Aya and the Witch: Studio Ghibli Announces Its First Fully CG Film

Studio Ghibli has shared details about its first fully 3D CG-animated film, Goro Miyazaki's Aya and the Witch. Entertainment Weekly reports that production company NHK Enterprises announced that Aya and the Witch (Aya to Majo) will premiere on Japan's NHK this winter, and will be Studio Ghibli's first entirely 3D CG feature. Hayao Miyazaki is overseeing the project alongside his son, Goro Miyazaki, who is taking to the director's chair on the film, which is based on Diana Wynne Jones' children's book Earwig and the Witch, published in 2011. [caption id="attachment_2360343" align="alignnone" width="508"] Image credit: Greenwillow Books/Paul O. Zelinsky[/caption] The book tells the story of Earwig, an orphan girl who has lived at St. Morwald's Home for Children ever since she was a baby, but all of that changes the day that she is adopted by a mysterious woman named Bella Yaga, who turns out to be a terrible witch and brings Earwig to live in her home of supernatural trinkets. With help from a talking cat, Earwig must use her wits to survive in her new magical surroundings. Wynne Jones also wrote the novel for Howl's Moving Castle, the 2004 animated adaptation, scripted and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/03/studio-ghibli-confirmed-to-be-working-on-two-new-films-ign-now"] Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki made a statement about the film. "Can Aya and the Witch do well after corona?" he quizzed. "I thought about that many times when I was watching the early footage. Then I realized the big characteristic of the movie is Aya's wisdom. If only we have wisdom, we can overcome anything in any era. When I thought about that, I was relieved. "If Pippi Longstocking is the story of the world's strongest girl," Suzuki added. "Aya is the story of the world's smartest girl. Aya is cheeky but somehow cute. I hope she is loved by many types of people. By the way, I thought Aya reminded me of someone, then it turned out it was Goro himself, who was the director of the movie. When I told that to him he looked bashful." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-anime-series-on-netflix-right-now&captions=true"] While the film is a digression from the traditional, hand-drawn animation that Studio Ghibli is well-renowned for, it has already been picked up as one of four animated selections ahead of this year's Cannes Festival, which is postponed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic but may be rescheduled for June or July, depending on the developing situation. Goro Miyazaki's Aya and the Witch is one of two projects being developed by Studio Ghibli this year -- the other being Hayao Miyazaki's first feature film since coming out of retirement, though we might have some time to wait until the release of How Do You Live? (Kimi-tachi wa Dō Ikiru ka), as Suzuki projects that it could take three years to complete its animation. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

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