A Stu­dio Ghi­b­li theme park is sched­uled to open in 2020

Leg­endary Stu­dio Ghi­b­li founder Hayao Miyaza­ki has offi­cial­ly come out of retire­ment to start work on his ​“final fea­ture ani­ma­tion film”, and now the Japan­ese ani­ma­tion pow­er­house has con­firmed plans to build a theme park based on the director’s most beloved film, My Neigh­bor Totoro.

Ghi­b­li Park will be built on the premis­es of the Aichi Park in Nagoya, Japan, which also served as the loca­tion of the 2005 world expo. Char­ac­ters, scenes and land­scapes from Miyazaki’s beloved 1988 fairy tale will be recre­at­ed in the theme park, cre­at­ing a unique­ly immer­sive experience.

The film tells of two young sis­ters set­tling in an old coun­try house until their moth­er recov­ers from an ill­ness. Dur­ing their adven­tures, they encounter and befriend a for­est-dwelling spir­it crea­ture named Totoro. The stu­dio has since tak­en the char­ac­ter as its offi­cial mas­cot, incor­po­rat­ing it into the studio’s logo.

On the sub­ject of the park, Gov­er­nor Hidea­ki Omu­ra said, ​“Stu­dio Ghibli’s films have love toward liv­ing crea­tures and earth, which fits the con­cept of the expo. I would like to pass down this idea to future generations.”

The for­mer expo site, which attract­ed 1.6 mil­lion vis­i­tors in 2016, already plays home to tourist attrac­tion ​‘Sat­su­ki and Mei’s House’ which is mod­elled after the house belong­ing to the lead char­ac­ters in Miyazaki’s film. The intro­duc­tion of the park hopes to dri­ve fur­ther tourism to the region.

There’s no word yet as to whether the park will expand to accom­mo­date rides based on the studio’s oth­er hit fea­ture films, but we’re cer­tain­ly keep­ing our fin­gers crossed.

Are you as excit­ed as we are about Ghi­b­li Park? Tweet us @LWLies with your thoughts