Boro the Caterpillar (Japanese: 毛虫のボロ, Hepburn: Kemushi no Boro) is a 2018 Japanese animated short film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki made for the Ghibli Museum. It premiered at the museum on March 21, 2018.
| Kemushi no Boro | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Hayao Miyazaki |
| Written by | Hayao Miyazaki |
| Produced by | Toshio Suzuki |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Atsushi Okui |
| Music by | Joe Hisaishi |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Ghibli Museum |
Release date |
|
Running time | 14 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
The short film is shown only in the Ghibli Museum and in Ghibli Park. The story is about a recently hatched caterpillar named Boro as he takes his first steps into the world.
Production
editThe origin of Boro the Caterpillar stemmed from sketches that Miyazaki had made in 1995.[1] Miyazaki first brought up Boro as a potential idea for a movie, but Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki, concerned about the difficulty of making a feature-length film with no human characters, proposed creating Princess Mononoke instead.[2]
Following the release of The Wind Rises in 2013, Miyazaki announced his retirement.[3] However, sensing that Miyazaki still wanted to work on projects, Suzuki asked the retired director if he would be interested in creating a short film using his Boro the Caterpillar idea.[2] In 2015, Miyazaki decided to come out of retirement to work on a roughly ten-minute short film meant to be screened exclusively at the Ghibli Museum.[4] Miyazaki described the plot of Boro the Caterpillar as being about "a story of a tiny, hairy caterpillar, so tiny that it may be easily squished between your fingers".[5]
While Miyazaki had previously incorporated computer-generated images into earlier, hand-drawn films like Spirited Away, Boro the Caterpillar was Miyazaki's[6] first work to incorporate a CG animated main character.[4] Suzuki had suggested Miyazaki work using CGI, as he thought that "the challenge of a new technique might get [Miyazaki] fired up again". Miyazaki himself stated that "I have ideas I may not be able to draw by hand, and [CGI] may be a way to do it—that’s my hope. It’s a new technology". Given the choice by Suzuki, Miyazaki opted to go with a team of Japanese CGI animators instead of working with Pixar under John Lasseter, as the former would be able to speak Japanese.[2] On September 21, 2015, CG animator Yuhei Sakuragi announced that he would be helping Miyazaki complete Boro the Caterpillar.[1] The production of the film was partially documented in the NHK-produced documentary Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki released in 2016.
Japanese television host and comedian Tamori provided all voices and sound effects for Boro the Caterpillar.[7][8] The piano song at the end of the short film was performed by longtime Ghibli collaborator Joe Hisaishi.[9]
Release
editToshio Suzuki initially stated that Boro the Caterpillar was due for a July 2017 release.[10] It eventually premiered at the Ghibli Museum on March 21, 2018.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b Schilling, Mark (September 22, 2015). "Hayao Miyazaki Teaming With Yuhei Sakuragi to Make 'Boro'". Variety. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ a b c Kimie, Itakura (July 6, 2016). "What's Up at Studio Ghibli? Catching Up with Producer Suzuki Toshio". Nippon.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
- ^ Child, Ben (September 2, 2013). "Studio Ghibli's Hayao Miyazaki to retire following latest film". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ a b Kamen, Matt (July 13, 2015). "Hayao Miyazaki cancels retirement for first CGI animation". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (July 14, 2015). "Hayao Miyazaki Cancels Retirement Again". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ Whitney, E. Oliver. "Studio Ghibli Reopens for Hayao Miyazaki's Next Film". ScreenCrush. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
- ^ Loo, Egan (March 14, 2018). "Hayao Miyazaki's New Ghibli Museum Anime Short Features Joe Hisaishi Music". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ Rogers, Krista (March 21, 2018). "Miyazaki's new animated short 'Boro the Caterpillar' completed; voice actor revealed". Japan Today. Archived from the original on January 29, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ Komatsu, Mikikazu (March 14, 2018). "72-Year-Old Comedian Tamori Provides Voices and Sounds for Hayao Miyazaki's "Boro the Caterpillar"". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on April 7, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ Loo, Egan (April 29, 2017). "Hayao Miyazaki's New Anime Short Debuts in July, But His Proposed Feature Film Will Not Debut in 2019". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ Komatsu, Mikikazu (January 9, 2018). "Ghibli Museum will Start Screening Hayao Miyazaki's New Short Film "Boro the Caterpillar" on March 21". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on August 29, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
External links
edit- Boro the Caterpillar on the Ghibli Museum's website