Studio Ghibli has earned its place as one of the most legendary anime movie studios more times than we can count. This winter, anime fans in North America will have the opportunity to check out The Boy And The Heron, which already arrived in Japanese theaters with the title “How Do You Live?”. Unfortunately, anime fans in the West won’t be seeing the Studio Ghibli theme park arrive in North America any time soon, though the locale has been hyping up a new section of its park that harkens back to many classic Ghibli properties.
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The Ghibli Park isn’t exactly what you might expect from a typical theme park, as it isn’t fit to bursting with roller coasters and/or fast-paced attractions. Instead, the amusement park takes the opportunity to recreate some of the magical locales created in the Studio’s history. As it stands, the Ghibli Park has locales that pay homage to the likes of Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle, Castle in The Sky, Whisper of The Heart, The Cat Returns, and more. Next year, the park is planning to open a new attraction titled “The Valley of the Witch” that is aiming to pay homage to a number of big films from the studio’s catalog.
Studio Ghibli’s The Valley of The Witch
Opening March 16th, 2024, “The Valley of The Witch” is clearly taking a lion’s share of influence specifically from Howl’s Moving Castle. The film followed a young girl named Sophie as she came into contact with a wizard named Howl and a monstrously impressive walking castle. It’s unlikely that this attraction will actually walk under its own power, ala the Walking Gundam, but a recreation of the castle seems right up Ghibli’s alley when it comes to its theme park.
Originally, legendary director Hayao Miyazaki had stated that The Boy And The Heron would be his final film before his retirement. As he’s done in the past, Miyazaki has changed his mind as working on the film has seemingly caused the anime director to think of brand new ideas for movies. Now in his eighties, anime fans are now debating if Miyazaki will ever retire.
Which anime franchise should get its own amusement park? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Ghibli.
