Lucasfilm and Studio Ghibli together on Disney +. The short film on Grogu is a gem

To everyone’s surprise, Lucasfilm and Studio Ghibli joined forces to create the animated short film Zen – Grogu and Dust Bunniesmarking one of the most creative and promising collaborations, involving two entities that are distant and close at the same time. The completely hand-drawn short film debuts November 12 on Disney + today And reunites the adorable alien Grogu from The Mandalorian and the anthropomorphic charcoal animals of Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning masterpiece, The enchanted city.

Studio Ghibli sent fans into a tailspin with a series of tweets heralding the collaboration, first showing a video of the Lucasfilm and Ghibli logos and then sharing a photo of a Grogu figurine with Miyazaki sitting out of focus in the background. And then the confirmation, which came only yesterday from Disney, which with a tweet has sealed the collaboration.

This it is not the first time that Lucasfilm has collaborated with an anime studio. Starting in 2020, Lucasfilm has recruited animation studios in Japan to create nine short films for its anthology series. Star Wars: Visions for Disney +, which allowed to expand the narrative within the Star Wars universe.

The first season premiered in September 2021 and the second, which extends beyond Japan to studies in Africa, Europe and India, is expected to debut next spring.

The news of Ghibli’s partnership with Lucasfilm comes the same month in which the company opened a theme park in central Japan dedicated to Miyazaki’s works, co-founder of the studio and most acclaimed director. Unlike most parks, visitors can explore places designed to evoke Miyazaki’s animated features, such as the Catbus of My neighbor Totoro of 1988. Tickets are available by reservation only and, for now, only for residents of Japan.

After retiring in 2013 with The Wind RisesMiyazaki returned to the Ghibli for his twelfth animated film titled How Do You Live? and inspired by a 1937 Japanese novel by Yoshino Genzaburo. The studio did not announce when the film will be released, but Ghibli president Koji Hoshino announced during a press conference held last month to introduce Ghibli Park that the work is nearing completion.