Studio Ghibli fans, you’re gonna want to see this: Toyota has built a real-life Catbus from the iconic film My Neighbor Totoro.
Toyota’s ‘Cat Bus’ is based on the Accessible People Mover (APM), a low-speed, short-distance battery electric vehicle that was used at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. Toyota deployed about 200 units of its APM at the games that year.
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The APM can go up to 19kph and has an estimated maximum range of about 100km on one full charge. For the Cat Bus version, Toyota has fitted the APM with a bench at the rear with furry seat covers that are easily removable for cleaning. They’re supposedly “soft and fluffy to sit on.” For good measure, Toyota has used the same material as the roof liner. There’s also a ramp that deploys in just 10sec, improving accessibility for all, including wheelchair users.
The real highlight, of course, is the exterior. It was designed by Naoki Nagatsu, a professional partner at Toyota’s Vision Design Division. He and his team worked closely with Studio Ghibli director Goro Miyazaki for this project.
The result is this carefully crafted replica of the bus-looking feline. The challenge in designing the car was turning it from on-screen animation into a three-dimensional thing. The creators paid close attention to detail, even taking into consideration how the vehicle will look from a child’s height and point of view.
“We came up with a two-tone palette of ‘cat brown’ and ‘cat beige,’ created to fit the car’s overall color scheme,” says Nagatsu, the designer. “After speaking with Goro Miyazaki, we worked to bring out the unique textures of each material.
“While a real cat doesn’t have any distinct ‘boundaries’ between its fur colors, for the APM Cat Bus, we raised sections of different colors,” added Nagatsu. “With this approach, the color boundaries actually end up slightly different between the data and the real three-dimensional molding. That makes the painting difficult. I felt a great sense of accomplishment seeing the designers and painting personnel working together as a team through countless revisions.”
As added bonuses, the eyes of the Catbus also light up at night. There’s also a rain curtain to keep passengers dry during a drizzle, and it features a design that’s “only visible to the pure at heart.” Spoiler alert: It’s Totoro with an umbrella. An iconic image.
The Cat Bus will be going around Ghibli Park—specifically the Expo 2005 Aichi Commemorative Park—from March 16. If you’re a Studio Ghibli fan and have been waiting for a sign to visit Japan, this is it.
More photos of the Studio Ghibli Toyota Cat Bus:
