Will Oscar-Winning Animator Hayao Miyazaki Return For One Last Animated Film?

After three years in retirement, renowned Japanese award-winning animator Hayao Miyazaki announced that he is coming out of retirement to make one last animated film. This time, his film will focus on a caterpillar.

Hayao Miyazaki coming out of retirement for one more feature-length film (set for release in 2020) is amazing news. pic.twitter.com/b4gDkyK5A8

— Rob Trench (@robtrench) November 13, 2016

According to The Verge, award-winning animator Hayao Miyazaki's return was announced in a Japanese TV special broadcast over the weekend. Miyazaki revealed in the documentary titled "Owaranai Hito Miyazaki Hayao" ("The Man Who Is Not Done: Hayao Miyazaki") that he was dissatisfied with a 12-minute computer-generated (CG) short film he was working on titled "Kemushi no Boro" ("Boro the Caterpillar") and wants to turn it into a full-length film instead.

The Anime News Network reported that award-winning animator Hayao Miyazaki is aiming to complete the film by 2019, in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In fact, Miyazaki has begun animation work on the project. However, the project has not yet been given an official green light by Studio Ghibli.

"Kemushi no Boro" is a CG short film created for the Ghibli Museum and will be screened exclusively at the Ghibli Museum once finished. The Anime News Network also mentioned that award-winning animator Hayao Miyazaki planned the story for almost 20 years and revolves around a "tiny, hairy caterpillar, so tiny that it may be easily squished between your fingers."

The award-winning animator Hayao Miyazaki is known for his popular anime television series like "Lupin III," "Sherlock Hound," and "Future Boy Conan." However, he is much known for his animated films such as "Princess Mononoke," "Spirited Away," "Howl's Moving Castle," "Ponyo," "Kiki's Delivery Service," and many others.

Other than his films and animated series, Miyazaki also directed smaller projects such as the "experimental film" "On Your Mark" and Ghibli Museum Shorts such as "Mei and the Kitten Bus" and "Mr. Dough and the Egg Princess."

Among Miyazaki's popular animated films, "Spirited Away" remains the highest earning film ever at the Japanese box office, 15 years after it opened in 2001. The film also won the Academy Award for Best Animated Film in 2003.