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Pippi Longstocking, that freckle-faced redhead girl you oughta know, is very close to my heart. I dressed up as her one year for Halloween. Pipe cleaners in my pigtails. That costume was rad (aren’t I adorable?). Anyway, all this is to say that my hair ears perked up when I read about how Hayao Miyazaki wanted to make a Pippi movie back in 1971. Only he didn’t get to, because creator Astrid Lindgren was all “Thanks, but no thanks.”

The Miyazaki and Studio GHBLI Livejournal has a whole slew of concept art for the might-have-been film. Look and be sad.

(via: io9)

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Lagertha, Vikings’ best character (don’t argue with me on this; it is empirically true), pops up in this new preview image from season two, which will premiere on Thursday, February 27th at 10/9c. (Twitter)

• Beyoncé’s New “Feminist” Fragrance Is Inspired By A Maya Angelou Poem, Smells Like Gold Symphony Orchid And Cashmere (The Frisky)
• Star Wars Unveils Its Official Tumblr With the Best GIF Ever (Geekosystem)

Via Kotaku, “Some environmental activists in Oklahoma used a Hunger Games banner [above] as part of a protest against Devon, an energy company. For their trouble, reports say they were locked up and are now facing terrorism charges.” Apparently the FBI thought the banner’s glitter, some of which fell on the floor, could be a hazardous substance. (Image from the Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance)

• /Film has info on what Studio Ghibli’s 2014 film When Marnie Was There, to be helmed by The Secret World of Arriety director Yonebayashi Hiromasa, will be about.
• Students Shut Down School After Gay Vice Principal Forced to Resign (Gawker)

Michael Leavitt has done a series of Star Wars pop culture mashups, and Abraham Solo is my fav. Because Abraham Solo. (Laughing Squid)

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To know Studio Ghibli films is to love Studio Ghibli films, and it is with a heavy heart that most fans are bidding farewell to Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki. His final film with the studio, The Wind Rises, is about Jiro Horikoshi, an airplane designer. The film will debut throughout the U.S. in February, and if this clip is any indication, it will be yet another gorgeous Miyazaki film.

(via Anime News Network)

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Studio Ghibli has announced an animated series based on Swedish author Astrid Lindgren‘s Ronia the Robber’s Daughter, to have its Japanese debut this fall.

The show will be directed by Goro Miyazaki, son of Hayao, and it’ll be a first television series for the studio and the director. Says Goro:

Ronia the Robber’s Daughter is a story not just about a girl who grows into adulthood, but it is also a story about the love and growth between a parent and a child, and a story about the bonds between friends. My goal is to create a work that everyone, from children to adults, will be able to enjoy.

Published in 1981, Lindgren’s Ronja Rövardotter is the story of Ronja (Kirsty or Ronia, depending on which English translation you have), born to the chief of a band of robbers, and expected to inherit his position in adulthood. On the day of her birth, the robber’s castle home was split in two by a lightning bolt. In the years between then and the beginning of the story, the other half of the castle has been taken over by a rival clan. Ronia meets and befriends the only son of the rival band’s chief, goes on many fantasy adventures with him, and eventually heals the rift between the two groups.

Of course, you might know Astrid Lindgren better as the creator of Pippi Longstocking. I have only one problem with this series, and that is that it doesn’t have a release date in a country that I live in or a language that I speak. I shall have to wait patiently and drool over screen caps and advertising.

(via Anime News Network.)

Artist Bruce Yan takes logos—like that of the Girls Scouts, above, or Starbucks and Morton Salt—and reimagines them with characters from Studio Ghibli and Disney films. See more at Nerd Approved.

• Neatorama fills a hole in our lives we never knew was there with their list of The Best Librarian Songs.
• The new Muppets Most Wanted promo is an… anti-piracy video? Well. You can’t say they’re not Kermitted to the cause. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Earlier today we showed you an X-Men LEGO set up for vote on Cuusoo, a site that allows prospective kits to be considered for production if they get over 10,000 supporters. Then we found out about another kit: DrNO’s Accessibility Set, currently sitting at 3,188 supporters. It’s not as flashy as the X-Mansion, but it’s more than worthy, not least because if the set gets made all of DrNO’s proceeds (1% of total sales) will be donated to the non-profit organization Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy.

