We're still waiting for the UK release of Studio Ghibli's most recent animated movie, From Up On Poppy Hill. A period drama set in 60s Japan, it was directed by Goro Miyazaki (son of Hayao), and released in Japan last summer - with the movie out in the US next spring, we're hoping it'll see some sort of UK theatrical release at around the same time.
What we've also been wondering, though, is what studio founders Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata have been up to. Miyazaki-san has been quietly working on his latest project for some time (Ponyo was his last movie, released in 2008), while Isao Takahata (Grave Of The Fireflies, Pom Poko) has been directing something called The Tale Of The Bamboo Cutter.
A series of website acquisitions on the part of distributor Toho have confirmed that The Bamboo Cutter, based on a Japanese folk tale, will be one of Studio Ghibli's next releases - though it's now titled Princess Kaguya Story (Kaguya-Hime no Monogatari) - and it's thought it'll be released in Japan next year. The bigger mystery, though, was the identity of Miyazaki's next film; he'd previously talked about his intention to make a follow up to his 1992 film Porco Rosso, which would have been a true departure for a director who's previously avoided sequels (a short, Ghibli Museum-only My Neighbour Totoro spin-off not withstanding).
Instead, Miyazaki's directing another project with aviation at its core. Called Kaze Tachinu (The Wind Rises), it's about the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of the Mitsubishi Zero Fighter which was famed for its light weight and maneuverability.
Miyazaki's love of aviation stretches back to his childhood (his father made components for the Zero fighter) and even Studio Ghibli's name - it's a reference to an Italian aircraft, and also the name of a wind that blows in from the Sahara desert.
A marked contrast to the seaside whimsy of Ponyo, The Wind Rises sounds like an unusually reality-based yet potentially fascinating departure for Miyazaki.
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