Mary and the Witch’s Flower trailer, Studio Ponoc

Beloved Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli devastated animation fans everywhere when they announced they would close their doors in 2014.

Fortunately, Ghibli, the visionary studio behind cinematic classics like Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro has stayed in business, but the focus of their projects has shifted. Since 2014, Studio Ghibli has helped produce TV series Ronja, The Robber’s Daughter and Michaël Dudok de Wit’s silent film The Red Turtle.

Studio Ponoc, founded by Ghibli veterans Yoshiaki Nishimura and Hiromasa Yonebayashi, released the English-dubbed trailer for their first feature, Mary and the Witch's Flower – and it looks like it might just help fill the void Studio Ghibli left behind in our hearts and on our screens.



So far, Studio Ponoc seems to be sticking to the formula that helped Studio Ghibli garner international acclaim: stunning graphics, a strong female lead, and a spellbinding story adapted from foreign source material. An all-star cast is lined up for the English dubbed version: Ruby Barnhill, Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent, Ewen Bremner and Louis Serkis are set to bring this debut feature to life.

The film is based on children's fantasy novel, The Little Broomstick. Although it's impossible to predict what kind of artistic flair Ponoc will bring to the plot or production, the basic story follows the adventures of Mary Smith, a girl living with her great-aunt in a quaint, quiet British town. Mary stumbles upon a rare, glowing blue flower, and subsequently finds herself on the run from a gaggle of witches, in possession of incredible powers, and swept up in an adventure sure to contain all kinds of mischievous magic.