Three years after his retirement, anime legend Hayao Miyazaki appears ready to return to feature filmmaking.

Anime News Network reports that in a television special that aired today in Japan, the acclaimed director revealed he wasn't satisfied with the format of the CG-animated short he's been working on for the Ghibli Museum, and therefore in August presented a proposal to develop "Boro the Caterpillar" as a full-length feature.

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Miyazaki, who turns 76 years old in January, Although the project isn't officially greenlit, tsuggested the film could be complete by 2019, before the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The director has already begun work on the project, even though it's yet to be greenlit.

According to ANN, Miyazaki describes the "Boro the Caterpillar" short as "a story of a tiny, hairy caterpillar, so tiny that it may be easily squished between your fingers."

The filmmaker, who made his directorial debut in 1979 with "Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro," officially retired once before, in 1998 -- by some counts he's "retired" at least five times -- before returning in 2000 to make the Oscar-winning "Spirited Away." So, this retirement has lasted a little longer.

Of course, Miyazaki hasn't exactly taken life easy for these past three years: He's worked on a samurai manga, as well as short films for the Ghibli Museum. He's also spearheading construction of a children's nature retreat.

The co-founder of Studio Ghibli, Miyazaki has a long list of credits that includes "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind," "Castle in the Sky," "My Neighbor Totoro," "Princess Mononoke," "Howl's Moving Castle" and "The Wind Rises."