| 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 |
Boro the Caterpillar (Japanese:毛虫のボロ,Hepburn:Kemushi no Boro) is a 2018 Japaneseanimatedshort film written and directed byHayao Miyazaki made for theGhibli Museum. It premiered at the museum on March 21, 2018.
The short film is shown only in the Ghibli Museum and inGhibli Park. The story is about a recently hatched caterpillar named Boro as he takes his first steps into the world.
The origin ofBoro the Caterpillar stemmed from sketches that Miyazaki had made in 1995.[1] Miyazaki first brought upBoro as a potential idea for a movie, but Ghibli producerToshio Suzuki, concerned about the difficulty of making a feature-length film with no human characters, proposed creatingPrincess Mononoke instead.[2]
Following the release ofThe 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 hisBoro the Caterpillar idea.[2] In 2015, Miyazaki came out of retirement to work on a roughly ten-minute short film for exclusive screening at the Ghibli Museum.[4] Miyazaki described the plot ofBoro 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 incorporatedcomputer-generated images into earlier, hand-drawn films likeSpirited Away,Boro the Caterpillar was Miyazaki's[6] first work to incorporate a CG animated main character.[4] Suzuki encouraged the shift to CGI, believing the technical challenge might reignite Miyazaki's passion. 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 selected a team of Japanese CGI animators instead of working withPixar underJohn Lasseter, as the former would be able to speakJapanese.[2] On September 21, 2015, CG animator Yuhei Sakuragi announced that he would be helping Miyazaki completeBoro the Caterpillar.[1] The production of the film was partially documented in theNHK-produced documentaryNever-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki released in 2016.
Japanese television host and comedianTamori provided all voices and sound effects forBoro the Caterpillar.[7][8] The piano song at the end of the short film was performed by longtime Ghibli collaboratorJoe Hisaishi.[9]
Toshio Suzuki initially stated thatBoro the Caterpillar was due for a July 2017 release.[10] It eventually premiered at the Ghibli Museum on March 21, 2018.[11]
