Mary And The Witch’s Flower.
Hiromasa Yonebayashi, who was an animator at the studio for 20 years, was trusted enough to direct not one but two features for Ghibli,
Arrietty and
When Marnie Was There, so in teaming up with producer Yoshiaki Nishimura (
The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya, Howl’s Moving Castle) they make a formidable duo with plenty of experience. For their inaugural feature they looked to a children’s story,
The Little Broomstick, by British novelist Mary Stewart, perhaps best known for her
Merlin trilogy and romantic thrillers featuring ‘anti-nambi-pamby’ heroines. So far, so promising.
In
Mary And The Witch’s Flower a restless, headstrong girl runs off into the woods, picks a flower and finds an unruly broom that whisks her off on a dizzy adventure involving mutant animals, magic-hungry witches and a boy who needs rescuing. Hiromasa Yonebayashi explains, via a translator, why they are launching their studio with this particular tale: “I made