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Goro Miyazaki Interviewed in LA Times, NY Times

The Los Angeles Times and The New York Times newspapers both interviewed Goro Miyazaki, the director of Studio Ghibli's From Up On Poppy Hill film. The interviews cover this latest film from the studio, Japan's animation industry in general, and Miyazaki's relationship with his father, famed director Hayao Miyazaki. The elder Miyazaki wrote the screenplay for From Up On Poppy Hill with Keiko Niwa.

"Whenever you have somebody who's as experienced as he is with filmmaking and somebody who's as relatively new to this as I am, you're gonna have a huge gap in sheer ability. That's another thing I always had to grapple with," the younger Miyazaki said. "Whether it's a good advice or bad advice, he would always come in and offer suggestions. Those have a huge impact on us. The challenge for us was not to be swayed too much by those comments, to be able to push back."

Miyazaki also stated his feelings on the animation industry and what he sees as its inevitable decline.

"To be honest I don't think it's a bright future," he said. "With animation, people who have the capacity to direct right now are over 40 years old. There's a shortage of talented young animators. It feels to me like the golden age of animation may be coming to an end."

From Up On Poppy Hill opens in New York on March 15, Los Angeles on March 22, and other U.S. cities on March 29.

Thanks to Daniel Zelter for the news tip.