Earwig and the Witch [DVD]

After Isao Takahana passing away after doing The tale of Princess Kaguya. And When Marine was there was the last studio ghibli film we recieved, we had to wonder what they would do next since 2014. In between we got the director of Marnie who left Studio Ghibli and made his own company and made the flim Mary and the witches flower. And now 6 years later we get this? A first 3D flim? Not hand drawn. With Hayao working on his "last flim" after making Boro the catapillar testing 3D and now reaching for more help on his flim he passed this film onto his Son who directed one of the lesser known flima Tales of Earthsea. And On Poppy Hill with his father along with smaller projects. Hayao sons has a lot of pressure on his shoulders when being the son of a legend. I've seen a lot of advertisement for this for a while now. I see a lot of hate for this movie due to this being studio 1st 3-D movie.But gotta say after watching the movie actually really enjoyed the movie. I feel like due to studio Ghibli new approach to 3-D Which we all know studio for their 2D animation, I feel like this movie gets a lot more negativity than it should be. I feel like had a spin its own studio I feel like it would probably got a lot more praises Have we known that wasn't from studio ghibli.The story as someone else pointed out is a very simple 1. A witch who abandoned their daughter at orphanages. Who is later to be adopted Is used to be a helping hand in their home.Now apparently the author that did this also did Howls moving castle as well. The author unfortunately has not been able to finish this book for she has passed away. So the ending for this movie or the book might leave you unsatisfied. A course the movie tries to wrap it up in its own way but of course there's so many things left on answered but The way tries to end it is OK.If your willing to get a simple story or willing to look past the new look for studio ghibli for the 3-D animation that I would say go give this film a watch.

The story is simple & heart warming. Although it ends abruptly in a way. Like it seems that at least 2 or 3 more movies could be made, expanding on the world, expanding on the characters, the possibilities exist. I'd watch those movies as well to be frank, as long as they were cool. The Computer Graphics, got significantly better at the beginnings of the "Second arc" where it moves on from the Church to the home conditions....I've always loved Studio Ghibli's work, was a little hesitant when watching this, but it was fairly well done. My first love has always been Japanese 2d animation. Especially from Studio Ghibli, but in general, if you have good animators, like.. anything can be done normally better than CG, & 2d animation normally doesn't hit that "realism" that CG hits.. where some charm is lost. If that make's any sense?Going from 2d to CG.. they are 2 very different means of producing content & telling a story with one vs the other, things are not going to pan out the same. It's probably just best to accept that from the get go.Anyway, I loved the movie when it was all said & done. I don't regret buying this digitally. Probably snag a hardcopy in the future, for my own sake. If your a fan of Studio Ghibli, buy this, support there work. Especially this version, you get the choice of the original Japanese language with subtitles, thank goodness.I watched part of the English language version, & grew somewhat disgusted, theirs always, 90% guarantee, lost of quality when Japanese animation work or cg is done in English. Its probably b/c of the actors different backgrounds & experiences play such a huge role.. in their development later on?I digress, as a native English speaker..I suggest the this version!

I have everything Studio Ghibili has ever published so was looking forward to this new one, albeit with some trepidation, as it was their first CGI effort. To say I was very disappointed would be an understatement and unexpected for something by Studio Ghibli. The usual charm, great story line and engaging characters normally found in Studio Ghibli films is almost totally absent from this film. Even the rock sound score is below par and very jarring at times. The film ending was far from satisfactory and left us with too many unanswered questions. On the plus side the level of detail and graphics quality of the scenes is very good, although I miss the beautiful lush hand drawn art that made previous Studio Ghibli films such a joy to see and were far superior in my opinion. I was so disappointed in this film that I will not be keeping it. Bottom line: Not recommended.

The movie lacked a story and the ending was soooo disappointing. *Warning Spoilers *The whole plot is a girl born from a witch on the run is adopted by the witch’s band mates, that she abandoned for reasons unexplained. The girl has to manipulate her adopters as she has done to adults her whole life to get what she wants. Then at the end when things are starting to look like she has built a life she enjoys, the mom knocks shows up on the front door and the movie ends!There is no explanation to the many questions that pop up in the movie to give any real satisfaction or value to the story. Like why is the mom on the run from the witch council? Why was the car that was chasing the mom exactly like the car in the garage? Why did the band break up? Did they adopt the girl because they knew she was their band mates daughter? Why are they making potions and breakfast if they just order out via demons anyway? It’s just so frustrating! The only good thing to say about the movie is the animation is beautiful.

Amando le animazioni di Hayao Miyazaki, volevo capire come Koro Miyazaki fosse diverso nel caratterizzare i suoi personaggi… la differenza si nota eccome ma soprattutto si nota la differenza sostanziale della metodologia usata per la creazione ed il risultato… temo di amare ed apprezzare maggiormente il vecchio metodo del Maestro, dove lo schizzo manuale rimane evidente rispetto all’uso della grafica compiuterizzata bella ma di sensazione “fredda”, il tratto grafico e’ sempre più vivo.