Neil Gaiman Visits Studio Ghibli
Coraline, Interworld Writer Meets With Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki
Award-winning writer Neil Gaiman went to Studio Ghibli's offices in Japan and hung out with Hayao Miyazaki. Cue the speculation.
According to Neil Gaiman’s blog, the award-winning writer (Coraline, American Gods) recently visited anime factory Studio Ghibli, and hung out with studio head Toshio Suzuki, Ghibli’s International Division VP Steve Alpert, and director Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke).
Anyone who was in a “conspiracy theory” mood right would be freaking out, writing something along the lines of “OMG! Neil Gaiman visited Studio Ghibli in Japan! He hung out with Hayao Miyazaki, along with Ghibli’s Toshio Suzuki and Steve Alpert! He must be doing something with Hayao Miyazaki! Maybe it’s Hayao's upcoming) Ponyo on a Cliff! Stop the presses! Neil Gaiman’s working on the Ponyo on a Cliff script! AAAAHHH!!!!!”*
But I don’t work that way, at least not until I have further information to back up my suspicions. Then you can cue the overheated prose.
Now there is the solid possibility that the red-hot Hollywood commodity Gaiman is prepping to work with the Grand Master of Anime. Gaiman’s Stardust didn’t do as well at the box office as expected (a shame: that movie rocked) but he’s got a scriptwriting credit on Robert Zemeckis’ upcoming mo-cap flick Beowulf and Laika Entertainment has the stop-motion adaptation of his bestselling Coraline coming in 2008. Not only that, DreamWorks Animation bought the rights to his and Michael Reaves' Interworld saga. So Gaiman has a pretty high profile right now.
As for Hayao Miyazaki, he’s really pushing himself for his movie Ponyo on a Cliff, which may be the 65-year-old maestro’s last hurrah (we’re never sure, he’s announced his retirement more times than The Who). Either way, he wants to remind his son Goro, and everyone in the anime world, that he is still the #1 Miyazaki.
But Gaiman claims he was only at Studio Ghibli to “pay my respects there, something I've wanted to do since they first invited me, when I was working on Princess Mononoke, all those years ago.”
In 1997, Gaiman wrote the English translation of Princess Mononoke, which was not bad but not a patch on the original script. However, director Hayao Miyazaki and the rest of the Ghibli gang seemed to like it, since they invited Gaiman out to visit the Ghibli Studios in Japan.
Why Gaiman decided to visit Studio Ghibli ten years after the fact is something that will have to remain a mystery for a while yet. Rest assured that if something comes of this meeting, you will hear about it on this space.
Fun Fact: Neil Gaiman is the only writer to win the World Fantasy's coveted H.P. Lovecraft Award for Best Short Story, for a graphic novel ("A Midsummer Night's Dream," later placed in the Sandman: Dream Country collection). The World Fantasy Awards then changed the rules, disqualifying comics and graphic novels from consideration for the Lovecraft.
*”See the five exclamation marks? A sure sign of a man who wears his underpants on his head.” – Terry Pratchett (Maskerade)
