Lucasfilm already has plenty of “Star Wars” content on the way, both on the big screen and otherwise. Who knows what comes next for movies, as Lucasfilm has been quiet about potential upcoming films from Taika Waititi, Patty Jenkins, and Rian Johnson all year. But in terms of upcoming Disney+ series, there’s a ton on the 2023 slate. A new season of “The Mandalorian” debuts in February, with “Ashoka” and “Skeleton Crew” not far behind.
And on the animated side, a new volume of the animated anthology series “Star Wars: Visions” also hits Disney+ in early 2023. “Visions” sees the world’s best anime artists create “Star Wars” shorts with distinct visions unencumbered by the franchise’s traditional canon. It’s the “Star Wars” universe like no one has seen before, and critics and fans both celebrated the series.
Now it appears that an anime studio conspicuously absent from the first batch of “Visions” may make their entrance in 2023’s upcoming volume. On Twitter today, Studio Ghibli dropped a video teaser that showed the Lucasfilm logo and their logo back-to-back. The video basically teases nothing concrete but a future collaboration between the two studios. And since the next volume of “Visions” comes out soon, it’s easy to speculate Studio Ghibli may have something ready for the next installment.
Stateside, Studio Ghibli is best known as the studio behind Hayao Miyazaki‘s anime films, including “Howl’s Moving Castle” and “Spirited Away.” Miyazaki co-founded the studio with Toshio Suzuki and Isao Takahata in 1985. Studio Ghibli’s last feature film was 2020’s “Earwig And The Witch,” with another Miyazaki film, “How Do You Live?,” on the way. But while Studio Ghibli primarily makes feature anime films, they also do short films, so it’s not outlandish to assume they may have something ready for “Visions” next year.
For animation fans, a Lucasfilm-Studio Ghibli team-up is big news. Of course, it’s not clear what exactly the two studios have in store for “Star Wars” fans yet, but if it’s not a short for “Star Wars: Visions,” it may be even larger, and that’s almost more exciting. What if the next feature-length “Star Wars” movie is one from Studio Ghibli? Move aside, Taika Waititi and Patty Jenkins; that would get fans really excited.