The collaboration between Lucasfilm and Studio Ghibli takes the form of a hand-drawn animated short dedicated to Grog, the famous Baby Yoda from The Mandalorian television series.
Zen to Grog and the Dust Bunnies, exclusively available on the Disney+ streaming platform and celebrating The Mandalorian’s 3rd Anniversary, directed by Katsuya Kondo (Devil Man, Princess Mononoke, The Secret World of Arrietty) from Studio Ghibli led by Hayao Miyazaki (Porco Rosso, Spirited Away, The Wind Rises). Composer Ludwig Goransson (Black Panther, Tenet, Venom, Oppenheimer) composed the soundtrack.
The original Zen short film – Grogu and Dust Bunnies is now streaming on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/QrG8OPmpBF
— Star Wars | Andor and Tales of the Jedi on Disney+ (@starwars) November 12, 2022
Grog and the meeting of Susuwatari in the Studio Ghibli anime
In addition to the tale of Grog, the three-minute animated short will also feature the Susuwatari, small creatures that encountered young Force-sensitive Grog while he was deep in meditation. They began to bounce and sway around him until one finally landed on his head, snapping him out of his meditation and falling into a puddle below.
Grogu, himself falling into a puddle after sneezing, turned to see Susuwatari watching him before leaving. They followed him, prompting him to run from them until he turned around and ran into one of the creators. Now fully capturing Grog’s attention, the latter began to dance in front of him before offering him a flower, which he accepted with a bow of thanks. The Susuwatari then crowded around the child, who drew a circular symbol in the air with his finger.