Studio Ghibli and co-founder Hayao Miyazaki must be very happy this year. Their children’s anime Ponyo is their biggest success in the US to date, earning $14 million dollars, 4 more than the worldwide hit Spirited Away. But the Japanese studio certainly won’t be resting on their laurels just yet. Not only are they developing a video game for the Nintendo DS, but their next film has been announced.
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is an adaptation of the first known narrative tale in Japan’s history. It tells the story of a strange child found inside a bamboo plant. The child grows up to be a beautiful woman, courted even by the Emperor of Japan himself, but soon her true nature, and her strange relationship with the moon, is revealed.
However, fans of films like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke should know that Tale of the Bamboo Cutter will not be directed by Miyazaki himself. Instead, co-founder of the studio Isao Takahata will take the reins. Isao’s anime films, which tend to feel slightly more real than Miyazaki’s fantasies, are less known in the Western World, although his Graveyard of the Fireflies is considered to be one of the best animated films of all time. Tale of the Bamboo Cutter will be out next year.
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