After the release of his next film, the Japanese Walt Disney Hayao Miyazaki is retiring from feature-length film production. That’s according to Koji Hoshino, who runs the director’s Studio Ghibli. This news is as sad as the end of Grave of the Fireflies for anyone who’s fallen in love with the Oscar-winning director, the brilliant, imaginative mind behind such stone-cold animated classics as Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Howl’s Moving Castle.
Miyazaki will make an official statement sometime next week, but until then, let’s revisit some of his finest, most magical work through GIFs, from 1988’s tearjerking Grave of the Fireflies to 2008’s delightful Ponyo.
1. Howl’s Moving Castle
2. Kiki’s Delivery Service
3. Grave of the Fireflies (so many sobs)
4. Porco Rosso
5. Princess Mononoke
6. Spirited Away
7. Ponyo
8-10. And of course, My Neighbor Totoro.