Toyota Previews Real-World Studio Ghibli Catbus From ‘My Neighbor Totoro’

Image via Ghibli Park

Studio Ghibli and Toyota are shuttling a dose of My Neighbor Totoro’s magic into this world. Real-life Catbuses are now a thing, and by the early part of next year, five of them will be put to work.

First announced in February, the functional Catbus for Ghibli Park was finally previewed in images at a recent press conference held by the Aichi Prefecture in Japan and Studio Ghibli director Goro Miyazaki.

The grinning character is portrayed on Toyota’s APM (Accessible People Mover), a low-speed battery electric vehicle originally produced for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Apart from taking on its appearance, the modified mobility solution is fitted out with a plush interior for comfort, as well as to keep in faith with the movie’s Catbus.

Besides ferrying passengers of both realms, the Catbus is being built for another purpose: crowd control. To help keep the vicinity of Ghibli Park clear, the Catbus will take visitors around non-connected zones.

Image via Ghibli Park

The model is made for short distances, and it can run for up to just 19 kilometers (11.8 miles) per hour.

It can accommodate five passengers, while its front bench can be adjusted to ferry riders on wheelchairs, per SoraNews24.

Hayao Miyazaki, the animation studio’s co-founder and the father of Goro Miyazaki, is purportedly satisfied with the way this a-mew-sing vehicle looks, telling his son that the design was “nice.”

As the Catbuses will be traveling beyond the theme park’s areas, and specifically within the wider grounds of the Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park it is on, passengers won’t need to be Ghibli Park visitors to ride them. With that said, riders will still need to pay for a ticket to board the Catbus.

The mystical fleet is expected to be ready in mid-March, consisting of five vehicles.

[via SoraNews24 and Time Out Tokyo, images via Ghibli Park]