Studio Ghibli Is Building A ‘My Neighbour Totoro’ Theme Park And Fans Are Freaking Out
Time to start planning that trip to Japan.
The fantastical world of Studio Ghibli won’t be confined to cinema screens for much longer, with the beloved animation company set to open its very own amusement park in the early 2020s.
Better yet, the first phase of the attraction will be based on what is arguably Ghibli’s most iconic movie: Hayao Miyazaki’s impossibly wonderful My Neighbor Totoro.
The amusement park will be located in Aichi’s Expo Park, on the site of the 2005 World Expo near Nagoya. The park is already home to a replica of the house from the film, which has previously hosted Studio Ghibli exhibitions. It’s not clear what kind of additional features are planned, although word is there won’t be rides. Which is a shame, because a cat bus roller coaster seems like a million dollar idea.
To say Ghibli fans were excited by the news is a little bit of an understatement.
Studio Ghibli is opening a My Neighbor Totoro theme park in Japan. pic.twitter.com/Vay17VECKI
— Quavo Ratatouille (@nonsensicalnick) June 2, 2017
YAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! IM GOING TO. JAPAN 100% AFTER 2020 https://t.co/QRU4QEf0FU
— Will?? (@WilliamWkc19) June 2, 2017
Saving up money rn so I can visit the Totoro theme park pic.twitter.com/ZeP45a8Uhn
— Maria (@CupidDelux) June 2, 2017
All I can think about is the studio ghibli theme park how r u gonna release that info n make us wait like 3 yrs that’s fucked up
— lil bun (@serinanananaa) June 3, 2017
In an additional piece of good news – one that’s not really surprising given the green streak that runs through almost all of Ghibli’s films – the park will be constructed in a way that avoids felling existing trees. “Studio Ghibli’s films have love toward living creatures and [the] earth,” Aichi Governor Hideaki Omura told reporters. “I would like to pass down this idea to future generations.”