On November 12, the official account of the Star Wars franchise took to Twitter to announce a crossover collaboration between Studio Ghibli and Lucasfilm.
The account announced that “Zen – Grogu and Dust Bunnies,” a hand-drawn animated short film, is now streaming on Disney+.
The short film is launching in honor of The Mandalorian’s third anniversary, and the subject of the short seems to be The Mandalorian’s “Little Yoda”, who is facing encounters from the dust bunnies of Spirited Away.
The short is directed by Katsuya Konda, who was the character designer for Kiki’s Delivery Service, with music by The Mandalorian’s composer Ludwig Göransson.
The short represents Studio Ghibli co-founders Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki’s lifelong friendship with Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy.
The short was first hinted at when Studio Ghibli posted a Tweet on November 10 with an ominous video of the Lucasfilm logo followed by Ghibli’s. Fans speculated that the Tweet hinted at a project connected to the Star Wars: Vision series.
Star Wars: Vision is an anthology of nine animated shorts from Japanese creators and anime studios, which debuted on Disney+ in September 2021. Studios involved in the series were Studio Trigger, Kinema Citrus, Kamikaze Douga, Science Saru, and Production I.G.
Whether or not this collaboration between Lucasfilm and Studio Ghibli is for the Vision series, it is a landmark collaboration, and the first time the two venerable studios have worked on producing a film together.
About Star Wars
Star Wars is a space opera franchise created by George Lucas. It all started off in 1977 with its very first film. The series has branched out into several media including tv series, video games, comics, and novels to name a few.
The film is focused on an era where humans co-existed with other species as well as robots. The original film covers the story of Luke Skywalker who is caught in the conflict between the Empire and Rebellion.
In 2021, the franchise released the Star Wars: Visions project which has an anthology of animated shorts from different Japanese anime studios.
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