It seems The Boy And The Heron It won’t be legendary Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki’s last contribution to the world of animation after all, as it turns out the director has been hard at work at the Ghibli offices on a new project.
The revelation that the film would not be his swan song was first revealed by Studio Ghibli Vice President Junichi Nishioka during TIFF, which “The Boy And The Heron” is the opening film.
During a recent press conference regarding the film’s release, producer Toshio Suzuki shed a little more light on this statement, stating that Miyazaki is indeed fascinated by his new project and that he He gave up trying to stop the director from working.
“He thinks about this new project every day, I can’t stop him anymore, I’ve given up on it. I no longer try to dissuade him, even though it may be a bad movie. In life, only work fascinates him.”
Suzuki then went on to state that as long as Miyazaki is committed to working, he will not retire. He believes that the director’s dedication to filmmaking will continue until he turns 90. He also affirmed his commitment to accompany him throughout the journey.
“We talked again earlier today […] He started talking about this new project, so I won’t stop him anymore. As long as he’s working, I won’t retire. He is 82 years old, I think he will continue to work until he is 90 and I will go with him.”
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How do you live?released in Japan on July 14, 2023. The film became Studio Ghibli’s first film to receive a simultaneous IMAX release.
During its initial three-day release in Japan, the film sold approximately 1.003 million tickets, generating approximately US$13.2 million in revenue.
Joe Hisashi has been assigned to compose music for the anime film. The film will have 37 soundtracks including the theme song. Kenshi Yonezu performed the film’s theme song, “Chikyuugi”.
Soma Santoki voices the main character Mahito Maki.
Masaki Suda, Kou Shibasaki, Aimyon, Yoshino Kimura, Keiko Takeshita, Jun Fubuki, Sawako Agawa, Karen Takizawa, Shinobu Otake, Jun Kunimura, Kaoru Kobayashi and Shohei Hino are among the talented actors voicing the characters in the film .
Breaking away from traditional marketing strategies, Studio Ghibli took a bold approach with the film’s release in Japan. The studio intentionally refrained from promoting the film with any materials or descriptions
How do you live? was inspired by the 1937 novel of the same name by Yoshino Genzaburo. He added that this book is a story that means a lot to the main character in his movie.
The setting of the film is England during World War II. His mother’s illness affected 12-year-old book lover David. He begins to hear whispers in books and sees visions of a strange kingdom while tormented by loneliness. One day, he accidentally wandered into that world, guided by the voice of his deceased mother. Little Red Riding Hood gives birth to a werewolf after falling in love with a wolf, an ugly Snow White, and a cruel man who kidnaps children. Fairy tales creatures and mythical monsters are moving in this adorable yet scary fairy tale world. A mysterious journey and a young boy’s growth in conquering challenges in this extraterrestrial adventure story.
In October 2017, Studio Ghibli announced the film would be titled “How do you live?”. film studio director, Toshio Suzuki said that Miyazaki was making the film for his grandson as his way of saying: “Grandpa will soon move on to the next world but he will leave this film behind.”
In December 2020, Suzuki stated that the film was made without a deadline, similar to The story of Princess Kaguya (2013), took 8 years to implement.
He said that the animated film is half completed and production is moving faster due to COVID-19 restrictions requiring them to work from home and that the film will be 125 minutes long.
Source: Liberation