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GhibliWorld has relayed the announcement of the newest Ghibli film.  It is called Karigurashi no Arrietty, and is inspired by the British novel, The Borrowers.  According to the producer, Toshio Suzuki, the plot revolves around “a girl who borrows many things from the human’s world for her life”.  Here is a teaser image from their website:

There’s not much I have to say about this upfront, since I don’t know the book and I’ve summed up pretty much all available information.  The answer to the question everyone is thinking is no, Miyazaki is not the director.  Although he appeared to have been heavily involved in the planning of the film, when it comes to directing, he will apparently supervise a new first-timer – Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who has been an animator at Studio Ghibli since Spirited Away.  That may be a disappointment, but I didn’t really expect the new film to be led by Miyazaki, and the studio is obviously continuing search for new directors.  Miyazaki can’t continue being the leading man forever.

Their attempt to force his son Goro into Miyazaki’s shadow did not work as well as they had hoped.  There are some non-Miyazaki masterpieces from the studio, of course.  My favourite film, after all, is Whisper of the Heart, and films like Grave of the Fireflies and Omohide Poroporo are up there as well.  However, the director of Whisper, Yoshifumi Kondō, is no longer with us, and the director of the other two, Takahata, is of similar age as Miyazaki.  Other films by the studio, such as Umi Ga Kikoeru and Cat Returns, are very good films, not quite on the level of Miyazaki, but then again, I wouldn’t expect the first works by new directors to be.

What concerns me more is the fact that it’s an adaptation of a popular novel.  This makes me think of Howl’s Moving Castle and Tales of Earthsea, both of which are far from my favourite Ghibli films.  I was hoping for an original story, personally.

Now I wonder who the composer for the film will be?  Hisaishi has primarily associated himself with Miyazaki specifically as a director, rather than Studio Ghibli as a company.  There’s Nomi Yuji, of course, and you should know much of a fan I am of his works.  I really hope he was brought on for this one, I would love to hear more of his fantasy music.  But I won’t get my hopes up.

Regardless of some trepidations I have with this announcement, nothing gets me more excited than a new Ghibli film, and I am very curious to see how this new director will fare.