Mei and the Kittenbus

Mei and the Kittenbus (めいとこねこバス, Mei to Konekobasu^?) is a short film about 14 minutes long, which is occasionally shown only at the Studio Ghibli Museum. Currently there has been no commercial release for this film.

It tells the story of Mei and her friend the kittenbus (the child of the original catbus from My Neighbor Totoro). Mei is just small enough to ride in the kittenbus, which is only big enough to stir up dust devils, rather than making whole fields of rice sway in its breeze. One night they have an adventure in which they fly into the forest with many other cat-based vehicles, including many buses and trains. There they meet Totoro and many similar spirits, all heading for a gigantic catliner. This liner cruises off into the sky and the kittenbus takes Mei home.

Click on the thumbnails below for some sample pages from the film's booklet:

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  Riding Away

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  Cat Vehicles

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  The Cat Liner

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  Credits

• Original story, screenplay and direction: Hayao Miyazaki
• Music: Joe Hisaishi, soundtrack CD
• Animation Directors: Maikiko Futaki, Sachiko Sugino, and Hiromasa Yonebayashi
• Length: 13 minutes 43 seconds

Note: As he explains to John Lasseter's children in Lasseter-San, Arigato, Hayao Miyazaki voices the Cat Liner.