Ghibli Producer Suzuki: Studio is Still Open, but Doing Nothing

Studio Ghibli co-founder/producer Toshio Suzuki attended a talk show for Shunji Iwai’s first anime feature Hana to Alice Satsujin Jiken/The Case of Hana & Alice in Tokyo today, giving an update on the current status of the studio. According to him, after Hayao Miyazaki’s retirement from feature films, the studio is still open for business, but is doing virtually none at all. “We still cannot decide what to make,” he let out his true feelings, “Considering the present world situation, it is very difficult to decide.”

In terms of Iwai’s film, “I realized once again that movies are something to watch, not to produce. It is more enjoyable to say something about it. But on the other hand, I have to feel a sense of danger, like ‘What will you do?’ Maybe a theme (for movies) can be found around me.”

In the event, Iwai revealed that he was still in the final stage of the production, with only 12 days left till

the premiere. Suzuki jokingly said,”You should go home now,” then added, “We finished the production

of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind only four days before the release.”