Ghibli Producer: Hayao Miyazaki's 'How Do You Live?' Film's Animation Is Half Finished

Dimple · Mar 8, 2021

Ghibli Producer: Hayao Miyazaki's 'How Do You Live?' Film's Animation Is Half Finished

Studio Ghibli also has another film in the works // U.K. print film magazine Sight & Sound published on March 1 an interview with Studio Ghibli producer Toshio...

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U.K. print film magazine Sight & Sound published on March 1 an interview with Studio Ghibliproducer Toshio Suzuki in its April 2021 issue, in which he confirmed that the animation for Hayao Miyazaki's next feature film, Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka (How Do You Live?), is half-finished.

Suzuki had stated in an interview last December that the film's animation is half finished and that the film will be 125 minutes long.

In the Sight and Sound interview, Suzuki also stated that he does not expect the film to release for another three years.

The interviewer, journalist and author Alex Dudok de Wit, also stated that the studio "has another film in development, although no details have been announced," and that the studio "may be facing a changing of the guard." Suzuki had also stated in December that another film was in the works.

The interview also reveals that Hayao Miyazaki wanted to direct Earwig and the Witch, Goro Miyazaki's anime adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones' novel of the same name, but that Suzuki persuaded him to continue directing How Do You Live? instead. Suzuki further stated that he persuaded Goro Miyazaki to use 3D CG instead of the cel-shading CG he used in Ronja the Robber's Daughter.

Suzuki explained that with both Miyazakis working on different films at the same time, the studio "found itself split into two camps: 'Team Hayao' and 'Team Goro.'" Suzuki added he "felt that Team Goro was better" as it had "younger and more talented people on the team." The team under Goro Miyazaki was also more international.

Suzuki added in the interview that he agrees with Goro Miyazaki, who stated to the press the studio should continue with both hand-drawn 2D films as well as 3D CG films.

Suzuki previously reported in December 2019 that the How Do You Live? film was about 15% complete at the end of October 2019, after three and a half years of production. Suzuki then stated in May 2020 that staff had completed 36 minutes of the movie.

Stencil · Mar 8, 2021

Great to hear any news of progress. Do we know when production began?

edit:

Suzuki previously reported in December 2019 that the How Do You Live? film was about 15% complete at the end of October 2019, after three and a half years of production.

Oh, damn. 15% after three and a half years?? Oh boy.

Deleted member 4461 · Mar 8, 2021

Damn, and Earwig still flopped. Then Hayao's gonna finish out "How Do You Live?" with an older, less international team, get all the accolades and retire smoothly (again)

Stencil · Mar 8, 2021

Vermillion said:
Damn, and Earwig still flopped. Then Hayao's gonna finish out "How Do You Live?" with an older, less international team, get all the accolades and retire smoothly (again)

Goro just can't catch a break. Poppy Hill was alright tho.

Squirrel09 · Mar 8, 2021

Stencil said:
Oh, damn. 15% after three and a half years?? Oh boy.

I image that work on Earwig took priority for most of the team during that time.

GJ · Mar 8, 2021

So after 5+ years we're still 3 years out. This is going to be Hayao's magnum opus, isn't it?

BadWolf · Mar 8, 2021

Damn, hope his health holds up.

Xun · Mar 8, 2021

GJ said:
So after 5+ years we're still 3 years out. This is going to be Hayao's magnum opus, isn't it?

I imagine so!

It really is my most anticipated film at the moment.

It's also interesting to know that Ghibli has another film in development as well. I wonder who's directing it?

ARobotCalledV · Mar 8, 2021

Squirrel09 said:
I image that work on Earwig took priority for most of the team during that time.

I can't find a credits list, but I imagine there'll be very little crossover in staff.

Earwig is also one of the worst animated films I've ever seen, so I don't get the faith Suzuki had in Team Goro.

addik · Mar 8, 2021

ARobotCalledV said:
I can't find a credits list, but I imagine there'll be very little crossover in staff.

Earwig is also one of the worst animated films I've ever seen, so I don't get the faith Suzuki had in Team Goro.

I really think they're just desperate for someone to assume the helm once Hayao retires (for good this time).

They had several candidates before, but they either died or moved out of Ghibli. Goro is the only one with experience directing feature-lengths, yet sadly, he really doesn't seem to have it in him.

BadWolf · Mar 8, 2021

ARobotCalledV said:
I can't find a credits list, but I imagine there'll be very little crossover in staff.

Yup, one being 2D and the other 3D pretty much guarantees that.

ARobotCalledV · Mar 8, 2021

addik said:
I really think they're just desperate for someone to assume the helm once Hayao retires (for good this time).

