Ghibli Park‘s eco-friendly Catbus-style electric vehicles will go into service on 16 March, the same date the park’s Valley of Witches area opens to visitors.
The real-life My Neighbor Totoro-inspired Catbus electric vehicles are based on Toyota’s APM (Accessible People Mover), originally developed for the Tokyo Olympics. They are designed to look and feel like Catbuses, and even feature furry seats.
Six of these electric vehicles, operated by software company Monet Technologies, will carry six passengers at a time across the world’s first Studio Ghibli theme park.
Toyota APM becomes furry Catbus
The new EVs are 3.9-metres-long, 1.6-metres wide, and 2-metres-high. They will travel at top speeds of 19 km/h, Monet said in a press release.
As above, Valley of Witches also opens on 16 March. The park’s fifth and final area is based on anime films including Kiki’s Delivery Service and Howl’s Moving Castle.
Valley of Witches is joining the park’s existing areas – Ghibli’s Grand Warehouse, Hill of Youth, Dondoko Forest, and Mononoke Village.
It will contain Ghibli Park’s first amusement park-style rides, including a merry-go-round and an aerial carousel-ride.
Highlights in the new area also include the witch’s house from Earwig and the Witch, and a life-size Howl’s Moving Castle.
Earlier this month, Ghibli Park released an animated video inspired by Howl’s Moving Castle to promote the Valley of Witches zone.
The short video was made by Noboru Yoshida, who served as art director on Howl’s Moving Castle. The storyboards are by Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, while Howl’s Moving Castle animation director Akihiko Yamashita provided direction and original drawings.
Images courtesy of Studio Ghibli
