First off, most of you’ll be stoked to hear that Miyazaki has officially begun work on his next animated feature. It’s not due for release in Japan until late in 2008, so I guess we can expect a US release sometime in 2009. Of note is the fact that this is apparently the first Miyazaki film to use full color storyboards. Normally this would garner a “Whatever…” from me, but I’m kind of hoping that this is being mentioned to hint at a nice coffee table book at some point.

Also in Miyazaki related news, his son’s directoral debut happened recently, and reactions are mixed. “Gedo Senki” is an animated adaptation of the much beloved “Earth Sea” books, and the series creator is a bit miffed about some of the liberties Goro Miyazaki took with her plot points.

Author Le Guin herself was disappointed in the film, saying in an e-mail from her home in Oregon that she was dismayed by many of the plot changes. Among them was the addition of the opening sequence depicting the prince committing patricide.

“Of course a movie shouldn’t even try to follow a novel exactly — they’re different arts. But a novelist may fairly expect a certain fidelity to the characters and general story in a film named for books that have been in print for 40 years.”

Hikawa, though, said that Miyazaki had taken on an impossible task and that any director would have fared the same in tackling such a well-known work.

Goyo also had to deal with family issues while working on the flick, namely, his father stopped talking to him.

Even more symbolic, perhaps, is the film’s shocking opening scene in which a frustrated young prince stabs his father to death — a scene not without personal resonance for the 39-year-old Goro.

“For Hayao Miyazaki, now that I’ve made one movie, as far as he’s concerned I’ve become a sort of rival,” Goro said in an interview at Ghibli headquarters in western Tokyo, referring to his father by his full name throughout an hour-long chat.

His father fiercely opposed the plan to have his son direct “Gedo Senki,” based on the internationally renowned “Earthsea” series of fantasy books by Ursula K. Le Guin.

“To have somebody inexperienced like me suddenly make an almost two-hour movie was something he could only think of as reckless, something that would profane the animation,” Goro said.

Either way, I’m looking forward to getting the chance to see “Gedo Senki” as soon as possible. The preview art I’ve seen so far has been stunning, and since I’m not all that familiar with the source material, any changes made won’t really affect my ability to enjoy the movie.

Comics, Animation