Animator Hayao Miyazaki is working on his 1st CG anime, a tale of a tiny, hairy caterpillar

KOGANEI, Japan – The master of animation Hayao Miyazaki is working on his first fully computer-generated film — a short anime about a tiny, hairy caterpillar.

In a rare public appearance in his office in Tokyo’s western suburbs, Miyazaki told foreign journalists Monday that the new film is for screening at the Ghibli Museum and is planned for completion in about three years.

“I’m trying to make a story of a tiny, hairy caterpillar like this, so tiny that it may be easily squished between your fingers. Little hairy caterpillar clinging to a tiny leaf,” he said, making about half-inch gap between his thumb and a pointing finger to indicate its size.

“We just started working on it,” Miyazaki said. “This time, our longtime staff will meet the new staff from the world of computer graphics.”

Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki told a speech in Tokyo last week that the new film had been planned before the production of 2003 Oscar winning film “Spirited Away.” He said the upcoming film, still untitled, will be about 10 minutes and take about three years to complete. It’s Miyazaki’s first fully computer-generated film, he said.

Miyazaki said he wants to focus on the basics of life over millions of years instead of short spans of history.

Miyazaki, one of animation’s most admired and successful directors and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, won an Oscar in 2003 for his masterful, disturbing critique of modern industrialism in “Spirited Away.” He announced his retirement from feature-length films in 2013.