Film Review: "Mary and the Witch's Flower" ("メアリと魔女の花") (2017).

"From a single lie, everything will change" in Mary and the Witch's Flower (メアリと魔女の花). This Japanese animated fantasy film directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, adapted by Yonebayashi and Riko Sakaguchi, based on The Little Broomstick by Mary Stewart, and produced by Studio Ponoc. Young Mary follows a mysterious cat into the nearby forest and discovers an old broomstick and the strange Fly-by-Night flower, a rare plant that blossoms once every seven years. 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 and set things right.

In the early 1980s, Disney artist Mel Shaw pitched the idea of adapting Stewart's book as an animated movie, but the project never got beyond the planning stage and was shelved in favour of more ambitious projects. In mid December 2016, at a press conference held by Studio Ponoc founder and producer Yoshiaki Nishimura, the opening of Studio Ponoc was announced, as the film with Yonebayashi as director and writer. 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. Bust as a producer, I want to see dynamic animation, so I decided to do a fantasy with a cheerful girl moving around."

The film stars the voice talents of Hana Sugisaki, Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Yûki Amami, Fumiyo Kohinata, Hikari Mitsushima, Jirô Satô, and Ken'ichi Endô. The talented voice cast, along with the talented animators, gently and warmly render the characters.

It's a delightful tale of a young witch coming of age, learning to recognize her own talents, and striving to serve her world. The film revitalizes conventional tropes, using elegant imagery to say something substantial about growing up, and he even subverts gender stereotypes along the way. Studio Ponoc's giddy, glorious seaside story about a budding young witch. A wonderful and enchanting animated film about a young girl's initiation into adulthood through her adventures in a strange world. The magic of the film s the girl's sense of wonder in her new world, whether it's her soaring flight among the migrating geese or a bicycle ride to see the dirigible. One of the sweetest, most enticing animated features ever made, the film's enchanting story and emotional core offer a perfect starting place for anyone keen to explore Studio Ponoc's future catalogue.

Simon says Mary and the Witch's Flower (メアリと魔女の花) receives: