animated
Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...
Hiromasa Yonebayashi
, nicknamed , is a Japanese animator and director, formerly for Studio Ghibli. After his directorial debut with Studio Ghibli ('' The Secret World of Arrietty''), he became the youngest director of a theatrical film produced by the studio. He was n ...
, produced by
Studio Ponoc
is a Japanese animation studio based in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The company was founded in April 2015 by Yoshiaki Nishimura, former lead film producer of Studio Ghibli. Its first feature film, ''Mary and The Witch's Flower'', was released on Ju ...
founder Yoshiaki Nishimura, animated by Studio Ponoc, and distributed by
Toho
is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...
in Japan. Based on the 1971 book ''The Little Broomstick'' by Mary Stewart, it was Studio Ponoc's first feature film. It stars the voices of
Hana Sugisaki
is a Japanese actress who was previously signed to Stardust Promotion. Her former stage name was Hana Kajiura.
Biography
Sugisaki debuted as a child actress with Stardust Promotion under the stage name . She withdrew from the industry for a peri ...
,
Yūki Amami
is a Japanese actress.
Career
Amami joined the Takarazuka Revue
The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western- ...
and
Fumiyo Kohinata
is a Japanese actor.
Filmography
Film
* '' Begging for Love'' (1998)
* '' Give It All'' (1998)
* '' Ring 2'' (1999) - Dr. Kawajiri
* '' Audition'' (1999) - Television producer
* ''Minna no Ie'' (2001)
* '' Turn'' (2001)
* '' Dark Water'' (2002 ...
.
It tells a story of a girl named Mary Smith (Sugisaki) who finds "fly-by-night", a mysterious flower that can give her the power to become a
witch
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
for only one night. The film was released in Japan on 8 July 2017. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the animation and visuals. The English-language version (concurrently released with a subtitled version in the United States on 19 January 2018) features the voices of
Ruby Barnhill
Ruby Ann Barnhill (born 16 July 2004) is a British actress. She played the lead role of Sophie in Steven Spielberg's Disney live-action film of 2016, ''The BFG (2016 film), The BFG''.Kate Winslet and Jim Broadbent.
Plot
Mary Smith moves into the northern English country estate of her Great Aunt Charlotte. The bored, friendless girl tries to make herself useful through chores, but repeatedly messes up. A local boy named Peter teases her for her clumsiness and wild red hair. Tib and Gib, Peter's cats, lead Mary to some mysterious glowing flowers. The gardener identifies the flowers as "fly-by-night"; legend has it that witches covet the flower for its magical power. The next day, Gib disappears. Tib leads Mary to a broomstick but she accidentally bursts a fly-by-night bulb on it. The bulb releases magical power, making the broomstick come to life and enabling Mary to ride it like a witch. The Little Broomstick whisks Mary away to a complex of buildings in the clouds, known as Endor College for witches.
Head mistress Madam Mumblechook assumes Mary is a new pupil with Tib as her
familiar
In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars (sometimes referred to as familiar spirits) were believed to be supernatural entities that would assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. According to r ...
, and takes her on a tour of the college. She introduces Mary to Doctor Dee, the college's renowned chemistry teacher. Mary finds herself able to perform advanced spells such as invisibility. Madam and Doctor Dee become convinced that Mary is a prodigy because of her performance as well as her red hair, which is a distinguishing feature among the best witches.
Mary admits that her magical ability comes from fly-by-night, and that Tib belongs to Peter. Madam's attitude changes then but she lets Mary return home once Mary turns over Peter's address. That night, Madam sends a message to Mary, informing that she's kidnapped Peter, and demands that Mary bring the fly-by-night bulbs to her. She and Tib quickly fly back to Endor with the bulbs, but Madam and Doctor Dee imprison her in their transformation lab. Mary finds Peter locked in with her, and discovers that Doctor Dee has been experimenting on animals, including Gib, transforming them into fantastic creatures. From the spell book she took from Madam's office, Mary uses a spell to undo the transformations and unlock the lab. They try to escape on the Little Broomstick, but Peter is recaptured.
The Little Broomstick takes Mary to an isolated cottage on a tiny island that seems to be alive. Inside the cottage, Mary finds notes on spells and a mirror that Great-Aunt Charlotte uses to contact her. Through visions, Charlotte reveals that the cottage was her old home, and she used to be a red-haired pupil who excelled at Endor. One day Charlotte found fly-by-night on the campus, leading Madam and Doctor Dee to obsessively pursue a project to use the flower to transform all humans into witches. When their experiments failed, Charlotte escaped Endor, taking the flower with her. Charlotte begs Mary to use her last bulbs to return home, but Mary vows to rescue Peter.
Mary returns to Endor and finds Madam and Doctor Dee trying to transform Peter into a warlock. The experiment fails again, leaving Peter trapped within a gelatinous monster. Mary gets the spell book to Peter, and he uses it to undo the failed experiment and all of Madam and Doctor Dee's research. Mary and Peter fly home, with her throwing away her last bulb and saying she does not need magic.
Characters
* Mary Smith, an 11 year old who is the main character of this story. She is innocent and often curious. She has red hair tied in twin bunches to the side, blue eyes, and
freckles
Freckles are clusters of concentrated melaninized cells which are most easily visible on people with a fair complexion. Freckles do not have an increased number of the melanin-producing cells, or melanocytes, but instead have melanocytes that ...
. She moves to the red house where her Great-Aunt Charlotte lives, but she does nothing well and spends her days in frustration and anxiety. One day, she finds a fly-by-night flower in the forest which eventually leads her to Endor College.
* Peter, a 12 year old boy who delivers newspapers in the village. Kidnapped by Madam Mumblechook, he escapes from Endor College with Mary.
* Madam Mumblechook, principal of Endor College, she wants Mary's fly-by-night to use in magic transformation experiments.
* Doctor Dee, a faculty member and mad scientist at Endor. He is studying transformation experiments and searches for the fly-by-night with Mumblechook.
* Charlotte, the great aunt of Mary and a mistress of the house. She helps Mary when she's in danger.
* Miss Banks, housekeeper of the red house.
* Zebeedee, the estate gardener, tells Mary the secrets of the fly-by-night.
* Redhead witch: Charlotte's younger self, a witch who stole the fly-by-night seeds. Like Mary, she was a red-haired girl, an earlier Endor school student. She discovered the fly-by-night that Madame and Doctor Dee used to performed dangerous experiments. After a runaway experiment in which a classmate from Endor College became a subject, she took all the seeds and ran away, losing the seeds and her broom. She then led an ordinary life.
* Flanagan: the broomstick instructor who repairs Mary’s broom.
Production
On 15 December 2016, Yonebayashi and Nishimura held a press conference. Here Yonebayashi, who had previously worked with Ghibli on ''
When Marnie Was There
is a 2014 Japanese animated psychological drama film co-written and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, produced by Studio Ghibli and distributed by Toho. It is based on Joan G. Robinson's 1967 novel of the same name.
The film follows Anna Sas ...
'' and ''
Arrietty
''Arrietty'', titled in Japan and ''The Secret World of Arrietty'' in North America, is a 2010 Japanese animated fantasy film directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi as his feature film debut as a director, animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon ...
'', said "This is the first movie since leaving Studio Ghibli. At Studio Ponoc, we are working diligently with Yoshiaki Nishimura, a producer, and excellent staff."
When Nishimura was asked about the establishment of the new studio he said, "When the Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki notified me about the dissolution of the Ghibli Production Department, I was stimulated by the oversea creators when I went to the Academy Awards venue with '' The Tale of Princess Kaguya''. Remember that you received it." After announcing it was based on The Little Broomstick, Nisimura said "'' Marnie of Memories'' is a work that proved that Yonebayashi, who excels at dynamic painting, sealed his specialty and can draw trivial emotions. But as a producer, I want to see dynamic animation, so I decided to do a fantasy with a cheerful girl moving around." When asked if he consulted with Takahata or Miyazaki, he said he did not show Miyazaki any storyboards but he did talk to him. They both said the same thing, "be prepared". Yonebayashi announced the voice actors on 13 April 2017.
Music
Composer Muramatsu Takatsugu, who also scored Yonebayashi's last film ''
When Marnie Was There
is a 2014 Japanese animated psychological drama film co-written and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, produced by Studio Ghibli and distributed by Toho. It is based on Joan G. Robinson's 1967 novel of the same name.
The film follows Anna Sas ...
'', is in charge of the soundtrack for ''Mary and the Witch's Flower''. Joshua Messick, one of the world's leading performers of the hammered dulcimer, participated in the score recording.
The theme song is "Rain", performed by Sekai no Owari.
