It was a sad day at the office of production company Studio Ghibli back in September when the highly acclaimed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement. This talented man has given us some truly magical animation; with My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away and Howls Moving Castle under his belt, The Wind Rises is to be his final film before he takes a well earned rest.
The Wind Rises keeps within the famous Miyazaki theme of aviation and tells the story of Jiro Horikoshi, the Japanese engineer that is responsible for designing Mitsubishi A6M Zero flight plane which was used throughout WWII. If this is anything like Porco Rosso and Laputa: Castle in the Sky which both heavily feature planes, The Wind Rises shan’t disappoint.
The film’s release has taken longer than anticipated but we finally have an A-list cast to put their voices forward for the redubbed Disney version. In the past Ghibli had got some pretty big names for their dubbed versions including the likes of Cate Blancett, Christian Bale, Billy Crystal, Matt Damon and Liam Neelson and this cast list certainly doesn’t break that mould.
In the limelight we have the ever talented Joseph Gordon-Levitt voicing main man Jiro. Working alongside Joseph yet again is Emily Blunt as Naharo Satomi. We also have the playful character Stanley Tucci who has very recently impressed us in Catching Fire along with comedic Martin Short as Jiro’s mentors. Not to mention Elijah Wood, John Krasinski and Damon Criss – this looks like Mr. Miyazaki is going out with a bang. To land in US cinemas next Feburary, keep your eyes peeled for this one!
