All aboard the hype train a new Studio Ghibli Ponoc film has arrived, in fact this is the first feature film from this new studio. Debuting on July 8, 2017 in Japan it did well, and got a north american limited run were we got to enjoy the film in both the Dub and Sub. The film ran for 3 days starting on Friday January 19th 2018 across the states and it was a Fathom Events presentation and we enjoyed it at our local AMC theaters. Enough about us what is this movie about? Well, Mary and the Witch’s Flower is based on novel The Little Broomstick by English author Mary Stewart. The film tells the story of a girl named Mary Smith who finds a mysterious flower that imbued her with magical powers which lead her on an adventure. Honestly I feel the story is overall okay but clearly aimed at children, I don’t want to spoil any of the plot but don’t expect anything new or groundbreaking here. The worst part of the production was the plot, it was kind of a mess and felt oddly paced. But things were not all bad;
Because the visual were great, vivid landscapes and carefully detailed sets were certainly impressive. I rather enjoyed the character designs and costumes. They did get creative with their monsters and magic, and this was something that stood out. I was not taken in by the story, but the art was something to behold. The talented team at Ponoc really did a great job on the animation, cg, and framing, as far as the visual story telling goes this was solid. I can’t wait to see what this young studio can do when it hits it’s full stride in the near future.
Speaking of hitting the ground running, the voice teams for both the dub and sub were fantastic. The english dub featured big name talent such as Ruby Barnhill, Kate Winslet and Jim Broadbent. Though don’t let the star power wow you, I enjoyed the sub cast just as much, so really a toss up, both teams were fantastic. There were some stand outs on both sides and changes to the dub were mostly minor no major tweaks were made just minor adaption in my eyes. If you’re not an anime fan then check out the dub, or if you are showing this film to non anime fan’s stick to the dub.
So does this film hold up to the classic Ghibli, well that is tough to say and that’s not a bad thing. Honestly the movie is good overall, not a timeless classic but stands up on it’s own. If you walked into this film not knowing it was not a Ghibli film you would most likely be fooled. I would recommend this film to any anime fan of any age. I would also say this is an okay family film for most non anime fan’s when the dub is used. Example my parents don’t like anime but do like Ghibli films and this movie was okay with them. So overall this film has been successful, but I did not enjoy it as much as “Your Name” or “No Game No Life Zero” but those films are not really for kids, so as family movies go I would say this is worth a watch. If and when the blu-ray is published, it will most definitely be one to add to the collection.
Bottom Line: This is a good movie, not a timeless one, but a great first film. I really hope to see more from Ponoc in the future.
Mary and the Witch’s Flower (Japanese: メアリと魔女の花 Hepburn: Meari to Majo no Hana)
Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and animated by Studio Ponoc
Mary and The Witch's Flower
Pros
- Great visuals
- Talented voice casts
- Good soundtrack
- Family Friendly
- Merca Friendly
Cons
- Weak plot, simple children's film
- Odd pacing at times
- Family Friendly: does not take chances
- Cast could have used more backstory
- Limited release in Merca
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