Miyazaki's New Movie

Date: 2007 March 22 22:06

Posted by Jeremy

Hayao Miyazaki currently working on his latest movie!

Full Story

The next Hayao Miyazaki movie is on the way! Studio Ghilbi has announced that the next film from the Oscar-winning director of Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke will be titled Gake no ue no Ponyo, or Ponyo on a Cliff, about a 5-year-old boy named Sasuke and his relationship with Ponyo, a Princess Goldfish who wishes to become human.

This will be the director's first film since the recent Howl's Moving Castle, and following his controversial feud with his son, Goro, over the younger Miyazaki's making his directorial debut with Gedo Senki (Legend of Earthsea).

The new film will be based on an original story crafted by Miyazaki himself, as opposed to earlier reports that he would be helming an adaptation of the Chinese children's novella, I Lost My Little Boy. Those reports are now obviously squashed, though it is unknown whether or not Studio Ghilbi, who acquired the rights to the story in 2005, will still make a film based on the story. Whether or not a director with the name Miyazaki will be involved also remains to be seen.

Production on the new film, said to be done in traditional hand-drawn 2-D animation, already began in October of last year, with an estimated release date for the summer of 2008. Miyazaki and the Ghilbi staff have been doing a lot of location shooting near Tomo-no-Ura for the film, since about 70-80% of it takes place at sea. Miyazaki also did the film's storyboards himself, painting them in watercolors, and even based the story's main character on his own grandson.