It’s been a while since Studio Ghibli fans were treated to a feature film from the renowned animation studio, but good news, it will be releasing a new movie this year!
Called “Aya and the Witch”, what makes this movie even more special is the fact that it is the first full-length 3DCG feature animation from Studio Ghibli.
Recently, the 2020 Cannes Film Festival selected the movie to be among this year’s films that will carry the Cannes label on their promotional materials when they go to other film festivals in the future.
Despite no physical form of the film festival’s 73rd edition will be held this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the selection of films was continued as the festival director Thierry Frémaux stated that they “couldn’t send everyone to 2021” and “it was the right thing to do.”
Apart from being selected by the prestigious film festival, the film is also all set to premiere this winter.
NHK, Japan’s national broadcasting organisation, announced on its website that the film will be broadcast on general TV in winter 2020, though no exact date was given.
Famed director Hayao Miyazaki planned the project, though helming credit this time goes to his son Goro Miyazaki. It was revealed in January 2019 that the duo was working on a new movie but info on it has been kept secret until now.
The movie is based on the children’s novel “Aya and the Witch” by Diana Win Jones, the same author who penned the “Howl’s Moving Castle” book that Studio Ghibli adapted into a film in 2004.
Also known as “Earwig and the Witch”, the novel follows the orphaned title character Earwig – or Aya in Japan – who gets adopted by a witch and she decides to fully embrace her new magic-filled life.
Unfortunately, there is no word of theatrical release at the moment, which remains tricky to be sorted out after cinemas worldwide were forced into closure for months now by the pandemic.
(Photo source: Japan Times)