• A study from the Journal of Management Inquiry has found the exact age at which the pay given to female actresses severely drops off: 34. “Male actors’ compensation however, peaks around age 51 and shows no signs of decreasing with age.” (The Huffington Post; autoplay video at the link)
• Susana Polo, whom you may recognize from being the Managing Editor on the site you are reading at this very moment (GASSSSP), was a special guest on the most recent episode of the Game On Girls podcast. Go give it a listen.

Natasha’s wearing an itty bitty arrow necklace in a recent promo pic for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Some, such as Tor.com, take it as evidence of a Black Widow/Hawkeye OTP. For me it says they’re BFFs and Nat has bangin’ taste in jewelry. Shippers, start your engines.

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We previously showed you avant-garde fashion looks inspired by our favorite Disney characters. Design student Sasha (aka Sashii or Sashiiko) is back with a few fashions imagined thanks to The Avengers (we’ve seen similar, fun designs before), Studio Ghibli and more! Personally, I’m digging the “Hawkeye.”

(via Sashiiko on DeviantArt and Tumblr)

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Never have the films of Studio Ghibli looked more sweet than when UK bakery Heartache Cakes got its hands on them. When Geeks Wed has a look at some of their non-Ghibli cakes (that Skeksis), or you can scan through the images on their Facebook page for the rest of them. A drool bucket may come in handy.

(via When Geeks Wed)

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I’m pretty sure I’d never want to wear a shirt with a back again if I had this piece of art by Nika Samarina on my person. (Geek Universe)

• Angela Lansbury is now Dame Angela Lansbury, you plebes. *cue Sailor Moon transformation music* (Digital Spy)
• The Frisky shares pics of last night’s blood moon.
• Watch Agents of SHIELD tonight and get a special behind-the-scenes look at Guardians of the Galaxy. Or watch it on YouTube later. Your call. (Twitter)
• Wired’s Laura Hudson breaks down how last Sunday’s big Game of Thrones episode compares to what was in the books. Man, I didn’t even remember that Jaime wasn’t originally at the wedding.

I’ll pass on this particular vacation, thanks. By Etsy seller TheGreenDragonInn.

• In response to the sexual harassment received by Janelle Asselin following her criticism of the Teen Titans #1 cover, Heidi MacDonald of Comics Beat helpfully reminds men that it’s never OK to threaten a woman with rape over a disagreement about a comic book cover… or anything else.
• You know that mother/daughter meta horror comedy The Final Girls we were losing our minds over a while back? The one starring Taissa Farmiga and Malin Ackerman? It’s added some new cast members, among them The Vampire Diaries’ Nina Dobrev and The Hunger Games’ (and Vikings’!) Alexander Ludwig. SciFiNow has character info.

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We get a lot of emails about Kickstarter campaigns around these parts, but this one—”KitRex: the 3D paper velociraptor that you build yourself!“—caught our eye. Fun tip: Having a campaign that involves dinosaurs and googly eyes never hurts. (Thanks to tipster Amy)

• Canadian singer Christo Graham re-recorded all the songs from Jesus Christ Superstar as if they were sung by Muppets. It’s called Muppet Christ Superstar. Could you ask as much from any other frog? (A.V. Club)
• An article on The Hollywood Reporter about the theme song for the upcoming Studio Ghibli flick When Marnie Was There, directed by The Secret World of Arrietty‘s Hiromasa Yonebayashi, contains an interesting little tidbit that we didn’t notice before: It’s the first Ghibli film with two female leads.
• Via Neatorama, Google’s Street View software has gotten really good at reading captchas… you know, those things that are supposed to separate the humans from the computers. I sense Skynet.

The latest Frozen mashup to hit the Internet: Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Check out the rest on Tumblr.

