A Studio Ghibli Theme Park Is Actually Happening

While a Studio Ghibli Museum has been turning heads since 2001, something even bigger and better has just been announced: A Studio Ghibli theme park.

The beloved Japanese animation company are responsible for some of the greatest animated films in history, including Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Castle In The Sky. The park, meanwhile, has been inspired by the film My Neighbour Totoro.

Ghibli_Studio — Ghibli Museum. Photo: Wikimedia

The park will be built in the Aichi Prefecture in Nagoya, Japan. The 200-hectare park was initially built for the Expo 2005 World’s Fair, and is expected to open in 2020.

Released in 1988 by Studio Ghibli’s legendary co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, My Neighbour Totoro will serve as inspiration for the theme park. That is to say, according to Kotaku, the park is set “in the world” of the film. The film has had massive cultural impact in Japan (and beyond), with the popularity of the main character, Totoro, often considered a kind of Japanese equivalent to Winnie The Pooh.

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The news follows the recent announcement that Miyazaki – arguably the greatest animation filmmaker of all time – will be coming out of retirement, having last released The Wind Rises in 2013. He revealed he’s been working on a film for 20 years, Kemushi No Boro (Boro the Caterpillar), initially planned for the Ghibli Museum. Who knows – maybe it’ll be out by the time the theme park opens its doors.

(Lead image: Studio Ghibli)

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