And despite all the gloomy things that have been happening in 2020, comes some excellent news for the fans – a new Studio Ghibli film is slated to be released this year.

Based on a novel

According to Unseen Japan, the studio’s next film will be based on the novel by British author Diana Wynne Jones titled ‘Earwig and the Witch’.

This will be the second novel from Jones being adapted to the silver screen after the success of the 2004 film ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’.

The new film will be retitled to Aya to Majo ('Aya and the Witch') and will be directed by Hayao Miyazaki’s son, Goro.

No word yet on when exactly will the movie premiere this year.

Meanwhile, Miyazaki Senior came has came out of retirement to work on a new film titled 'Kimi-tachi wa Dou Ikiru ka?' or ‘How Do You Live?’ based on Yoshino Genzaburo’s 1937 story about a young boy who moves in with his uncle after the death of his father, before undergoing a spiritual change.

The studio is still working on ‘How Do You Live’ and according to reports, only 36 minutes of animation from the film has been completed so far.