• Like our own Jill Pantozzi earlier today, Andy Khouri of Comics Alliance addresses the epidemic of men threatening women with rape in the online geek community. Choice quote: “Sexual harassment isn’t an occupational hazard. It’s not a glitch in the complex matrix of modern life. It’s not something that just ‘happens.’ It’s something men do. It’s a choice men make. It’s a problem men enable. It’s sometimes a crime men commit. And it is not in the power nor the responsibility of women to wage war on this crime. It’s on us.”
• If you’re anything like me, this quote from Karen Gillan about filming Guardians of the Galaxy will give you a chuckle: “…I worked a lot with Lee Pace, because we’re the bad guys, and we went around antagonizing everybody.” A) Fun mental image, and B) Proof that Lee Pace is still in Guardians of the Galaxy, even though we’ve gotten nary a glimpse of his wonderful eyebrows in any of the teasers. It wasn’t just a collective dream! (io9)

io9 has a bunch of Maleficent promo pics, and if I have to lay eyes on the nightmare fuel above then so do you.

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Bravo to Gareth Shaw, the gentleman in the red shirt, for bringing reading material to his photo op with David Bradley. (via The A.V. Club)

• Brace yourself for glorious punnery. Breckenridge Brewery debuted their newest beer at Denver Comic Con this week. It goes by the name of Brews Wayne. (via CBR)
• Universal Studios Florida is pulling out all the culinary stops for its expansion of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Soon you, too, can enjoy a bite at the Leaky Cauldron, or head to Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour for some butterbeer-flavored soft-serve. (via Variety)

NASA’s Langley Research Center recently held an art contest for K-12 kids. 11-year-old Rachel Pike took home first place for her beautiful entry “The Rainbow Nebula” (pictured above). Head to the NASA LaRC Flickr page for a trove of adorable space art. (via io9)

• The Ghibli Museum has opened an exhibit based around The Nutcracker, which looks about as magical as you might expect. (via Anime News Network)
• Oh my glob, there’s an Adventure Time MOBA. Adventure Time Battle Party is currently in beta testing. (via Kotaku)

No further comment necessary. (via Fashionably Geek)

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His Dark Materials fans, come forth! (by Carrie Olson of the 920 Tattoo Company, via io9)

• Veep [and The Thick Of It!] Creator Armando Iannucci Calls for BBC Subscription Model to make it easier for international viewers (US and otherwise) to pay for (legal) access to BBC shows. (The Hollywood Reporter)
• The Fault in Our Stars is Top-Selling Love Story in Fandango’s History. Any of our readers already have their tickets for opening weekend? (The Hollywood Reporter)

Art show McKellen Me Softly (what is McKellen Me Softly? Scroll down) opened in New York City last week, and Geeks OUT! has photos. Above is one of our favorites. (by Ian Carlos Photography)

• Author John Scalzi, who’s made public his position that he won’t be a panelist at any con where the harassment policy doesn’t meet these three standards, addresses the latest San Diego Comic-Con harassment policy kerfluffle. (In case you need a reminder)
• What Really Happened At the End of Game of Thrones, “The Mountain and the Viper,” featuring puppies. (Pajiba)
• Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams shares her four tips for making “epic” Vines.

These adorable Soot Sprite rings are by Etsy seller DBCosplay, who makes No Face and Totoro rings as well. (Fashionably Geek)

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And when I say “music video,” I mean “a short film that’s got more going for it than most feature-length movies.” The story goes that when Miyazaki was working on Princess Mononoke in 1995, he came down with a case of writer’s block. To give his brain a break, he directed this video accompaniment to the song “On Your Mark,” performed by Japanese music duo Chage and Aska. The end result is a remarkable display of compact storytelling — beautiful, stirring, and well worth your time.

(via io9)

Previously in Studio Ghibli

• Review: The Wind Rises
• Studio Ghibli’s Ronia The Robber’s Daughter Series
• The Simpsons Miyazaki Tribute

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Etsy shop Rarity’s Boutique is a perennial feature on The Mary Sue, so you may have seen their Game of Thrones house hoodies, or their kickass Sailor Moon inspired sweaters. And if you liked those, we’re sure you’d be interested in their brand new Studio Ghibli-inspired tops!

You can find all of them available on Etsy, and check out the latest from Rarity’s Boutique on Facebook.