They had several candidates before, but they either died or moved out of Ghibli. Goro is the only one with experience directing feature-lengths, yet sadly, he really doesn't seem to have it in him.

It is unfortunate. I think they really need to do something like Ocean Waves again, bring in a new director and gather a team of people passionate to work under such an important studio. Even try new styles like Princess Kaguya. It just would be too sad to see the studio fade away. Really curious about the mystery other movie in production though.

Blader · Mar 8, 2021

ARobotCalledV said:
It is unfortunate. I think they really need to do something like Ocean Waves again, bring in a new director and gather a team of people passionate to work under such an important studio. Even try new styles like Princess Kaguya. It just would be too sad to see the studio fade away. Really curious about the mystery other movie in production though.

Doesn't seem like they have any interest in doing that anymore. Yonebayashi seemed like an obvious choice for that, but after he left the studio basically closed up shop, only reopening for the Miyazakis.

Jakenbakin · Mar 8, 2021

I know that not all productions are equivalent but just how "big" in terms of budget is this supposed to be? Like Akira+ levels? Or am I deluded? I don't know much about the industry but this interview from last year left me wide-eyed.

"We are still hand-drawing everything, but it takes us more time to complete a film because we're drawing more frames," he noted. "So, there are more drawings to draw than before. Back when we were making [1988's] My Neighbor Totoro, we only had eight animators. Totoro we made in eight months. [For] the current film that Hayao Miyazaki is working on, we have 60 animators, but we are only able to come up with one minute of animation in a month. That means 12 months a year, you get 12 minutes worth of movie. Actually, we've been working on this film for three years, so that means we have 36 minutes completed so far. We're hoping it will finish in the next three years."

Dimple · Mar 8, 2021

Jakenbakin said:
I know that not all productions are equivalent but just how "big" in terms of budget is this supposed to be? Like Akira+ levels? Or am I deluded? I don't know much about the industry but this interview from last year left me wide-eyed.

Miyazaki hand checks every frame and corrects it if it doesn't meet his standards, in a previous interview he recalled how at his peak he could correct 10 minutes worth of animation in a month, dudes now 78 and can only do a minute a month, that's partly why.

On the other hand 60 key animators is a lot, Weathering with You had like 40-45 and that was one of the bigger, if not biggest anime's movies in recent years,

edit: maybe he's doing even more animation layers than before, which would be something considering how much was going on in The Wind Rises at times.

nujabeans · Mar 8, 2021

Is this a Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away-level epic? Would like to see Miyazaki do another fantastic epic at that scale one last time.

DanGo · Mar 8, 2021

I'm going to assume that there is some weird translating going on because straight up describing one team as "better" and "more talented" is pretty odd.

nujabeans said:
Is this a Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away-level epic? Would like to see Miyazaki do another fantastic epic at that scale one last time.

I wouldn't expect anything like that. Here's a blurb about the novel it's adapting:

It follows a 15 year old boy named Junichi Honda, nicknamed Koperu, and his uncle as the youth deals with spiritual growth, poverty, and the overall experience as human beings.

Xun · Mar 8, 2021

Jakenbakin said:
I know that not all productions are equivalent but just how "big" in terms of budget is this supposed to be? Like Akira+ levels? Or am I deluded? I don't know much about the industry but this interview from last year left me wide-eyed.

I've mentioned it before, and of course I could be wrong, but I personally don't think Suzuki is implying it'll be animated on 2s or 1s. I feel he's instead referring to more animated layers per frame, which of course would increase the workload massively.

Also as a side note and contrary to popular belief, Akira is predominantly animated on 2s instead of 1s. Much like with most hand drawn animation, the shots that were on 1s typically were action sequences.

MikeHattsu · Mar 8, 2021

DanGo said:
I wouldn't expect anything like that. Here's a blurb about the novel it's adapting:

It's supposedly not adapting the novel. The novel is instead featured as an important part of the movie protagonist's life.

Sigurd2990 · Mar 8, 2021

I can't wait. The GOAT animator

DanGo · Mar 8, 2021

MikeHattsu said:
It's supposedly not adapting the novel. The novel is instead featured as an important part of the movie protagonist's life.

Oh. Hmm. Well maybe it'll be more fantastical than I thought, but I wouldn't bet on anything resembling Mononoke or Spirited Away.

lint2015 · Mar 8, 2021

Stencil said:
Goro just can't catch a break. Poppy Hill was alright tho.

A lot of the problems with the film, aside from choosing to go with 3D CG seem to be inherent in the source material. The book similarly feels unfinished and lacking, and it makes you wonder why they even chose it to base a film off if they weren't going to flesh it out.

