Studio Ponoc, which was founded by former Studio Ghibli producer Yoshiaki Nishimura has announced their first feature film; Mary and the Witch’s Flower (Mary to Majo no Hana) along with a teaser trailer. Check it out here!
The anime, which is set to debut in Summer 2017, is based on Mary Stewart’s book The Little Broomstick and seems to sport quite a bit of Ghibli flavour.
Here’s the synopsis from Amazon:
It is Tib the black cat who leads Mary to the strange flower in the woods. When she discovers a little broomstick shortly afterwards, she is astonished to feel it jump in to action. Before she can gather her wits, it is whisking her over the treetops, above the clouds, and in to the grounds of Endor College, where: ‘All Examinations Coached for by A Competent Staff of Fully-Qualified Witches.’ Here she discovers evidence of a terrible experiment in transformation – deformed and mutant animals imprisoned in cages. In the moment after her broomstick takes off, she realises that Tib has been captured. Returning to the College the following day, she manages to free the animals, but not before the Head of the college, Miss Mumblechook, and her colleague, Doctor Dee, have seen her. Mary manages to flee …but the evil pair are in hot pursuit!
Hiromasa Yonebayashi (When Marnie Was There, Arrietty) is directing Mary and the Witch’s Flower, while penning the script alongside Riko Sakaguchi (The Tale of the Princess Kaguya). Takatsugu Muramatsu is composing.
Two teaser trailers for the upcoming film have been released, one in English and one in Japanese. They’re about the same, with the exception of the Japanese one showing off a Summer 2017 release date while the English one just says 2017.
You can check them out below!
