Hayao Miyazaki to Direct His First Fully-CGI Film

As we all hoped, Hayao Miyazaki ain’t done yet.

The recently-retired animation icon is currently working on his first fully computer-generated film, he announced Monday at his office near Tokyo.

The film will focus on a very hungry hairy caterpillar, and is intended to be shown at the Ghibli Museum upon completion. It will have a ten-minute runtime.

“I’m trying to make a story of a tiny, hairy caterpillar like this,” he said, holding his fingers about a half-inch apart. “So tiny that it may be easily squished between your fingers. Little hairy caterpillar clinging to a tiny leaf.” The legend explained that he now wants to focus on the basics of life over millions of years, as opposed to short segments of history.

But don’t buy your tickets to Japan yet, animation fans, as Miyazaki revealed the film will take about three years to produce. “We just started working on it,” he said. “This time, our longtime staff will meet the new staff from the world of computer graphics.”

The film was actually conceived over a decade ago, even before Miyazaki’s 2003 Oscar-winning film Spirited Away, according to Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki in a speech last week. He also previously hinted that a project might be in the works.

[via the NY Daily News/Cover Photo via The Tokyo Times]