There’s nothing more joyful than Studio Ghibli, and this animated advert for a Japanese convenience store, directed by the studio, is case and point.
Titled Machi Hot Station, the 15-second, hand-drawn short depicts a regular day at a Lawson’s supermarket, packed with cute characters and pastel hued line drawings. Director Kunio Katō, best known for his 2009 animated short film, The House of Small Cubes, for which he won an Oscar, worked alongside animator Osamu Tanabe, who is best known for his work on Studio Ghibli’s The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Also involved were producers Toshio Suzuki and Tomohiko Ishii, who worked on Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, respectively.
Studio Ghibli kicked off the year (decade?) by revealing that it’s working on two new films this year. Co-founder Hayao Miyazaki is directing the action-adventure fantasy feature, Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka (How Do You Live?), based on Genzaburō Yoshino’s 1937 novel of the same name, which discusses how to live as human beings.
Little is currently known about the second film, which was announced in the studio’s annual New Year’s message.
In the meantime, the Studio Ghibli theme park is on track for its opening in 2022. Feast your eyes here.