Ghibli Takes On Young Director in 2011

In what is no doubt a difficult search for someone who can help Studio Ghibli carry on when Hayao Miyazaki eventually retires for real (god forbid), the studio has announced that a "young director" is going to helm its upcoming 2011 work (that is to say, the work that comes out after this year's Karigurashi no Arrietty, based on the Brit novel The Borrowers). This will actually be the second of two films to feature an up-and-comer for Ghibli, whose Hiromasa Yonebayashi is debuting as a director with Arrietty this July. It's unclear what the next film is, however.
It's good to see Ghibli taking a critical eye to its future, and I hope that they find some new blood that carries on the Ghibli tradition-- and maybe shaking it up a little, too. I also wonder if The Borrowers/Arrietty wasn't chosen partially in hopes of garnering more support outside of Japan; Ponyo, while not as critically popular as some Ghibli titles (like Howl's Moving Castle-- also based on a Brit YA novel), is Ghibli's most financially successful title in the US to date.

I also wonder: it seems like the Miyazaki films that have performed the best in the west are his darker flicks, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. But most recently their works have primarily been aimed quite young. Do you want Ghibli to keep making magical films for kids a la Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Ponyo? Or do you want them to skew a bit darker, as with Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke?     
 
UPDATE: If you're not quite sure what I'm talking about, check out this excellent look through Miyazaki's work throughout the years, particularly as it applies to certain themes such as environmentalism, feminism, violence, and others.