Release
''Mary and the Witch's Flower'' was released theatrically in Japan on July 8, 2017 by distributor
Toho
is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...
that it had acquired the worldwide rights to the film, and would release it within the UK.
Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...
announced that it had secured the rights to the film within Australia and New Zealand, and would premiere it theatrically at
Madman Anime Festival
Anime Festival (formerly Madman Anime Festival or MadFest) was an annual Australian anime and Japanese culture convention held in Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Sydney. The convention was organised by Madman Anime. The convention was inaugur ...
in Melbourne on 5 November 2017, with a wider release on 18 January 2018.
GKIDS
GKIDS is an American film distributor based in New York with, according to the ''Los Angeles Times'', a focus on "sophisticated, indie" animation. GKIDS releases critically acclaimed, mostly hand-drawn, international films—such as the works o ...
later announced that it would distribute the film within North America, with a one-week Oscar qualifying run on 1 December 2017, a limited opening on 18 January 2018, and a wider release on January 19, 2018. Altitude (the UK distributor) confirmed in early March 2018 that the film will have a special holding at selected
Vue Cinemas
Vue International (, like "view"), is a multinational cinema holding company based in London, England. It operates in the United Kingdom and Ireland as Vue, with international operations in Denmark and Germany (as CinemaxX); Italy (as The Space ...
on 10 April 2018 before its official UK-wide release on 4 May 2018.
The English dub of ''Mary and the Witch's Flower'' (starring Ruby Barnhill, Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent) was directed by Giles New and produced by Geoffrey Wexler. The English dub was recorded in July and August 2017 in London, and had its premiere in Los Angeles on 23 October 2017 at the GKIDS "Animation is Film" festival.
On 31 August 2018, the first broadcast was performed on NTV's "Friday Road Show!".
Home video
The movie was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
,
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
Ultra HD
Ultra-high-definition television (also known as Ultra HD television, Ultra HD, UHDTV, UHD and Super Hi-Vision) today includes 4K UHD and 8K UHD, which are two digital video formats with an aspect ratio of 16:9. These were first proposed b ...
by Walt Disney Japan on March 20, 2018. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America by GKIDS' main home media distributor
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...
on May 1, 2018. Madman Entertainment released the film on DVD and Blu-ray in Australia and New Zealand on 4 July 2018. Altitude Film Distribution released the film on DVD, Blu-ray and a Blu-ray Steelbook in the United Kingdom on 10 September 2018.
Reception
Box office
According to
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is ...
, ''Mary and the Witch's Flower'' ultimately grossed $2.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $38.8 million in other territories (including $27.6 million in Japan, $3.8 million in South Korea, $3.2 million in China and $2.6 million in France), for a worldwide total of $42.2 million. JPBox-Office reports the film's box office revenue of $41.8 million, while a 2017 list from Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan shows the box-office revenue as ¥32.9 billion (approx. $).
In Japan, it opened at second place, grossing ¥428 million ($3.9 million) during its opening weekend—more than Yonebayashi's previous film, ''
When Marnie Was There
is a 2014 Japanese animated psychological drama film co-written and directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, produced by Studio Ghibli and distributed by Toho. It is based on Joan G. Robinson's 1967 novel of the same name.
The film follows Anna Sas ...
'' (2014), which grossed ¥378.86 million in its first weekend.
In the US, it held a special Thursday night preview on 18 January 2018 where it grossed $1.2 million from 573 theaters. It then stayed at 161 theaters over the weekend and grossed $329,097, bringing its four-day gross to $1.5 million.
Critical response
On
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, 89% of 90 critics have given the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Mary and the Witch's Flower'' honors its creator's
Studio Ghibli
is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Koganei, Tokyo."Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment". ''Studio Ghibli Collection - Madman Entertainment''. Retrieved 2020-12-14. It is best known for its animated feature films, and h ...
roots with a gentle, beautifully animated story whose simplicity is rounded out by its entrancing visuals." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100 based on 26 critics, indicating that the film received "generally favorable reviews".
Sheila O'Malley of '' RogerEbert.com'' gave the film a rating of three stars out of four and stated that "the total lack of inner conflict in Mary might be why ''Mary and the Witch's Flower''—as transportive and entertaining as it is—feels a little slight". Moira Macdonald of ''
The Seattle Times
''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington ...
'' noted that although the film "isn't quite a masterpiece" and "the screenplay needs a polish", she concluded that the film is "a joy to look at: a visual adventure, and a continuation of a remarkable legacy".