Lucasfilm and Studio Ghibli are joining forces on a mysterious project

Star Wars creator Lucasfilm has begun a new partnership with Studio Ghibli, one of the world’s most prestigious animated filmmakers.

In case you’re not up on your film companies, Studio Ghibli is an animation studio based in Japan. It’s responsible for some of the country’s most acclaimed animated features such as My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke and Grave of the Fireflies. The films are renowned for their lush hand-drawn visuals, iconic characters and (in the case of Grave of the Fireflies) being an unceasing fountain of anguish and heartbreak.

As such, a collaboration between Studio Ghibli and Lucasfilm is highly intriguing. Unfortunately we’re lacking a lot of details on what that collaboration might look like. It was first announced in a tweet on the Studio Ghibli Twitter account, which simply pairs the Lucasfilm logo with the Studio Ghibli one. 

It seems highly possible that Studio Ghibli will contribute some work to Star Wars: Visions, an animated anthology that takes Star Wars off the beaten track. A second season of this anthology is due to launch on Disney+ in 2023, although – while the first season focussed purely on anime – the second season will reportedly draw in studios from across the world instead. 

lego

Does this mean Star Wars: Visions could get the LEGO sets it deserves? It’s difficult to say, but rumours indicate the LEGO Group is commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 2D Clone Wars animation next year. That suggests the company at least recognises this kind of Star Wars media exists, even if that doesn’t always translate into new sets

Moreover, Studio Ghibli boasts a global audience – one that overlaps with LEGO fans, if this LEGO Ideas project inspired by Spirited Away is any indication. While that project never became an official product, we suspect any kind of LEGO/Studio Ghibli collaboration – direct or indirect – would be very popular indeed.

It’ll probably take a little while for details of this partnership to be made clear, but we’ll be eager to learn what it means in practice. Of course, it may turn out to be Willie Scott’s anime origin story – which wouldn’t be the worst idea to come out of Indiana Jones, if we’re being honest.

(Header image: Studio Ghibli)

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