Details are scant at this time but the latest tweet from Studio Ghibli‘s official Twitter seems to indicate that the powerhouse Japanese anime studio has a collaboration with Disney’s Lucasfilm in the works. This would mark the first time the two icons of modern pop culture have combined forces.
Lucasfilm and Star Wars have a long history of animated tie-ins to the fictional “Galaxy Far Away” dating all the way back to the benighted Star Wars Holiday Special which saw the first appearance of the iconic Boba Fett in a short animated sequence in the middle of the special (and it’s honestly the ONLY reason to suffer through the rest of the special). In the years since the prequels, the company has launched several animated franchises that have gone on to become fan faves such as the flagship Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Bad Batch.
Several fan films using anime tropes and styles have been made over the last decade, notably the now legendary TIE Fighter by YouTube user and filmmaker Paul Johnson. This year, Disney fully embraced the animation style with Star Wars: Visions, an anthology featuring nine short films by seven Japanese animation studios: Kamikaze Douga, Studio Colorido, Geno Studio, Trigger, Kinema Citrus, Production I.G, and Science SARU.
The project drew wide acclaim from viewers and critics alike and has left many fans clamoring for a feature-length Star Wars anime. It is not known whether Ghibli’s tease indicates a series or a film but Ghibli would be a natural fit to helm a Star Wars anime film given the company’s decades-long working relationship with Star Wars/Lucasfilm’s parent company.
WGTC will keep readers up to date as soon as new details emerge.