Like Bob Dylan going electric, Earwig And The Witch was met with howls of protest from some members of the Studio Ghibli faithful when the first trailer was launched. For many, the venerated institution of hand-crafted 2D Japanese anime crossing the cartoon picket line into the modern age (and the third dimension) with a fully CGI feature film seemed like sacrilege. Surely it would be enough to wipe the grin from Totoro’s giant face?
In truth, Ghibli has been tinkering with computer-generated animation for years: a fully CG-animated TV series came in 2014 (Sanzoku no Musume Rōnya), and the studio has been adding minor CG enhancements to traditional techniques in films as far back as Princess Mononoke in 1997.
So, this is perhaps more evolution than revolution. Still, the studio’s first feature film in seven years certainly looks different to anything they’ve ever produced, and the initial effect is undoubtedly jarring. While the backgrounds are richly rendered — the company’s affection for the natural world remains intact — the character animation is plastic-y and doll-like, more akin to the early years of CGI than modern-day Pixar-level quality. If the standard feels slightly made-for-TV, that’s most likely because it was: originally produced for a Japanese channel NHK General TV, before earning a theatrical release.
It's clearly aimed to appeal to kids more than grown-ups, but there is just the right amount of spark to hold everyone’s attention.
But director Goro Miyazaki — keeping the flame of the studio alive after a hiatus triggered by the semi-retirement of his father, Hayao — nonetheless brings a very familiar spirit of imagination and colour to this brave new world. Like many a Ghibli before it (Howl’s Moving Castle, Arietty), it’s an adaptation of a beloved English children’s novel, in this case the Diana Wynne Jones book of the same name; and like those earlier films, it trades heavily on some comforting character types — the precocious child, the aloof spellcaster, the sarcastic talking cat (see also: Kiki’s Delivery Service, Whisper Of The Heart).
The lively story, of an orphan being mentored by a witch while dreaming of her estranged mother, is clearly aimed to appeal to kids more than grown-ups, but there is just the right amount of spark — and enough appearances from that sarcastic talking cat — to hold everyone’s attention. It may not satisfy the purists, but Earwig has enough storytelling charm for it to be recognisably Ghibli.
