The legendary Japanese animation studio, Studio Ghibli, has announced plans to open a theme park based on their films in Nagoya, Japan.

The studio has officially been making films since 1986 under the Ghibli flag and has since created many iconic characters that are recognised worldwide. Films like ‘Spirited Away’, ‘My Neighbour Totoro’ and, mrecognizedly, ‘The Wind Rises’ are beloved all over the globe.

The Hollywood Reporter reveals that the first phase of the park will be based on Ghibli founder, Hayao Miyazaki’s 1988 classic ‘My Neighbour Totoro’. A house modelled on Satsuki and Mei’s house from the film currently sits on the 200-hectare site where the theme park will be build. The land was previously used for the 2005 World Expo.

The first phase will be developed in partnership with the local Aichi Prefecture government with plans to collaborate with other private partners as the theme park strives to create more attractions based on other Ghibli characters and movies.

This summer a Studio Ghibli film festival is set to take place, with six of the studio’s classic movies heading back to the cinema.

Fathom Events and animation distributor GKIDS are responsible for the festival. It’s been announced that the festival will take place in June across various cinemas in America.

Not that Studio Ghibli’s output has in any way slowed, the studio partnered with Dutch animator Michaël Dudok de Wit last year to make ‘The Red Turtle’, however, Hayao Miyazaki annonced earlier this year that he has come out of retirement and is currently working on a short film. 

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