Japanese animation producer to scale back following retirement of Hayao Miyazaki.

Studio Ghibli, the Japanese studio behind animation classics My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away, is considering taking a break in production to consider its future.

In a documentary broadcast in Japan last night, long-standing Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki discussed “big changes in all aspects of our operations,” and the possibility of a “short break” in production to evaluate the studio’s future.

Social networks were buzzing last night over the “closure” of the studio. But the rumours were the result of poor translation from the documentary.

The scale back in production has been expected following the retirement of co-founder Hayao Miyazaki last September last year.

His final film, The Wind Rises, took nearly $120m at the box office but Studio Ghibli’s latest feature - Hiromasa Yonebayashi’s When Marnie Was There – looks set to take around $36m.