Miyazaki announces retirement

[usamimi]

...again. XD (Sorry, couldn't help it!)

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... ture-films

I'm definitely not surprised, as he is a lot older now than he was when he first tried to retire. But I am a little sad, obviously. Not just because the man's a treasure, but this means that Porco Rosso sequel he was talking about making probably won't get made now.

[_D_]

Most people are of the opinion he means to cut down on his workload. He is supposed to give a news conference on his reasons for retiring so that should be interesting. But even Tezuka did not retire when he knew he was dying. Disney also left a lot of ideas and plans when he died, so I figure Miyazaki will also "die in office"...

[usamimi]

Yeah, word is he's just retiring from "feature films", but wants to still work on smaller projects. Which would make sense, feature films are hard work...short films are a lot quicker to finish.

I heard that even Leiji Matsumoto is urging him not to retire yet!

[yusaku]

I hope he makes another feature film. Yet, it is easy to understand films are very, very hard work. People expect a lot from him; Miyazaki is under tremendous stress every film he makes. I think he really needs a break. Maybe for a year or two he should build his health up and catch up on his personal to do lists. Afterwards, he should do another film. He should continue to use his talent.

[_D_]

This is also why I think George Lucas has given it up...it takes too long to produce a feature or set of features. LoTR took 5 years out of Peter Jackson and he is relatively a young established director. Lucas is now 70+, so 5 years from an ever dwindling lifespan is now too much time. No project I can think of would get me to devote 24 hours a day for 5 years for it and no compensation would be good enough, so I can see where these people are coming from...

[usamimi]

I hope he makes another feature film. Yet, it is easy to understand films are very, very hard work. People expect a lot from him; Miyazaki is under tremendous stress every film he makes. I think he really needs a break. Maybe for a year or two he should build his health up and catch up on his personal to do lists. Afterwards, he should do another film. He should continue to use his talent.

Well, he had a press conference last night and he outright said he was retiring, no more films, and he might not even do short films. He did muse about helping out more with the Ghibli Museum, though, but when asked what he'd actually DO in retirement, he never really gave a clear answer...

I did jot down some notes from his livestreamed press conference last night, if anyone wants to read them: http://animenostalgia.tumblr.com/post/6 ... ment-press Some funny stuff he said, plus some tidbits that I thought were of interest to others.

[yusaku]

I read the article about the Miyazaki retirement interview, and I think he may really need to rest. He has done a lot of very high quality work. When I get closer to his age I probably would agree with retirement. Maybe he should retire; I think I would keep going by making more films.

[greg]

I heard that even Leiji Matsumoto is urging him not to retire yet!

Meanwhile, some would prefer if Matsumoto would retire. He seems to just rehash the same stuff he's been doing since the '70s.

This is also why I think George Lucas has given it up...it takes too long to produce a feature or set of features.

Well, I think Lucas just gave up. He went more or less invisible for a long time because (IIRC) his divorce stipulations would have given a whole bunch of money to his ex-wife. He waited a long time to make more Star Wars movies, which were popular for a short while, until it took time to sink in with us that they weren't very good. Then he comes out with Red Tails, and everyone laughed at it and it bombed. Between all that and his constant screwing around with his movies with every DVD or Bluray release and obstinately refusing to release his original Star Wars movies on a modern media platform, a lot of people have gotten sick of him to the point where documentaries are made about him being a obsessive, neurotic tinkerer and a hypocrite. People have some glimmer of hope for these new Star Wars movies because they are not going to be made by Lucas.

As for Miyazaki, it is sad that he's gotten some backlash over Kaze Tachinu because everyone was expecting him to make another kids' movie. I thought the movie was interesting and I liked it, but it is a bit weird to think that it may be his final movie. Maybe he wants to quit while he's ahead. He doesn't want to jump the shark like Lucas obviously did. It's best to retire when people still love you, right?

[_D_]

"It's best to retire when people still love you, right?"

I'm sure a lot of major directors never worried too much about things like that. Hitchcock never did...

[usamimi]

Yeah, directors are a funny breed...same with most artists in the public eye. Some want to end while they're still on top, some don't want to end until they feel like they've "said all they needed to", and some just wanna go for as long as humanly possible, come what may. I honestly think that he just feels like...this is the time to do it. He's getting older, and The Wind Rises was obviously a movie he wanted to make for himself...so that seems like a good place to end. I mean, to be honest, he's a lucky guy: he consistently put out good work (even GREAT work!), people all around the world know him, he was successful...If I was in his shoes, I'd feel more than satisfied with that. I mean, of course it's sad he's retiring...but we all knew it would happen eventually. At least he didn't pass away suddenly while working (or worse--passing away young, like Satoshi Kon). I'm actually kind of looking forward to seeing what Studio Ghibli will work on after Miyazaki leaves...there's been a handful of movies he really had nothing to do with that have been pretty good (Only Yesterday, The Cat Returns, Pom Poko, My Neighbors the Yamadas), and there's been ones that weren't so great (Earthsea...ugh), so it'll be interesting to see what they do and who they might hire in the future.