Slightly sad Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement but I'm quite glad that there never be a chance for him to die while making one of his movies (like satoshi kon-also one of my favorite directors) . I wish him the best of luck and I will watch the wind is rising soon.
He also plans to allow the director of Arrietty to direct Porco Rosso 2 which Hayao will be credited as a producer and writer. It feels like he is passing the reins to Hiromasa Yonebayashi (director of Arrietty, he's been with ghibli since Princess Mononoke). I fear for the ghibli studio though since I believe Goro Miyazaki is trying to hard to beat his father rather than learning from his father. I hope this studio is around for a very long time.
To me Hayao Miyazaki is one of the greatest storytellers and I believe him to be thousand times better than Walt Disney as well as being one of the best animation directors ever (personally I consider him to be the best)