Thanks, but no thanks
Miyazaki rejects AMPAS invite
A spokesman says the 65-year-old toon pioneer -- one of 120 invitees this year -- wants to "concentrate on his professional activities."
But Toshio Suzuki, prexy of the Studio Ghibli toon house that has made all of Miyazaki's pics since 1985, also told reporters that "(Miyazaki) doesn't like the idea (of Academy membership) because it makes him feel he is nearing retirement."
Sounds familiar. Miyazaki was also reluctant to accept a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement from the Venice fest last year, saying: "I wasn't too excited about it at first because it seemed to be an award for old people. But I was told that people who are still active, like (Clint) Eastwood have received it, so I accepted it."
Maybe someone should have shown Miyazaki a list of all the Academy members still making movies instead of cashing pension checks. Certainly fellow invitee Dakota Fanning, 12, expects to keep working.
Then again, there may be deeper issues.
The helmer's love of all things European, including the classics of European fantasy lit that have served as material for his work, is matched by his well-known distaste for many things American, including U.S. foreign policy.
In 2005 he told an interviewer for Newsweek he had had some "hesitation" about accepting his 2003 Oscar for "Spirited Away" because of the war in Iraq. "I had a great deal of rage about that," he explained. So his no thanks to the Academy may be linked to his no-show at the Oscars.
But Miyazaki also happens to be a lifelong workaholic and is acutely aware that, at the age of 65, his next film could well be his last.
Just as his spokesman says, he is paring down to essentials only -- and an Academy membership didn't make the cut.
