Studio Ghibli and LucasFilm

Studio Ghibli is an extremely popular Japanese animation studio. We grew up with films such as Spirited Away and Kiki's Delivery Service and all of the incredible films from Studio Ghibli production. They shocked the world by bringing beautiful worlds to life and I rarely come across someone who hasn't seen at least one of their many films.

LucasFilm is an extremely popular American film and television production company. We grew up with films such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones, and many more films and Tv series. They have created some of the largest fandoms in history and brought Star Wars to life at Disney's parks.

In 1996, Walt Disney Studios acquired worldwide distribution rights to the Studio Ghibli library, with Disney redubbing all previously dubbed films. Disney also acquired Lucasfilm on October 30, 2012. With Disney taking over the production world, it still managed to shock the world when it released the announcement of the collaboration between Studio Ghibli and LucasFilm.

What happened to Studio Ghibli?

Studio Ghibli's Last Film

When Marnie Was There - 2014

Storyline: A 12-year-old girl is sent to the country for health reasons, where she meets an unlikely friend in the form of Marnie, a young girl with long, flowing blonde hair. As the friendship unravels Marnie may have closer ties to the protagonist than we might expect.

Studio Ghibli has gone through a couple of rollercoasters, With the legendary Hayao Miyazaki retiring from creating his last film The Wind Rises in 2013 the company has only produced 2 movies after that. The last one was When Marine Was There in 2014. After this emotional film was released Studio Ghibli also went into a well-deserved retirement.

From 1985 to 2014 Studio Ghibli released a masterpiece almost every year. Many of their works have won the Animage Anime Grand Prix award, and four have won the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year. Five of Studio Ghibli's films have received Academy Award nominations. Spirited Away won the Golden Bear in 2002 and the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film in 2003.

With a heartbreaking goodbye to Hayao Miyazaki, no one expected Studio Ghibli to create another film after the legend's retirement.

Did LucasFilm hit its peak?

LucasFilm was created by George Lucas and hit some major milestones in the 70s through the early 2000s. With the release of Starwars and Indiana Jones being two huge franchises, they were the leading production company, paving the way for creators and the whole film industry.

When Walt Disney Pictures acquired Lucasfilm for $4 billion in 2012, the man who created it all was leaving. Though George Lucas had spent a year devising a story for Star Wars: Episode VII and even brought them to Disney, the studio decided to go in a different direction and Lucas was no longer involved.

There has been a lot of controversy around Disney's new input on LucasFilm's new productions. Some have loved the collaboration and the new Star Wars series released on Disney plus, and the creation of Star Wars land in the Disney Parks. Others have said it's only gone downhill, Disney is pushing for fast production and not taking the time George Lucas did on the creation of films and Tv series. Stories are lacking in creativity and characters are weakly written.

Whether you think it has been an incredible collaboration or a terrible choice, we can all agree that the creation of Grogu (Baby Yoda) was the best decision they have made.

The Mandalorian was released at the end of 2019 and basically broke the internet with the creation of Grogu. This adorable little creature has made Disney millions with the sales of Grogu merch and the appearance of Grogu in Disney Original Star Wars shows.

With mixed reviews from LucasFilm and Disney productions, they continue to push out movies and series almost every year.

The Collaboration

November 10th Studio Ghibli Tweeted a sneak peek of their collaboration with LucasFilm. It has almost been 10 years since Studio Ghibli's last film, Everyone was in shock at this announcement. We are all on the edge of our seats with no description or plans to see what these two create.

DisneyPlus Teaser

Only 2 days later, DisneyPlus released a teaser short film featuring LucasFilms Grogu and studio ghibli's soot sprites. This is a 2min short with a cute sketch animation style that has not been used before. We see Grogu and the Soot Sprites playing and being adorable.

This teaser gives us no clues on what the companies have in the making, but the collaboration hype has the internet searching for any clues on what is coming.

My Hopes with Studio Ghibli and LucasFilm Collaboration

There are a lot of overlaps that I hope they use to their advantage. LucasFilm is famous for its Sci-Fi world and Studio Ghibli has come out with a few films that overlap the creation of a Sci-Fi world.

If you look at films like Nausicaä and the valley of the wind. The post-apocalyptic world has advanced technology, creative creatures, and a thrilling adventure that is similar to star wars. I hope they utilize these similarities to transport us into a new Sci-Fi world.

LucasFilm is also known for creating storylines surrounded by character development. They write iconic characters that become impossible not to root for. Even their villains have strong backstories and motives for their actions, which end up making you connected to them as well.

Studio Ghibli is famous for writing strong female leads. When I went to the Studio Ghibli museum I found out about the main character Nausicaä. She started as a typical princess, in a pretty pink dress and a big dog by her side. It brought more appreciation to the character to see her transform into a warrior. Fighting for her kingdom, and putting her life on the line to bring balance back to the world, all while her father (The king) is dying.

Both are incredible storytellers who transport us into another world. We can't help but get sucked into the storyline, the world, the creatures, and the characters. I hope they decide to use these strengths to their advantage and a thrilling adventure movie.

I wouldn't be too upset if they created a cute film. But I do feel like that making a cute film wouldn't be using their full potential.

I wish they would create an animated world, which I believe they will. But as long as they have a great cast and story I wouldn't mind if it was live-action.

With really no idea what is instore, I will be keeping up with any updates and be ready for the big release.

What are your thoughts on this collaboration? Are you excited?

What movie or TV Series do you think they will create?

Love to hear your thoughts in the comments

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