It has now been confirmed that Studio Ghibli, probably the most internationally prominent animation studio aside from Disney, will be closing its doors, though perhaps not permanently. Whil the company will continue to maintain its back catalog of works, no new productions will be made unless by freelance. The studio’s last feature film was When Marnie Was There, which released in Japan July 19th but with no current plans for a US distribution. If and when it does premiere stateside, it may be the final work of an illustrious company beloved worldwide.
It was previously believed that the studio would be shutting its doors for good, but a new translation of general studio manager Toshio Suzuki's words reads instead: "we will take a brief pause to consider where to go from here."
The hiatus seems to be motivated primarily by struggling sales: When Marnie Was There has so far grossed approximately $3.5 million, while their previous film The Tale of Princess Kaguya earned only $48 million. Critics have cited a changing aesthetic as the main cause of the film’s poor performance: a greater emphasis on digital composition, more subdued color palettes, and on the marketing side, possible oversaturation (The Tale of Princess Kaguya was released one year after Miyazaki’s final work, The Wind Rises). The studio has also made past comments regarding the rising costs of animation, a fact further exacerbated by their refusal to outsource animation duties.
Another possible factor is, of course, Hayao Miyazaki’s retirement last year, which may have been a strong signal for the already floundering company to enter the final stages of its lifespan. Miyazaki has become practically synonymous with the studio, having directed the lion’s share of the studio’s most iconic works, including Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and My Neighbor Totoro.
The studio was founded by fellow directors-in-arms Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, both of whom had considerable experience before the studio’s inception: they’d cut their teeth on projects such as the Lupin III television series and the epic Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind, an anime adaptation of Miyazaki's own serialized manga. Their first feature as an organization was 1986's Laputa: Castle in the Sky, which won the Animage Anime Grand Prix that year, and continued Miyazaki's unique blend of Western themes and story tropes with a Japanese style. Their second film, Grave of the Fireflies, only contributed to the studio's prestige, as it is recognized even today as one of the most emotionally gripping animated features of all time, and one of the grimmest depictions of war-time tragedy in any format. My Neighbor Totoro followed suit as a smash children's hit, and gave birth to one of the studio's most enduring images: Totoro's own rice-ball shaped body. The studio's success continued strong into the late 2000s with such internationally acclaimed films as Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, and Spirited Away.
As an avid fan of the studio and animation in general, I sincerely hope the studio hasn't halted its productions for good. A breadth of creative minds is vital for the development of any artistic medium, and the loss of Studio Ghibli would prove a tremendous blow to the animated world.
 | Too power |