The first promotional video for Studio Ghibli's first CG animated film, Earwig and the Witch was released on Tuesday on NHK's website. Goro Miyazaki will be adapting the anime from Diana Wynne Jones's novel of the same name.
Jones published the novel in 2011. The publisher, HarperCollins describes the story as follows:
"Not every orphan would love living at St. Morwald's Home for Children, but Earwig does. She gets whatever she wants, whenever she wants it, and it's been that way since she was dropped on the orphanage doorstep as a baby. But all that changes the day Bella Yaga and the Mandrake come to St. Morwald's, disguised as foster parents. Earwig is whisked off to their mysterious house full of invisible rooms, potions, and spell books, with magic around every corner. Most children would run in terror from a house like that . . . but not Earwig. Using her own cleverness—with a lot of help from a talking cat—she decides to show the witch who's boss."
The casts for the anime includes -
Shinobu Terajima (Michiko Hata in Helter Skelter) as Bella Yaga
Etsushi Tokoyama (Occho in the live-action film 20th Century Boys) as Mandrake
Gaku Hamada (Tanaka in One Piece Film Gold) as Thomas
Kokoro Hirasawa (Yuzu Kurosaki in live-action film BLEACH) as Earwig (Aya in the Japanese version)
Goro Miyazaki is directing the anime as the studio's first full 3D CG feature, and his father and studio co-founder Hayao Miyazaki is credited for the movie's planning and development. Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki is producing. As with Ghibli's other work, Wild Bunch holds the international sales distribution of the film.
Keiko Niwa (Ocean Waves, The Secret World of Arrietty) and Emi Gunji (From Up On Poppy Hill assistant director) are writing the screenplay. Miho Satake (Kiki's Delivery Service), the illustrator of the novel's Japanese edition, is credited with the original character and set designs, and Katsuya Kondo (Kiki's Delivery Service, Ponyo) is designing the characters for animation.
Yukinori Nakamura (Ghibli Museum's "Boro the Caterpillar") is supervising the CG, and Tan Seri is serving as animation director. Yuhki Takeuchi is handling the backgrounds. Satoshi Takebe (From Up On Poppy Hill, Ronja the Robber's Daughter) is composing the music, Koji Kasamatsu is directing the sound, and Eriko Kimura is directing the dialogue recording. Kentarō Morishita is producing the animation, and Isao Yoshikuni, Keisuke Tsuchihashi, and Koji Hoshino are production managers.
The animated film will be air on the NHK General channel on December 30, 2020. The Cannes Film Festival America in early 2021 chose the film as part of its Official Selection this year. GKIDS will release the film in theatres in North America.
Source: NHK
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