Studio Ghibli No More?
Skwigly
Edit: Whilst the studio isn’t closing down completely, it would appear that operations are slowing down in order to restructure the business.
Tonight the closure of the much-loved Studio Ghibli was reportedly confirmed by Producer/General Manager Toshio Suzuki.
Announcing the unfortunate news on Japanese television earlier today, Suzuki explained the animation production house would be ‘dismantled’, ‘leaving himself only as a company that will manage its trademarks.’
What this says about the studio’s future in animated film production remains to be clarified. The news comes not long after the retirement of co-founder/director Hayao Miyazaki, whose sterling past work includes the cherished films My Neighbour Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away and his final film The Wind Rises amongst many others. It is also hot on the heels of the perceivable underperformance of the studio’s most recent feature When Marnie Was There. The legacy of Ghibli – and its place not just within animated film but the landscape of cinema as a whole – will doubtless live on indefinitely.
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