It's a sad day for anime fans as the announcement comes out of Japan that the famed Studio Ghibli animation studio has made its last film.
The studio's general manager, Toshio Suzuki, made the announcement today on Japanese TV, explaining that from this point forward the company will have only a small staff to manage its existing copyrights and work on small projects, but will stop producing new movies, according to Hypable.
Co-founded by animator and director Hayao Miyazaki (basically the Walt Disney of Japan if you didn't know), Studio Ghibli is responsible for many of the highest-grossing and widely regarded anime films of all time, including the Oscar-winning feature Spirited Away.
Other Studio Ghibli films include Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke and My Neighbor Totoro.
Miyazaki retired last year, and Suzuki took control of the studio's operations.
The shutdown is not a total surprise. Reports had been circulating for a while that the studio's recent films were struggling to turn a profit.
Mayazaki's last film was 2013's The Wind Rises. Studio Ghibli released its last film, the Suzuki-produced When Marnie Was There in July.
Let's watch the trailer for Spirited Away and complain that there are ZERO Studio Ghibli movies streaming on Netfix.
[Via Hypable]
