Studio Ghibli's Baby Yoda animated short premieres tomorrow

Zen: Grogu and Dust Bunnies
(Image credit: Disney)

Update: The Studio Ghibli Star Wars Baby Yoda animated short has been officially revealed, and it's premiering on Disney Plus on Saturday, November 12.

We've seen a tease and a leak that suggested a title and release date for the short, but now those details have been confirmed and some new art has been revealed. Indeed, the short film will center around Grogu, lovingly dubbed Baby Yoda by The Mandalorian fans, and the Dust Bunnies from the beloved Studio Ghibli movie Spirited Away. Imagine a cuter combo than that - I sure can't.

The full title is Zen - Grogu and Dust Bunnies and it's described as "a hand-drawn animation." No further details about the project have been revealed, but thankfully we won't have long before we can watch it. Here's the adorable poster featuring the main characters:

(Image credit: Disney)

Original story follows...

Studio Ghibli has been teasing a Lucasfilm project – and a new tweet narrows down what that project might be. The studio shared a picture of a Baby Yoda figurine on social media after previously posting the Lucasfilm logo. Hayao Miyazaki, the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, can be seen in the background. 

Details of a Grogu short film recently leaked online after a Disney Plus account seemed to share the news early by mistake. The short is called 'Star Wars Zen: Grogu and Dust Bunnies' and looks to be dropping on November 12, which is the three-year anniversary of The Mandalorian. It seemed the short might be another installment in the Disney Zenimation series, but that no longer looks to be the case as speculators believe this to be the project that Studio Ghibli has been working on. 

Grogu hasn't been seen since The Book of Boba Fett, which wrapped earlier this year, so a return to Disney Plus for the little green guy is very welcome indeed. He'll next appear in The Mandalorian season 3, which is due to drop in February 2023. Not much is known about the next season of the Star Wars spin-off just yet, but it will introduce Mandalore to live-action for the first time. 

Beyond that, Lucasfilm also has a live-action Ahsoka show in the works, along with Skeleton Crew starring Jude Law and The Acolyte starring Amandla Stenberg and Squid Game's Lee Jung-jae. Two new Star Wars movies have also recently been reported – one from Stranger Things's Shawn Levy and another scripted by Watchmen's Damon Lindelof and set to be directed by Ms. Marvel's Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. 

While you wait for the Baby Yoda short to arrive, check out our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows. 

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Molly Edwards
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English. 

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