(via Fashionably Geek)

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You may not know what When Marie Was There is about, strictly speaking, after watching the above trailer, which is a sort of music video set to Priscilla Ahn’s “Fine on the Outside,” but you should get a pretty good sense of the vibe of the film. For the plot, here’s the official summary of the book on which the film is based:

Anna hasn’t a friend in the world – until she meets Marnie among the sand dunes. But Marnie isn’t all she seems… An atmospheric ghost story with truths to tell about friendship, families and loneliness. Anna lives with foster parents, a misfit with no friends, always on the outside of things. Then she is sent to Norfolk to stay with old Mr and Mrs Pegg, where she runs wild on the sand dunes and around the water. There is a house, the Marsh House, which she feels she recognises – and she soon meets a strange little girl called Marnie, who becomes Anna’s first ever friend. Then one day, Marnie vanishes. A new family, the Lindsays, move into the Marsh House. Having learnt so much from Marnie about friendship, Anna makes firm friends with the Lindsays – and learns some strange truths about Marnie, who was not all she seemed…

When Marnie Was There is directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi (The Secret World in Arrietty) and is coming out in Japan this summer, with a US release TBD.

(via /Film)

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Studio Ghibli and Astrid Lingren are big, big deals in my house, so I have a powerful need to see this show. Announced earlier this year, Studio Ghibli is adapting one of the best children’s books of all time, ever Ronia the Robber’s Daughter into an animated series. Directed by Goro Miyazaki, this will be the studio’s first foray into TV series territory.

For those unfamiliar with the book, Ronia (or Ronja, as she is known in my Icelandic home) is the daughter of a robber chief, who befriends the son of a rival and has amazing foresty adventures. It’s wonderful stuff, and I can’t think of anybody better suited to bring it to the screen than Studio Ghibli.

The series will kick off in Japan this October, under the title of Sanzoku no Musume Ronia. Sadly, those of us in the Western world can only wait and hope for a release in our neck of the woods.

(via Anime News Network)

Previously in Studio Ghibli

• The Trailer for Studio Ghibli’s Newest Film, When Marnie Was There
• That Time Hayao Miyazaki Directed A Music Video
• Studio Ghibli Announces Ronia the Robber’s Daughter

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Earlier today we posted some pictures our own Jill Pantozzi took at last night’s Her Universe fashion show, and now there’s good news for those of us that couldn’t witness the cosplay parade in person. According to Fashionably Geek, Ashley Eckstein of Her Universe has confirmed the company will be launching a line of Studio Ghibli clothes to debut at Hot Topic this winter. The line will reportedly begin by offering My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service items, so I’m going to have to make myself hold out until Princess Mononoke rolls into stores. In the meantime, Fashionably Geek has a pic of last night’s preview for the new collection, and wow, does that Totoro dress ever look comfy!

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THEY FIGHT CRIME. WE SLEEP. (Bizarro Au Go-Go, via Fashionably Geek)

• Studio Ghibli’s The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya (trailer here) finally has a US release date: October 17th. Chloë Grace Moretz, James Marsden, Darren Criss, and Lucy Liu are among the English voice cast. (via Deadline)
• Universal is developing the Locke & Key adaptation not as one movie, but as a trilogy. (via Digital Spy)

This graph by visua.ly breaks down each Doctor’s TV “lifespan,” or how many hours they had on-screen. Poor, poor Paul McGann. (via io9)

• A show based on Philip K. Dick’s The Man In the High Castle is coming to Amazon, with Ridley Scott’s Scott Free production company and The X-Files producer Frank Spotnitz, who’s writing the pilot, leading the way. (via Blastr)
• Warner Bros. has optioned the rights to a Space Invaders movie. Oy. (via Ars Technica)

Movies.com tells us that the painting above, René Magritte’s “The Empire of Lights,” was one of director James Gunn’s major visual inspirations for Guardians of the Galaxy: “The design of the movie was to create these contrasting looks with things.”

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It’s as if thousands of fans cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced. A set of screencaps have been making the rounds across social media claiming Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki has announced the animation company is closing it’s doors.

Everyone get your towels and say it with me: Don’t Panic.

The rumors that Studio Ghibli would be shutting down have been making the rounds for several years. Between recent flops in films both critically and financially, animation insiders have been worried about the studio’s fate. Rumors were only reinforced when famed director and co-founder Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement.

