Beloved animation house Studio Ghibli may be in semi-hibernation at the moment, as they’ve ceased making new movies (not counting whatever Hayao Miyazaki is tinkering working on), but the spirit lives on at Studio Ponoc, founded by several animators from the famed company. And they deliver the goods with “Mary And The Witch’s Flower.”
Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi (“When Marnie Was There,” “The Secret World of Arrietty“), based on the book by Mary Stewart, and featuring the voices of Ruby Barnhill, Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent, and Ewen Bremner, the story follows a young girl who discovers a dangerous and secret world of witches. Here’s the official synopsis:
Mary is an ordinary young girl stuck in the country with her Great-Aunt Charlotte and seemingly no adventures or friends in sight. She follows a mysterious cat into the nearby forest, where she discovers an old broomstick and the strange Fly-by-Night flower, a rare plant that blossoms only once every seven years and only in that forest. Together the flower and the broomstick whisk Mary above the clouds, and far away to Endor College – a school of magic run by headmistress Madam Mumblechook and the brilliant Doctor Dee. But there are terrible things happening at the school, and when Mary tells a lie, she must risk her life to try to set things right.
“Mary And The Witch’s Flower” is a charming little movie and will hit cinemas on January 18, 2018.