Hayao Miyazaki, the animator behind genius films like Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away (seriously, go watch them), has reportedly announced at the Venice film festival that he plans to quit filmmaking. That sound you hear right now is all my dreams shattering into a million pieces.
According to Deadline, it was Koju Hoshino, the president of Miyazaki’s production company, who made the announcement that The Wind Rises, which is the animator's current competition title at the film festival, will be his last. Hoshino declined to take questions, but did reveal that more details would be announced during a news conference in Tokyo.
Vincent Maraval, the co-founder of film company Wild Bunch (a frequent collaborator with Miyazaki) confirmed the news, saying, "For me, he is simply the greatest animator that ever was...he is ending on a masterpiece that leaves us with his great humanism and a vision of our century to contemplate."
Miyazaki began making anime for television in the '70s before moving on to produce a ton of award-winning films, including Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo. The Wind Rises is described as an animated historical film based on a fictionalized biography of the man who designed Japan's World War II fighter planes. It will be released in the U.S. through Touchstone Pictures.
[via Deadline]
