[Anime] Studio Ghibli Announces Closure *Updated* - Or Maybe Not...

Studio Ghibli's general manager, Toshio Suzuki, announced today on Japanese television that they were formally closing the studio's animation department. Which, is pretty much all Ghibli is. The company will still exist, but merely as a copyright management firm over their existing properties.

Update: It would seem that the original translation was off a good bit and that the studio is not exactly shutting down. Well it is, but just for a hiatus period of an undisclosed time for reorganization/restructuring. So, while they won't be making anything new for a while, there is still a good possibility they will in the future. A better source and understanding can be found via Anime News Network or Kotaku.

Apologies for the misinformation, these things happen at times. The original story continues as posted below.

Here's a translation of the original story from Japan, some things might be a little off, but it gets the point across:

"Just moments ago, Toshio Suzuki, Studio Ghibli producer, announced on the TV show of the MBS Jounetsu Tairiku chain effectively as announced as sources close to the studio, Studio Ghibli will close and production studio anime, leaving himself only as a company that will manage its trademarks. As stated in the program’s producer, "the production department of anime will be dismantled," which coincides with the data that we gave in our previous post on this decision had been taken from spring after the poor reception at the box office of Kaguya-hime no Monogatari.

In the interview, Suzuki has also admitted that it was a major setback for the study progress Hayao Miyazaki, one of the reasons already unveiled the portal Rakuten Woman. Once we have access to the full TV interview, adding more data. No doubt that this is a very sad news for Japanese animation, of which we are all fans, because it is undeniable everything Studio Ghibli has given the anime. Please remember that what will be his last film, Omoide no Marnie, premiered at the Japanese box office on 19 July.” - via The Film Stage

So, Japan's "Disney" is no more and I'm not overly surprised. There was no heir apparent or any sense of what direction the studio would head in after Miyazaki retired recently. Without him leading the charge, it seems there was no one else that could step up.

It's a sad day for animation fans for sure, but at least we will always have the magical moments that Studio Ghibli has given us over the past few decades.