Hard to believe but yes, there was a sequel to the well-loved Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro— but in a form of a 14-minute animated short film.
The said sequel is titled Mei and the Kittenbus. Sadly, this movie was not shown in any official film or home release. It became a major topic to Studio Ghibli fans recently because of screenshots and images of the short were uploaded on Twitter gathering over 67,000 retweets.
According to the Japanese website Otaku News, this animated film short was directed by Hayao Miyazaki himself and takes place just after My Neighbor Totoro. In this movie, it features a cute younger Catbus and Chika Sakamoto reprised her role of Mei for this production.
For the record, Studio Ghibli isn’t really fond of making sequels. However, this animated short looks promising. It was first shown in 2003 and was only been viewed twice in the United States.
If you are really interested to watch this rare Studio Ghibli gem, you will be able to catch Mei and Kittenbus at the Ghibli Museum from November 1 to 30. More information can be found in its official English website. This is something that a Studio Ghibli fan shouldn’t miss out!
Source: Otaku News