Studio Ghibli Closing: Studio Of 'Walt Disney Of Japan' Hayao Miyazaki To Close Down; Famed Animations Include 'Spirited Away' And 'Princess Mononoke'

Tags: studio ghibli movies; hayao miyazaki

BY May Martinez Aug 04, 2014 07:08 AM EDT

Sad news today: Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation production studio has announced that it might be closing soon because of financial difficulties, several Japanese news outlets have reported.

This is the latest blow that the famed animation studio has experienced in recent times. The previous one was the announcement of director/animator Hayao Miyazaki's retirement. The 73-year old animation legend is the man behind such well-loved films such as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and My Neighbor Totoro.

Miyazaki is internationally recognized, even the animation giant Walt Disney Corp has dubbed him the "Walt Disney" of Japan. Pixar's big boss, John Lasseter also considers himself a fan of the Japanese animator.

He was even an executive producer behind the English translations of Miyazaki's Spirited Away and How's Moving Castle. Spirited Away even won the Academy Award for Best Animated feature.

Miyazaki recently announced that he was retiring after his last film, The Wind Rises. The movie earned$ 113.4 million in Japan, while in the United States it grossed $ 5.1 million. But even with this, the company is struggling to stay afloat.

Aside from Miyazaki, a couple of other Studio Ghibili's famed animators will also be retiring soon, if they haven't already. Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki has retired from filmmaking. Meanwhile, Isao Takahata, another Studio Ghibli legend, has made what appears to be his last movie -- The Tale of Princess Kaguya, last year.

If it pushes through, the studio will have stopped after 29 years of continuous operation. Suzuki, who is not only a director, but also a manager at the studio gave a TV interview regarding the future of the production house. He told Jounetsy Tairiku that Studio Ghibli plans to downsize its manpower in order to concentrate of on copyright management of its existing films. "Obviously, Miyazaki's retiring was quite significant," Suzuki said on air. "What should Ghibli do? ... Right about now, we will take a breather and think about what's next."