Studio Ghibli ready to add a new director to it's roster?

by Chris MaGee

Say Studio Ghibli and directors like Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata's names will pop into most people's minds. Hardcore Japanese animation fans will also recognize directors like Yoshifumi Kondo (Whispers ofthe Heart) and Hayao Miyazaki's son Goro (Tales from Earthsea), but obviosuly Ghibli keeps a pretty small roster of people to helm projects, but that looks as if it's about to change.

According to the folks over at Ghibli World Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki has let slip that a new feature film helmed by a new director will be announced this December, but he's remained mum on exactly who this lucky new candidate is. Ghibli World is speculating that this new director could be Hiromasa Yonebayashi, one of the key animators on Miyazaki Senior's "Ponyo" and the assistant animation director on Miyazaki Junior's "Tales from Earthsea", but this hasn't been officially confirmed as of yet.

Any new news of more films from Studio Ghibli is good news, so we'll keep our eyes and ears open for more details on this as they leak out.