Studio Ghibli just made its annual New Year’s message and shared it on its official website.
The message began by recapping earlier official announcements, such as that of the first Ghibli theme park, set to open in Japan’s Nagakute City in 2022, and the adaptation of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind into a kabuki stage play.
The studio wrote: (Illustration by Hayao Miyazaki)
(Rough translation) Last year was not a bad year for Studio Ghibli because it was possible to provide topics to everyone through the stage production of Kabuki and other works, the official announcement of Ghibli Park, and active overseas development. I think it was. However, there are many disasters such as typhoons and heavy rains in Japan. We sincerely congratulate those affected by the damage and wish for an immediate rebuilding of their lives.
By the way, the zodiac sign of 2020 is “child”. Rats are a symbol of prosperity because of their fertility, and are also said to be the angels of the god of fertility. I hope that the mood of the stagnating society will be renewed and that we will have a year of hope.
Studio Ghibli continues to work on two new films. Also, Ghibli Park has started in earnest, so we hope to be able to deliver a lot of excitement again this year.
In 2020, Studio Ghibli will begin work on January 6 (Monday).
Thank you very much for Studio Ghibli and Studio Ghibli this year.
The first film Studio Ghibli is working on is directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka (How Do You Live?), taken from the 1937 novel of the same name by Genzaburō Yoshino. It is a coming-of-age adventure-fantasy, following the 15-year-old Koperu and his uncle. The film will be Miyazaki’s first feature-length production since he came out of retirement in 2016.
Despite the film never having an “established deadline”, the studio was, at one point, aiming to have it come out in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Hayao Miyazaki’s long-time producer Toshio Suzuki now puts the projected release somewhere between 2021 and 2022 as of October, the film was only 15% finished.
On the other hand, little to almost no information is available for the second film. What do you think would it be?
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