Studio Ghibli on hiatus, not closing

6 Aug – From the studio that brought famous animated feature films such as "Spirited Away", "Howl's Moving Castle", "Grave of The Fireflies", "Princess Mononoke", "My Neighbour Totoro" and more, Studio Ghibli has announced that it will put its animation film department on hold, as reported by Anime News Network.

Recently, after the retirement of its studio founder, Hayao Miyazaki, speculations that the studio will be closed down has been circulating the web. This is due to a mistranslation from an English language blog exaggerating Studio Ghibli's closure and dissolution.

However, according to Anime News Network the studio's co-founder, Toshio Suzuki confirmed that the studio only planned on doing some 'housecleaning' or restructuring, to 'rebuild' the studio and create an environment suitable for the next generation.

He further added, "On what to do with Studio Ghibli's future, it is by no means impossible to keep producing [movies] forever. However, we will take a brief pause to consider where to go from here." Studio Ghibli latest film that was released in Malaysia was, "The Wind Rises" last 17 April 2014.

The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year.

However, another film that was released simultaneously with "The Wind Rises" called "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" was considered a box office disappointment which may be the reason why the studio planned on taking a short break so that they may reconstruct their films to suit the taste of today's generation.

Fans of Ghibli films will be able to watch two more of the studio animated feature before its hiatus; one is "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" and its latest production "When Marnie Was There" which is the final film from Ghibli before the break.

Currently, there is no release date in Malaysia for "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" and "When Marnie Was There".