I think Goro has potential, but he needs to find confidence and purpose with his filmmaking. Half the time he's complaining he doesn't know what to do with his life and he doesn't want to continue in animation.

TheRancor · Mar 8, 2021

Dimple said:
maybe he is going full Akira and doing everything on Ones instead of Twos.

This is a myth. You can merely check the movie frame by frame to see Akira was mostly animated on 2s, with some of it on 1s and occasionally 3s. It modulates it's framerate like many other anime as a method to pace the timing/spacing of the movement depending on the shot, it just had more resources than most anime at the time to use 1s if they wanted to.

Irmavep · Mar 8, 2021

Earwig and the Witch, Studio Ghibli's first CG feature, will open in theaters in Japan on April 29, after it premiered on Japanese television through NHK General on December 30. The theatrical version is adding some new footage, and some participating theaters will present the feature in Dolby Cinema.

Curious to see if a extended version can improve Earwig.

Stencil · Mar 9, 2021

lint2015 said:
A lot of the problems with the film, aside from choosing to go with 3D CG seem to be inherent in the source material. The book similarly feels unfinished and lacking, and it makes you wonder why they even chose it to base a film off if they weren't going to flesh it out.

I think Goro has potential, but he needs to find confidence and purpose with his filmmaking. Half the time he's complaining he doesn't know what to do with his life and he doesn't want to continue in animation.

Well, from what I've seen, Hayao probably doesn't inspire much confidence on that front. It seems to me like he's always got one foot in and one foot out; hedging his bets. Commit or quit, Goro! I'd support him either way he's just got to make a damn decision.

Lydecker · Mar 9, 2021

The interviewer, Alex Dudok de Wit could be family of director Michael Dudok the Wit of Ghibli's The Red Turtle. So maybe the film is another Michael Dudok de Wit animation?

Galkinator · Mar 9, 2021

So a 2024-2025 release... oh well :(

Are they working on any other movies simultaneously or is their entire staff dedicated for this one?

Deleted member 21709 · Mar 9, 2021

Stencil said:
Well, from what I've seen, Hayao probably doesn't inspire much confidence on that front. It seems to me like he's always got one foot in and one foot out; hedging his bets. Commit or quit, Goro! I'd support him either way he's just got to make a damn decision.

I support him just because his father seems to be toxic towards him in public.

GCX · Mar 9, 2021

inguef said:
I support him just because his father seems to be toxic towards him in public.

He was very toxic towards him when Earthsea came out but I don't really recall Hayao saying anything about Goro for a long time. It's been almost 15 years since Earthsea so hard to say what their relationship is like nowadays. At least they collaborated to make From Up on Poppy Hill so that's something. But then again it's been 10 years since that too.

Mabase · Mar 9, 2021

Lydecker said:
The interviewer, Alex Dudok de Wit could be family of director Michael Dudok the Wit of Ghibli's The Red Turtle. So maybe the film is another Michael Dudok de Wit animation?

Yes, Alex is Michael's son, and works as a film and animation journalist. He's written a lot about anime and Ghibli before, so I wouldn't automatically conclude from this story that his father is collaborating with Ghibli again, but who knows? With Suzuki involved, stranger things have happened...

Mabase · Mar 9, 2021

Dimple said:
... maybe he is going full Akira and doing everything on Ones instead of Twos.

I don't believe that, it would feel kind of antithetical to how Miyazaki's always worked. I think he's simply getting older.

Xun · Mar 15, 2021

Mabase said:
Yes, Alex is Michael's son, and works as a film and animation journalist. He's written a lot about anime and Ghibli before, so I wouldn't automatically conclude from this story that his father is collaborating with Ghibli again, but who knows? With Suzuki involved, stranger things have happened...

I absolutely adored The Red Turtle so I'd love to see what else he could create.

Speaking of which, I should really give it another watch again soon.

Xun · Jun 1, 2021

Apologies for the bump, but we've got our very first look at the film! Clouds that have been painted by the tremendously talented Yoichi Nishikawa.

I wonder when we'll next see something from it?

Kalor · Jun 1, 2021

Didn't expect clouds to be in the next movie

Jencks · Jun 1, 2021

Beautiful clouds

Gernau Morat Gurgeh · Jun 1, 2021

Those look like Ghibli clouds all right

Sidewinder · Jun 1, 2021

Clouds, typical Ghibli formula, how boring...

Just kidding, can't wait for Hayao's probably last anime, what a legend.

pewpewtora · Jun 1, 2021

Clouds: The Movie

Handicapped Duck · Jun 1, 2021

Those are some neat-looking clouds.

Ghibli Producer: Hayao Miyazaki's 'How Do You Live?' Film's Animation Is Half Finished

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