SnoopyStyle
Mary Smith lives with her Great Aunt Charlotte in an English estate. She follows two cats into the woods and finds a strange flower. The gardener tells her that it's the Witch's Flower. It an elusive plant which blooms only once every seven years and he's never seen in person. The cats are neighbor boy Peter's named Tib and Gib. Tib leads Mary to a broom buried in a tree. Tib gives Mary a flower which ignites her magical powers and the broom carries her to Endor College for witches. She is met by groundskeeper Flanagan. The college is run by Madam Mumblechook and Doctor Dee.Director Hiromasa Yonebayashi is the key animator in many of the Studio Ghibli's biggest hits. This movie is infused with many of those flavors. It is very reminiscent of Spirited Away, a girl stumbling into a magical world. It's its biggest advantage and its most distracting. This is a big pot of various stories that have been done before. I also do wish that the characters be Japanese rather than being English. It needs to step away from the Harry Potter comparison. It's an old time English characterization anyways. Mary and Peter have a nice connection. Their self-sacrifices and willingness to save the other is very compelling. They could use a bit more screen time before Mary finds the broomstick. Overall, the sense of wonder from Ghibli is still intact and this is a fine animated adventure.
tigerlilliesgroup
This film is absolutely wonderful. The animation is beautiful, and adds to the theme of magic perfectly. The soundtrack captures the tone wonderfully, as well as all the sound effects used. Many people wondered if the film would be on par with Studio Ghibli, since Studio Ponoc is a branch off from them. There is no question that this has the quality and feel of a classic Ghibli film that all fans can enjoy. The main character, Mary, is likeable and relatable. She is a sweet girl who is a bit awkward and doesn't feel like she fits in. This film shows that not all adults are what they appear to be, and cannot always be trusted. It also holds a strong underlying message against animal experimentation and cruelty. The plot is well structured, and her journey to accept who she is and do the right thing despite the circumstances is absolutely incredible. I would definitely recommend this film.
siderite
This anime is about trying to capture the magic of a strange flower, which is ironic, considering that it's the same thing that Studio Ponoc wants to do: capture the magic of the Ghibli animation movies. They even use their animator as the director. But just as with Kari-gurashi no Arietti and Omoide no Mânî, both based on books written by anglosaxon writers, something feels a bit off. The original story is not about Japanese values, yet the anime tries hard to make it so. Also, they attempt to use the same recipe: take an innocent clumsy lovable girl and put her center stage, animating the hell out of every emotion that she has; add cats and other animals; make it as close as possible to a coming of age story. And it comes short. It takes a moment to realize that the hero of this story is not the girl, but the cat.Even so, it is a beautiful movie. The problem I had with it was the story, which was not as deep as I wanted and expected from a serious Japanese studio connected to Ghibli. If you ignore the crass simplicity of the story, you will enjoy this. Also, nothing really terrible happens, so it's a good children's animation. Yet in the end it feels more Disney than Japanese. Maybe that's just me.
stindere
I will try to make this as short as I can:To give context, I've watched all of studio Ghibli's movies (because this is what people are comparing this movie to) and enough hours of anime / animated movies and series to have several PhDs... That's probably not a good thing. Moving on...The art is beautiful and the animations are amazing, sometimes reminding me of the old Disney style of animation. The story and music are kind of where this movie falls short. The story is pretty predictable and the music is kind of generic but I still loved watching this.This movie definitely doesn't deserve a grade under 7. If you loved the stuff by studio Ghibli, then you'll love this. It's as simple as that so go watch it.
AD
