Studio Ponoc teams with director Hiromasa Yonebayashi for an animated fantasy of sweep and drive
GKids
A lovingly crafted fantasy on an epic scale, “Mary and the Witch’s Flower” is a film about transformation made by filmmakers in transition.
Directed by Studio Ghibli veteran Hiromasa Yonebayashi (2015 Oscar nominee for Ghibli’s “When Marnie Was There”), this action-packed tale of a young witch coming into her power is the first feature from Studio Ponoc, the aspiring animation powerhouse headed by longtime Ghibli lead producer Yoshiaki Nishimura (Oscar nominee in 2014 for producing Ghibli’s “The Tale of Princess Kaguya”).
Yonebayashi and Nishimura have based their film on Mary Stewart’s 1971 YA novel “The Little Broomstick,” a storybook the six-year-old J. K. Rowling must have found in her Christmas stocking. In the movie version, awkward but plucky schoolgirl Mary (voice of Ruby Barnhill in the GKIDS English language dub) encounters an old broom and an enchanted flower deep in a British forest. Red-haired Mary plucks the flower and is given awesome but temporary powers when its nectar spills on her hands.
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Mary is in no way prepared to be a spellcaster, first class, as becomes apparent when her little broom comes to life and whisks her away to the frothily surreal campus of a secret magic academy. There the evil headmistress Madame Mumblechook (Kate Winslet, clearly having a ball) spots Mary using her temporary powers and mistakes her for a witching prodigy.
When Mumblechook realizes Mary is a fake, she plots with her mad scientist sidekick Doctor Dee (a deliciously fatuous Jim Broadbent) to harness Mary’s flower power for evil and reshape the world. Or something like that. It’s never entirely clear what Mumblechook and Dee are up to, though it seems to involve transforming the human race into magical butterfly people. Whatever it is, it’s bad, and brave Little Mary and her best pal Peter are the only ones who can stop them, in a war of magic vs. goodness that finds just the right balance between big action set-pieces and “Alice in Wonderland” whimsy.
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By lavishing his considerable design skills on a world equal parts Hogworts and steampunk sci-fi, Yonebayashi recalls the great French animatior Paul Grimault’s masterpiece “Le Roi et L’Oiseau,” which also recast fairytale tropes for the machine age. Yonebayashi’s visual imagination seems limitless. Mumblechook’s magic academy brims with so many strange creatures and ectoplasmic oddities, it’s a strain trying to catch them all. The tentacled and legless Doctor Dee’s broken cybernetic form conveys his entire backstory as a reckless obsessive whose failed experiments cost him spectacularly in the past.
Ponoc (the name is Croatian for “New Day” or “Zero Hour”) was founded after Studio Ghibli dissolved its production department in 2014, and many of its staff are Ghibli veterans. The Ghibli comparisons are inevitable, and they may even be welcome; producer Nishimura has repeatedly stated his goal as preserving Ghibli’s role in creating first-rate family fare.
But despite its strong female protagonist and a “concerned” subplot about animal experimentation, “Mary and the Witch’s Flower” owes more to MGM’s escapist classic “The Wizard of Oz” than it does to “Kiki’s Delivery Service.” Though Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki enjoyed wild success, he’s still a fundamentally personal filmmaker, who populates his fantastic worlds with flawed heroes and a deep skein of pessimism about human motivations untypical in mainstream animated fare.
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It diminishes “Mary and the Witch’s Flower” not at all to call it the work of a more straightforward fantasist. Yonebayashi’s unwavering faith in the clear values and direct narrative structures of a good storybook energize his rousing entertainment with sweep and drive.
Ponoc and Yonebayashi have managed the difficult task of demonstrating an older tradition’s durability while making a film that speaks for itself. Though Miyazaki has recently announced he will come out of retirement to make yet another “final film,” the Ghibli torch seems to be passing. If “Mary” is an indication, Ponoc looks to be just the company who will use it to make a fire of its own.
18 Kids‘ Cartoons That Are Perfectly Acceptable to Watch as Adults (Photos)
Haven’t you heard? Cartoons aren’t just for kids anymore! Yes, there are animated shows and films that are made strictly for older audiences („Venture Bros.,“ „The Simpsons,“ and „Futurama“ are among them), but there are plenty that straddle the generational line. These are the cartoons that were technically made for a younger demographic but can be enjoyed just as much by adults. Don’t be embarrassed.
Looney Tunes
It’s the one that started it all. „Looney Tunes“ has endured for so long thanks to its mix of slapstick humor and beloved characters, with episodes full of cross-generational, classic shtick that gets passed from generation to generation. Seeing the Roadrunner outsmart Wile E. Coyote and Bugs Bunny beating Elmer Fudd never gets old. Getty Images
Steven Universe
There’s not enough room to discuss everything that makes „Steven Universe“ great, but we can try. It’s a cartoon that balances mature storytelling with comedy, that features non-traditional family structures, highlights queer relationships, tackles dark subjects like depression and war, and creates some of the best original songs from any cartoon. It’s a total package.
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Samurai Jack
This time travel, fantasy cartoon recently returned to Adult Swim for a final season after being canceled in 2004. In total, the five seasons of this blunt and darkly comic show about a samurai who gets transported to a future controlled by an evil demon proved it was one of the most unique shows on television, both in style and substance.
Cartoon Network
Gravity Falls
This horror story about twins who live with their uncle in the small, mysterious town of Gravity Falls, Oregon only ran two seasons, but there’s so much to digest. There are monster fights, colorful characters and a battle against inter-dimensional beings that takes the world into a strange Armageddon. All the while, the twins and their uncle learn to be a family and to look out for one another as the world crumbles around them. Disney
Adventure Time
This long-running show has been touted to adults since it first aired thanks to its absurd and random humor. As the seasons have passed and the characters have grown, „Adventure Time“ has become so much more than its humor — its highly intricate storyline and the countless theories that have been circulating since its first season that have all come true.
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Regular Show
This cartoon about two slackers who work at a park was as much for stoners and adults as it was for a young audience. Each episode followed a specific formula: slackers Mordecai and Rigby try to get out of doing work, but then a life-changing, potentially world-ending event needs to be stopped. The two protagonists were out of their depth, but they eventually grew up. Cartoon Network
Over the Garden Wall
This is a must-watch on Halloween. The 10-episode series follows the adventures of brothers Wirt and Greg as they try to find their way home. On the way, they meet all kinds of horrifying creatures — from pumpkin people to a beast who turns lost children into trees. The show takes a lot from American mythology while creating a tense drama that never lets up. Cartoon Network
Star Wars: Clone Wars/Rebels
People have divisive opinions about the „Star Wars“ prequels, but many of those criticisms don’t apply to „Clone Wars,“ which takes place between „Attack of the Clones“ and „Revenge of the Sith.“ It’s a six-season show that expands on some of the best parts of the prequels, while also fixing them. Jar only appears sparingly! Anakin isn’t whining! Padme takes control!
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Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra
This isn’t that awful M.
