to the tweet itself, that person is definitely legendary anime movie maker…

Image: First SecondDirectly inspired by Tibetan folklore, Hayao Miyazaki’s early graphic novel Shuna’s Journey is a look into the themes, stories, and character archetypes that define his more well-known work. Translated by Alex Dudok De Wit and published in English for the first time since its original Japanese release in 1983, this singular work within Miyazaki’s incredible opus is well worth picking up.Shuna’s Journey uses a restrained but evocative visual language, and the limited panels and reliance on narration help…

Could Studio Ghibli be doing an episode of Star Wars Visions?Image: LucasfilmOne tweet. Fourteen seconds. An infinite amount of excitement. That’s what happened earlier today when the official Twitter account for Studio Ghibli tweeted a video of its logo accompanied by the logo for Lucasfilm. The implication, of course, is some kind of team-up, but what could it be?Instantly the mind races to the most mind-boggling conclusion. Something like “Hayao Miyazaki must be making a feature-length animated Star Wars movie!” But…

Photo: Manuel Harlan/GSC/Nippon TVMuch like the film, the play is described as an “enchanting coming-of-age story” that “explores the magical fantasy world of childhood and the transformative power of imagination, as it follows one extraordinary summer in the lives of sisters Satsuki and Mei.” Photo: Manuel Harlan/GSC/Nippon TVMuch like the film, the play is described as an “enchanting coming-of-age story” that “explores the magical fantasy world of childhood and the transformative power of imagination, as it follows…

Spirited AwayImage: Studio GhibliJapan’s much-anticipated Studio Ghibli-themed attraction features a variety of sights and activities inspired by the worlds of Hayao Miyazaki’s legacy of films. Situated in a nature preserve, purposefully not disturbing the wilderness of the forest surrounding it, the park is more of an immersion into the atmosphere and locations of movies such as My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Kiki’s Delivery Service, among others.Here’s the official first look at the areas that will be…

Luca is an ode to friendship. The 84-minute Pixar movie on Disney+, from feature directorial debutant Enrico Casarosa, is inspired by his own childhood — Luca is dedicated to Casarosa's best friend Alberto Surace, whose name he lends to the deuteragonist and the title protagonist's best friend — in the Italian Riviera in the 1970s and 1980s. It's set in a world that takes after the 1950s and the 1960s, for Casarosa doesn't feel as nostalgic (yet) about the eighties. But Luca's is also a fantasy world. The aforementioned…