Studio Ghibli May Halt Production Of New Films
No, Ghibli is not dead. However, it appears that When Marnie Was There could be the final film animated in-house at Studio Ghibli — at least for the immediate future — if a planned restructuring happens. Producer Toshio Suzuki spoke on the MBS program Jounetsu Tairiku and said that the production studio is considering shutting down, as no new films are in the pipeline. Goro Miyazaki is directing a CGI TV series made by Polygon Pictures, Hayao Miyazaki has retired, Isao Takahata will probably not be making another film, and Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s Marnie didn’t do well in theaters. All of this means that (if true) Ghibli will essentially be taking a break, and the animators will be let go for now. If the studio comes up with another film to do, they may bring everyone back, or they could simply remain as a company shell solely for licensing merchandise and film rights. Time will tell!
Here’s a great NeoGAF post written by Duckroll that explains a bit more about the Ghibli situation, if you’re interested.