What a time to be alive. On Thursday, Studio Ghibli teased a partnership with Lucasfilm on Twitter. With a few seconds of video, they put fandom on high alert. Studio Ghibli and Star Wars? It’s a match made in heaven. The renowned animation studio didn’t share any details about the project, but on Friday, it pulled back the curtain a little more with a precious photo. The image showed a figurine of Grogu, a.k.a. Baby Yoda, in the foreground with none other than Hayao Miyazaki softly blurred in the background. Then we learned the full name of the short and that it premieres on November 12. Yes, you can officially stream this surprise short.
The original short is called “Zen – Grogu and Dust Bunnies.” It’s a hand-drawn, animated story. The premiere date coincides with the third anniversary of the debut of The Mandalorian. Katsuya Kondo directs the short, which features music by Ludwig Göransson. Though Kondo is a long-time Ghibli animator, it’s his first time directing. You can see the positively adorable poster for the short below.
Previous to learning about the short, we speculated that Studio Ghibli’s Star Wars project would be part of season two of Star Wars: Visions. That anthology animated series would be well suited for Ghibli. And we’re not counting that or any additional Star Wars and Ghibli collaborations out.
“Zen – Grogu and Dust Bunnies” premiered on Disney+ on November 12. You can stream Ghibli’s Grogu creation now.
Originally published November 11, 2022 at 9:30 a.m.
Amy Ratcliffe is the Editor-in-Chief for Nerdist and the author of Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy, The Art of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, The Jedi Mind, and more. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
