Studio Ghibli to receive honorary Palme d’Or at Cannes

This general view shows the exterior of Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli at their offices in western Tokyo on March 11, 2024. The legendary Japanese animation studio, co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki, will receive an honorary Palme d’Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May 2024, organizers announced on April 17, 2024. Image: AFP/Richard A. Brooks

Legendary Japanese animators Studio Ghibli will receive an honorary Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May, organizers announced Wednesday, April 17.

The Oscar-winning studio, co-founded by Hayao Miyazaki 40 years ago, is beloved worldwide for its masterpieces like “Spirited Away,” “My Neighbour Totoro” and “Howl’s Moving Castle.”

It will mark the first that Cannes gives an award to a collective, rather than an individual.

Miyazaki makes few public appearances and his long-time collaborator Isao Takahata died in 2018.

The other founder, producer Toshio Suzuki, said he was “truly honored and delighted” to be receiving the award.

Ghibli’s “characters populate our imaginations with prolific, colorful universes and sensitive, engaging narrations,” said the Cannes organizers in a statement.

“With Ghibli, Japanese animation stands as one of the great adventures of cinephilia, between tradition and modernity,” they added.

Miyazaki, 83, has announced his retirement more than once, but was back in cinemas last year with “The Boy and the Heron,” which won the Oscar for best animated film last month, his second after “Spirited Away” in 2003.

It was already announced that another huge figure in cinematic storytelling, George Lucas, creator of “Star Wars,” would also receive an honorary Palme at this year’s festival, which runs from May 14 to 25.