This past weekend, Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki sat down on MBS program Jounetsu Tairiku (情熱大陸) and talked about the future of the company. There have been a lot of subtitled screencaps of the interview floating around, but thanks to Kotaku’s article by Brian Ashcraft everyone can read the full translation. When asked about Ghibli’s future Suzuki had this to say:

“We’re thinking about disbanding the production department and making a big change to the larger view of Studio Ghibli…Obviously, Miyazaki’s retiring was quite significant. After that, what should Ghibli do? With that, continuing to endlessly create like this is not impossible, but once, right about now, we will take a short rest and think about what’s next.”

So does this mean that Ghibli is closing down for good? No. It means they’re taking a break to restructure. The animation production side of Ghibli may be disbanded, but that doesn’t mean the studio is closing. Ghibli has trademarks to some of the most internationally popular animated characters to ever come out of Asia (looking at you, Totoro), and until those trademarks are sold the studio will have legs to stand on. Studio Ghibli may as well be a Japanese national treasure considering how their films are beloved world-over. If they were to close down the studio entirely it would probably be announced in a very official way, not on a talk show.

Does that mean Studio Ghibli will never animate anything ever again? Maybe. Maybe not. For now it looks like their newest feature When Marnie Was There will be Ghibli’s last film.

Until we hear more from the studio officially, think of this as the same thing that happened when Calcifer had to downgrade the house in Howl’s Moving Castle. This could simply be a period of change before a new and stronger studio arises, or perhaps we really are living in the last days of Studio Ghibli.  Either way, it’s nice to know that should they close, Ghiblis’ films will continue to be enjoyed for generations to come. Based on these screencaps from the documentary The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness Miyazaki doesn’t seem too disturbed about the idea of his studio closing.

By day, Carrie is the co-creator, artist and production coordinator for the webcomic Kamikaze . By night she’s a writer, budding comic nerd and passionate feminist. Occasionally she takes pretty photos. A devoted scholar to film, animation and storytelling Carrie is feared wherever books are sold, and enjoys the company of animals, geeks and artists equally. Feel free to follow her on Twitter.

Previously in Studio Ghibli

• Her Universe Debuting Studio Ghibli Line To Spirit Your Money Away
• Have A Gander At The First Footage From Studio Ghibli’s Ronia The Robber’s Daughter
• Watch the First Trailer for the New Studio Ghibli Film, When Marnie Was There

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This awesome imagining of Han and Leia as they’d look in the Up universe comes from artist James Hance, who’ll sell you a print of this or some of his other amazing geeky art (Guardians of the Galaxy, Harry Potter, Sherlock) over on his website. Hey, maybe they can get that dog translator box for Chewy. (via Tumblr)

• So Twitter will remove pictures of users’ deceased loved ones now, which is a necessary thing because Internet trolls are absolutely the worst. (via PC Mag)
• Public service announcement: Your cat doesn’t actually like sweet foods. It’s something else in the food that they’re into, because they are mysterious creatures. (via io9)

BREAKING: Michigan news reporting live on this tiny service horse outside, joy being brought to all. pic.twitter.com/WaRkKe7Ud8

— Eric Smith (@ericsmithrocks) August 21, 2014

Here: This month has been terrible, so let’s all look at an adorable tiny horse picture from friend-of-The-Mary-Sue Eric Smith. Li’l Sebastian, is… is that you?

• Game of Thrones still crushes all of its competition… at being the most pirated show that exists. (via Time)
• Studio Ghibli’s Kiki’s Delivery Service and Princess Mononoke are finally coming to blu-ray! (via ComicBook.com)

Oh hey, while you’re thinking about adorable Star Wars things, you can get plushy vehicles from a galaxy far, far away thanks to ThinkGeek! Witness the power of this fully soft and cuddly battle station. (via BoingBoing)

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I don’t know about you guys, but I could do with a bit of something beautiful on the internet today. To that end, here’s the new US trailer for Studio Ghibli’s The Tale of Princess Kaguya. Don’t go in expecting Ghibli’s signature art style, though. The visuals here are totally, wonderfully different, a powerful blend of pencil lines and rough edges. Color me intrigued.

The film is based on the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, a 10th-century Japanese folktale, and was released in Japan last year. A stateside release is slated for October 17.

(via Blastr)

Previously in Studio Ghibli

• Is Studio Ghibli Shutting Down?
• Her Universe Debuting Studio Ghibli Line
• The First Footage From Ronia The Robber’s Daughter

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