Mary and The Witch's Flower

As a Studio Ghibli fan, I knew I had to watch Mary and the Witch's Flower. Although the film is not produced by Studio Ghibli, it is the first featured film by Studio Ponoc which was established in 2015 by Yoshiaki Nishimura who was the former lead film producer for Studio Ghibli. Overall, the movie was visually great and the art and animation style is very similar to what we would see in a Studio Ghibli film. 

Mary and The Witch's Flower concept art

Mary and the Witch's Flower is a story about a young girl named Mary who recently just moved to a new village with her aunt named Charlotte. Mary meets and follows a mysterious cat, named Tib, into the woods. Following Tib, the cat leads Mary to a little broom and also discovers a beautiful fly-by-night flower — the flower is known to bloom every seven years — that grants her temporary powers as a witch. As an inexperienced witch, Mary's power was uncontrollable. With the power of the fly-by-night, the little broom transports Mary to Endor College, which is a magic school for witches in training. The school is run by Madam Mumblechook, who is the headmistress, and Doctor Dee who is a scientist. Both discover Mary and threaten to transform her if she is trespassing around the school. Frightened, Mary pretends to be a soon-to-be enrolled student and Mumblechook takes her around the school for a tour. During the tour, Mary notices a mysterious cave where Doctor Dee conducts his experiments, and soon later realizes the school has been torturing animals through Doctor Dee's experiments.

After watching this fantasy adventure animated film, I thought the film was beautifully animated and contained a lot of astonishing visuals. Similar to Studio Ghibli, Studio Ponoc tackles common themes like self-discovery and environmental themes. Ponoc also touches on other relatable themes like resilience.

One of the main themes of this movie is self-discovery and self-love. In the film, when Mary moves to a new village she felt out of place with no friends. Mary feels different because of her hair, and is capable of doing things because of her clumsiness — an example is being clumsy when she almost drops aunt Charlotte's mug. When Mary possesses powers from the fly-by-night, Mary felt accomplished as she impresses everyone, in Endor College, with her temporary powers. Soon later, Mary comes to a realization that she doesn't need magic to make herself amazing; she knows she is capable of her own accomplishments without it such as her loyalty, courage, and determination in saving her friend Peter. This is illustrated in the film when Mary gets rid of the remaining fly-by-night flower she possessed, recognizing her self-worth and capabilities. 

Another theme the film focuses on is animal suffering and animal rights. The movie sheds light on this important issue through Doctor Dee's experimentation with animals, mutating them. Also, the film takes it a step further by using a human, Peter in this case, and experiments on him by using the fly-by-night flower. All in all, the film sends a clear message that animal testing still occurs today and their rights are violated since they are not given a choice in participating in such experiments. 

As mentioned, one of the things I enjoyed about the film is the bright vivid captivating visuals — it is very detailed-oriented and lush. Also, the film adds to a fantasy-like atmosphere by adding a mystical glow and shine. That being said, I felt like the character design fell flat in the movie. For example, Mary's character, particularly her red poofy hair, reminds me of Arietty from Studio Ghibli's Secret World of Arietty. That being said, the art maintained its Studio Ghibli style by using similar features — such as exaggerated expressions while preserving its simplicity. 

Overall, the movie was very lighthearted and fun.  I would give this movie a watch if you want a combination of Kiki's Delivery Service and Howl's Moving Castle.