Arietty director Hiromasa Yonebayashi making ‘epic adventure’ for Studio Ponoc (exclusive)

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Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the director of The Secret World Of Arietty and Mary And The Witch’s Flower, is already making his next animated film for Studio Ponoc.


Studio Ponoc, the Japanese animation house founded by producer Yoshiaki Nishimura, has its latest feature film in UK cinemas from the 28th June. Called The Imaginary, it’s based on the children’s book by British author A F Harold, and it’s the disarming tale of a young girl, her imaginary friend Rudger, and how their encounter with a imagination-hunting villain named Mr Bunting.

We sat down to talk with its producer, Nishimura, last week, and with time running short, we quickly asked what Studio Ponoc is up to next, given nothing has been officially announced. To our surprise, Nishimura revealed that his studio already has its next animated project in production – it’s a feature film which he says will be “quite epic and action-filled.”

It’ll be directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who previously made Studio Ponoc’s debut, the light fantasy Mary And The Witch’s Flower, released in 2017.

“We’re already working on our next production – it’s a feature,” Nishimura told us exclusively. “The creator who was behind When Marnie Was There and Arietty, Yonebayashi Hiromasa, he’s going to be directing the film. It is, again, an adventure, and has challenging elements for children. But we depict the challenges we would like them to overcome. And it is going to be quite epic and action-filled. You could call it very action-filled and dramatic – probably out of everything we’ve created. So please, watch this space!”

Yonebayashi’s body of work to date is quite extraordinary. Beginning as an in-between animator on Hayao Miyazaki’s eco fable Princess Mononoke in 1997, he continued to climb the ranks at Studio Ghibli through the 2000s, rendering key frames for the likes of Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo. He then made his debut as director on 2010’s The Secret World Of Arrietty (pictured) before moving over to Studio Ponoc to direct Mary And The Witch’s Flower three years later.

Not that Yonebayashi ever really left Studio Ghibli; he served as key animator again for Hayao Miyazaki’s 2023 fantasy, The Boy And The Heron, which won Best Animated Feature at this year’s Oscars.

Weeks after that film’s Japanese release, however, Yonebayashi suffered a heart attack; thankfully, he’s made a full recovery, and by the sounds of things, is now busy on his next project.

Regrettably, we didn’t have the time to ask whether the film will be an original story or again based on a children’s book, as The Imaginary and Mary And The Witch’s Flower were. No doubt more news will emerge in due course; we’ll bring you more on Studio Ponoc’s next film as we hear it.

The Imaginary is in select UK cinemas from the 28th June, and will debut on Netflix from the 5th July.

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